The Woodlands Master Association, Inc.

Just a point of information for all of the posts on the LHNA site concerning H.O.A.'s; we are a neighborhood association, we have no covenants, residents in our area do not have to "clear" things through our association. The color of your house is between you and good taste, the up-keep of your yard is between you and your pocketbook, and flowers you plant is between you and your designation of a weed.

The City of Aurora's codes and ordinances govern here as does common sense, a spirit of individualism and community cooperation. Aurora's code enforcement officers patrol our neighborhood to ensure your definition of good taste, an acceptable yard, or your definition of weeds do not stray to far from reality.

"Board members represent the owners...."

Board members are elected by the owners but they do not represent the owners. They represent the HOA, which is a corporation. The Board members hire a community manager.

Community managers, guided, and instructed by the Board of Directors (BOD), submit contracts from contractors, vendors, etc. for approval by the BOD. The BOD with support from the community manager enforce the CCRs, with the community manager acting as a firewall between the community and the BOD. There are good HOAs and there are bad HOAs. The latter come about because no one wants to be on the BOD and power hungry individuals get themselves elected.

More later...

Since writing this, the state Legislature has created the HOA Information Office, under the disivion of Real Estate.  At the current time, this office is not empowered to take any action, but is gathering complaints, which it forwards to the legislature and the Division for appropriate legislation or rule-making, but even then, these entities do not have any authority to take any official action, to penalize or to fine anyone.  The only way to get that done is to hire an attorney and take the HOA to court.  This is incredibly time-consuming and expensive, and the HOA prevails in most cases.  Several people are working to get the state to enact some type of binding dispute-resolution process or expedited-hearing process, whereby valid complaints would be heard by some entity, who would be empowered to rule on the matter, require correction, and possibly levy fines.  Until then, many owners will continue to feel disenfranchised.

Also, the state has adopted legislation requring licensing of managers and management companies, effective 07-01-2015, but filing a complaint and having action taken will be difficult.  The problem, in most cases, is not the manager, but the board.  There are many bad people on boards who do not realize they are supposed to represent their constituents (the homeowners).  They carry out vendettas against people they don't like.  Many board members have control or power issues, and this makes it difficult to reason with them.  That is when problems arise.  But, in all cases, any complaint, dispute or suggestion should be presented to the board at an official meeting, where it can become part of the official record of the association.  No court will take a case in which the aggrieved owner has not attempted to work with the board.

If there is a defect in the main sewer line, and this is causing problems, the HOA is responsible for repairing or replacing the line, whether it has the funds or not.  An association cannot, by law, abdicate its responsibility to perform maintenance of the common elements.  If it is known that this problem exists, and if there is damage to personal property as a result of the association's failure to take reasonable action, this would constitute negligence, and is actionable, but the aggrieved party would have to hire an attorney in order to pursue this.

Also, if ther is a problem in a sewer line, it behooves the users of that line to be careful in what they put down the drains--no grease, hair or solid soap.  But this still does not absolve the association of its responsibility.