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Lack of Landscaping of Community Areas

I have lived at my current address for approximately 2.5 years and the landscaping is deteriorating. I rarely see any landscapers. Maybe once or twice at the most. And we still pay our dues quarterly to maintain the common areas with no results. I have already complaint and they only removed a few weeds but the larger brush is dead and unsightly. Are we entitled to refund of our dues for the landscaping portion? What legal recourse do we have?

1 Response

  1. Dennis Legere

    John;

    Before you even consider legal options remember one thing the management company works for the board alone and not the homeowners and they have no responsibility to respond to homeowner complaints. They should but they don’t. The landscapers were probably hired by the management company and not the board directly other than to sign the contract. The board is the only entity bound by contract that is established via the CC&R’s for the community to maintain and protect the common property for the uses and enjoyment of all members of the association. Complain to the board directly along with pictures and as many of your neighbors as you can get.

    NEVER ACT ALONE. this will allow the board to simply treat you as a disgruntled homeowner, and an antagonist. You cannot believe the attacks that boards have made on individual homeowners based on simple request for them to do their job.

    If the board refuses to consider or act on the communities request for proper maintenance. Than you could generate a petition to remove the offending or the entire board members. Remember one thing the boards duties are to act in the best interest of the association and the members as a whole, they have no responsibility to make everyone happy. If they make a conscious effort to provide the best landscaping service that the community can afford then that is their job and why you put them in those positions to make those decisions. Very seldom will all community members agree with every decision that the board makes, or doesn’t make but as long as the decision was made based on what they believed was best for the community you cannot fault them for that decision. What you do in that case is present your case for better landscaping along with support from many of your neighbors recognizing that nothing is free and there may be higher cost associated with more active landscaping.

    If all this fail and as an absolute last resort you could sue your board for breach of contract, on their failure to protect and maintain the common area. Suits of this nature could run up 10;s of thousands of legal cost and the only people that actually win in these cases will be the attorneys. Win or lose the homeowners will end up paying the bills for this litigation. Which could far out weigh the cost of improved landscaping.

    In closing let me make one thing abundantly clear. You are unconditionally bound to pay your assessments under risk of losing your home. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER USE YOUR ASSESSMENT AS PROTEST AGAINST THE BOARD ACTIONS OR INACTIONS. You will always lose in the end and your association’s attorney will be able to buy another new boat or vacation home.

    Thanks
    Dennis

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