A neighbor recenlty described to me how for the last several years they have been struggling to pay thousands in fees and surcharges that arose from a late or missed HOA annual payment. This one story tugged at my heart and made me wonder if as neighbors we could do better than burden already struggling homeowners with thousands in surcharges and fees.
To my suprise I heard this same story relayed to me by several other homeowners. Are we really treating each other like neighbors when we have so many homeowners facing litigation and excessive surcharges and fees? If someone had told me this was happening on this scale I would have rationalized it as something that happens but hearing it from a real person going through it made it hit home how this is tearing down our community instead of building it. How many more cases can we expect after the rough year that 2009 was.
Most homeowner in this situation were paying the thousands in surcharges dutifully which makes me think that the HOA could have showed compassion and talked directly with the homeowners like neighbors do and earned their good will for years to come.
Every dollar we force out of homeowners' pockets and into the lawyer's pocket is money that will not be used to repair a fence, renovate a bathroom, install a new tile floor or enhance landscaping so our whole community loses as home values stagnate or drop. There is a cost to the HOA too in the form of lost time and resources that could be used for improving our community.
Is there a way to strike a balance between business and compassion and reduce the large number of homeowners currenlty facing litigation and burdened by surcharges?
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Kudos to the new board members, Alex Owor and Jeff Wells, elected March 25, 2010 at the annual meeting. They will be an asset to this community. Let's all make their entrance a fresh start for all of us.We are all aiming for one goal...A Better Community!
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