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| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Renting & Real Estate |
Can I sue my homeowners association for not properly caring for my homes exterior? |
I have siding that doesnt match, or is painted to match. I have seams in my windows that need to be sealed so water doesnt rot the wood. This place is only 6-7 years old. The whole place is mostly improperly sided. My gutters need to be cleaned before the outside of my home is damaged. They have replaced siding with the wrong color and they have painted it to match, and when washed the paint comes off. The association is ran by the developer. They do a terrible job mowing the lawn. Can I sue them? This is in Minnesota. You can sue anyone for anything, it doesn't mean you will win...call an attorney and they can advise you on your chances. First - you get involved with the homeowners association - then you get rid of the developer. Check the by laws to see how the board is to be picked. You have a right to look at the financial statements - you all pay in and maintenance is financed from this account - so just where is the money going? You make written requests for repairs and verbal requests at the next meeting. Surely the neighbors are having the same problems. You would have to call an attorney in your state to see what the class action laws are - ours is up to 10 years after faulty construction - and believe me the attorneys can get expert wittiness to find whatever they want to say is faulty. It is not the best solution, but may get the developer to pay attention and make the repairs. Your home owners association should have a contract or printed list of maintenance expectations that you can get from them. Review everything that they say they will fix or repair and make a list of everything they need to do to bring your place up to their stated standard. Meet with them, bring a witness and present your list. If they are unwilling to do what needs to be done then call a lawyer or move. what does your copy of the cc&rs say? good luck 40+ years experience As far as suing HOA: Most CC&R I've seen specifically stipulate that you can't sue homeowner's association itself. However, you can sue individuals on board of directors if you have enough proof that their actions are fradulent. For example, if director's property is properly maintained and yours is not, he/she is effectively stealing money from you. Big HOAs typically have insurance policies protecting directors from such lawsuits. As far as maintenance is concerned: First of all, the association cannot be "ran" by a developer unless he still owns majority of the units in the developments. Even then there are limitations. HOAs are ran by homeowners. If that's not the case, see state's help. I do not know how to do it in Minnesota, but there should be a way. If the place is new, the windows are probably not properly installed. This would be developer's fault and his responsibility to correct free of charge. If his actions are impeding this, you may have even more grounds to sue the developer. What I would do at this point is to get to know other homeowners, see if your problems are not unique, come to board of directors meeting with all other people who have the same problem and demand an action to file a lawsuit against the developer. If majority of people are in your shoes, you can easily replace everyone on the board of directors if they don't take any action. |
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