Building A Better Community

It interesting how one HOA election can turn life into your community into a living hell.  It's also interesting how the power of a few people can use the election process to change that living hell back into a community you are proud to be living in.

After years of fighting my own battles with my own HOA I was pleasantly surprised when my husband produced enough proxy votes at our annual meeting to have the first election since we bought our home in 1998.  With a majority of the votes he was able to oust the old board and put in some fresh people, including himself as President.  That was something I never would have expected. Our experience made him very anti-HOA.

We were shocked to learn that our HOA had been spending three times the amount of money on landscaping as it had spent on police patrols.  With nine homes robbed in two months, we didn't see the point of having a nice looking community that no one felt safe living in, so the first thing the new board did was hire private security.  Not that local law enforcement were not doing a good job, but private security is $15 a hour less than police patrols.  And the guys with PCI Security are amazing.  Our neighbors are relieved and grateful.  It's nice to see happy, smiling faces in the community again.

The new board also listened to owners who tried to pay their past due assessments and were refused with threats of foreclosure by the HOA.  Not any more!!!  Not only is it illegal to refuse payments, but who in their right mind wants to foreclose on a home when the owner is trying to pay!  The new board has terminated services with the association attorney and put a moratorium on foreclosures and covenant violations until they can review each case.

I'm proud of the new board with their slogan "Neighbors Helping Neighbors."  That's the way it should be.