[RobHaas]

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I was put in charge of researching cost of repairs for our small 10 home community septic system that has suffered neglect from previous boards members failing to pay for proper maintenance. Now we having to go through the process of raising funds to repair the system. I’m assuming the funds required are called a “special assessment” and needs to be voted on at a HOA meeting. I’m hoping to get a lawyer on board so costs are shared equally throughout the homeowners. What happens if the systems repairs gets voted down? I’m asking because the HOA has been mis-managed for years and many have not paid dues in a very long time so collecting money is a chore and voting for something that is going to cost money is unlikely. FYI: I’ve never lived in an HOA community before so I had no idea an mis-management was going on. I was lead to believe maintenance of community assets was occurring in my settlement documents.

[profdan_h]

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Hi RobHaas,

Does your HOA have a reserve fund set up? The reserve fund could cover some or all of the cost of repairing the septic system. Your HOA board generally doesn’t need a vote to levy special assessments unless your state laws/governing documents require it or it goes beyond a specific amount or percentage as dictated by your CC&Rs.

Restarting an HOA that has gone mismanaged or inactive for years can be difficult. I would advise you to establish an HOA board first so that things can start getting back on track. Homeowners should be notified that the HOA is restarting back up and that they should be prepared to pay dues again. It’s important to review your governing documents to know what you can and can’t do moving forward, including things like maintenance, special assessments, etc.

Hope this helps.

[RobHaas]

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Thank you for your answer. The HOA has no reserve funds set up. We do have an active board but so far they are refusing to act on the matter. I have spent my own cash on getting the system working temporarily. Rather than pursue legal means I have decided to get the county involved. I called the county inspector and she said as long as there are no odor or viable leakage there isn’t much they can do yet. But, I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before the system totally fails and the inspector can take action to force the HOA to take action or face fines. In hind sight I wish I would have checked into the community system before purchasing the property, but who does these things?
I find it rather odd the community won’t spend 600 every 6 months to properly maintain a system, then have it potentially fail costing 100,000’s….it’s just stupid.

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