To Get Anyone to Care:
When do HOA's go too far? We are only one family among millions of people living in Las Vegas, so I know the odds are pretty significant that if we are being treated unreasonably by our HOA that it is happening to many other families in the valley. I have been teaching in Clark County for the past 18 years. Five years ago, we bought a house in the NW part of the valley for our daughter and son-in-law to raise their family. We do not make money on this house. They pay the principal of the loan monthly, and we pay the interest and property taxes. In April, we received a notice that we were going to be fined $100 every two weeks for failing to paint their house. This was the first notice we received. However, the notice stated that we ignored previous notices dating back to the fall. My husband called Regal Property Management in an attempt to resolve the misunderstanding. He told the person on the other end of the phone that we were unaware of the notices, and we have contacted painters to obtain estimates. She stated that because they did not have contact information for us, they could waive the fines if we complied to painting the house. We updated our phone and email numbers at this time. Neverthless, they have not used our contact information to send us any notices regarding existing fines, any information on this matter, or even a newsletter. In the first two weeks of April, we worked to have painting companies provide estimates. On May 2nd we contracted painters. The earliest start date was the beginning of June, which we communicated to the HOA . The house was being painted by June 6th and completed June 10th. We assumed we were in compliance and everything was finished. On August 2, we received a bill for fines of $700. Again, my husband called and emailed Regal Property Management explaining everything that occurred. The response was that they were wrong charging some of the fines, but continued to state that we still owe $500 in fines because they didn't check the property until July, so they were unaware it was completed. We were also told that we could send in a form for the board to review to waive the fines. We sent all of our emails, estimates, and proof of completion from the painters by both email and postal service to the board for review. We did not get any response until this week when we received an overdue bill for $500. In the meantime, we received a notice from our own HOA to paint the house where we live, which we also complied and painted. We have been forced to paint two houses in six months costing almost $10,000. I understand that it is the responsibility of the HOA to maintain property value by holding homeowner responsible for maintaining their property. We complied with Regal Management as quickly as possible once we were made aware of the violation. My question (Frustration) is this: Who are HOAs held accountable to for going too far with their fines and fees? There is no help for the homeowner in these situations. The boards can ignore your requests and documentation, and do what they want. We were never notified by the board of a final decision regarding the detailed information we provided to them. We just received an overdue bill. The fines aren't worth hiring an attorney, which they know. How many families are being bullied into paying fines and fees when they are trying their best to follow the rules? What happens when families do not qualify for understanding because they earn too much money to be considered living in poverty, but are still working paycheck to paycheck to provide and support their families? We cannot be the only people in the valley dealing with unreasonable HOAs . How many other thousands of families is this affecting? HOAs are affecting real families with real lives, and the blanket response by the person answering their phone is there is nothing they can do. The people making these decisions are detached from the families they are affecting. This is a problem!!
Frustrated homeowner,
Kelly Cousino read more
