Crown Colony West HOA

a shoddily built trap

this neighbourhood was built by a notorious criminal enterprise, that for legal reasons, i shall not name here. they used shoddy materials, unlicensed, un-bonded workers, and even simple details like water access were either designed by a child, a drunk, or a person with a long-game, hidden agenda: all water into the neighbourhood comes through ONE pipe. we have ONE water bill for the whole neighbourhood, and it is split "equally" between all 550-some-odd residences; our PHONE LINES are OUTSIDE THE WALLS...as in exposed to the world, and more than easy to cut.

there is a rather large chunk of unused, unkempt, and permanently undeveloped land, in the center of this very large development. it is supposedly not owned by the HOA, and occasionally there are "for sale" sign(s) posted in it; but it cannot possibly EVER sell, as there is no public access. there is a street that dead-ends across a wide bayou from the field, but someone would have to pay to have a bridge built, and the road extended to the field before there was to be public access.

the "HOA" is an unfunny joke: the "manager" selects certain residents/homeowners, and harasses them mercilessly, with endless nuisance fines, while completely ignoring homeowners flagrantly ignoring every page of the neighbourhood covenant. houses that have burned to a charred husk are abandoned by the owner(s), and become the responsibility of the HOA: they are to legally seize, and sell the property, but they never do that. one such unit remained a menace to the safety of the neighbourhood for over 5 years, before someone finally bought it from the bank. the HOA did NOTHING to stop the gang members from breaking in repeatedly, holding parties that left behind debris including condoms, crack pipes, and territorial graffiti, nor did they exercise their legal rights and responsibilities as they are contractually bound to do so.

we have NO SECURITY. there are two Houston Police officers living FOR FREE on the property, and we have been told to call them directly, when there is a problem, but they NEVER answer their phones, NOR do they ever return calls. on one particular July 4th, there were three times as many drunk people as usual in the neighbourhood, shooting off illegal fireworks (within the city of Houston, fireworks sales, possession, and use are prohibited). it just so happened that the mysterious empty field in the center of the neighbourhood (and only 3 doors down from my unit) was at least four feet high in growth, and completely dried out. texas, and specifically Houston had been in severe drought conditions for at least four years, so there were burn bans in effect.

i called both of the "security" brothers around 21:15, and after hours of no reply, eventually called Houston Police Department directly. no one came, or called, so i went to bed. around 03:30, i was awakened by a very angry sounding pounding on the front door. upon opening the door, i found two cops, one very young and green, and one older, standing back a bit. the younger one launched into a very unexpected, and completely inappropriately loud "lecture" about how the HPD had "better things to do" than to worry about a couple of idiots with fireworks. THAT is our "security."

the HOA did however waste $75,000 DESTROYING and FILLING in the largest swimming pool in the neighbourhood, leaving the majority of residents without a pool, unless they got into their car, and drove to the part of the neighbourhood next to the manager's office to use one of two well-kept, but very small pools--oh, and they charge us extra money to use our own pools, after we have paid more than $200/month in fees, which is meant to include all maintenance, and that insane water bill we extremely unfairly split. BTW: the fenced-in area wherein the great pool once existed, as well as the brick-faced structure housing the restrooms still remian. the HOA claims it is now a "celebratory space" that residents can rent, for parties, although the building is filled with construction detritus, and garbage, and the landscaping has been allowed to fall to utter ruin. no sane person would imagine this as a place to invite guests; this area is now one of the greatest eyesores in the subdivision.

the manager expresses her bigotry and generally nasty attitude, by singling out certain homeowners, and purposefully damaging their homes through both direct and indirect actions, and neglecting the HOA's responsibilities toward homeowners whom never miss their monthly payments, nor ignore nuisance fines, simply because she has a personal issue with them.

the manager hates trees, and is denuding the neighbourhood, and has been doing so for years. supposedly diseased or dangerous trees are unceremoniously destroyed, and no new trees are planted in their stead, so many of the residents are planting trees around the neighbourhood, to foil the HOA's and manger's obvious plot to devalue the neighbourhood further.