I’ve bought a handfull of properties in the USA and one warning I would like to offer is to beware of the HOA.
Please read on for details about how I have been severely burnt and how I have no options for salvation.
I’ve been a responsible property owner paying my HOA dues of $50 a month for the past 2 years.
Then the HOA contacts me via email out of the blue with a $1000 fine.
They state they sent violation fines for overgrown weeds for a period of one year. The notices were sent to an address which doesn’t exist in Australia which they obtained from the selling agent or title company when I bought the house.
I find it unbelievable they chose to email me AFTER they had accrued $1000 in fines.
They are threatening to foreclose on the property if I don’t pay the $1000 in overdue fines immediately.
My warning to everyone is that they are completely within their rights to foreclose on my property. There is no government body or ombudsman who I can go to in relation to this matter.
These were the wise words that my property manager offered for comfort which I wanted to share with others…….
In my dealings with HOA nightmares such as this, I have a perfect record of failure. We have tried many times on behalf of our clients. There seems to be no way to effectively resist their
labrador,
Sorry to hear of your situation with the HOA. What was the HOA annual fee of $600 covering ?
How were you getting the invoices from the HOA for the fee's you were paying ($50 a week)
I paid the dues every six months in advance by check.
I also emailed to confirm they were receiving the funds but no one ever replied (the funds were debited from my account so I assumed the HOA was receiivng it).
It was from the very same email address that I was writing to that came the invoice for me to pay the $1000 in unpaid fines though.
In Japan, the housing companies (eq. of HOA or body corp) fees include a component called "accumulated funds" – this guarantees that all future repairs/renovations don't cost the owners anything more than they've already paid monthly, and also guarantees the housing companies make a huge profit on interest from funds collected for years and never used unless absolutely neccessary.
As an indirect result, they never ever contact the owners with any kind of request unless they absolutely must – their worst fear is that some owner will suddenly "notice" they haven't renovated or fixed anything beyond emergencies for the last twenty years, and are comfortable sitting on hundreds of thousands of dollars in collected "accumulated funds".
The above makes condominium investments in housing companies managed building the most lucrative and hassle-free property investment one could possibly imagine.
Ziv Nakajima-Magen | Nippon Tradings International (NTI)
http://www.nippontradings.com
Email Me | Phone MeZiv Nakajima-Magen - Partner & Executive Manager, Asia-Pacific @ NTI - Japan Real-Estate Investment Property
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