AZHOC - Arizona Homeowners Coalition
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Executive Mtg

The Board of Directors held an executive meeting to discuss a light repair proposal and a Management agent addendum. The Mgmt agent contract addendum deals with a negotiation between the Board and Mgmt agent regarding...
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POA and white roofs

I live in a POA association which encompasses many homes. 4100 lots are covered Welcome SRP, our electric supplier, is offering a rebate for home owners who coat their flat roof white as an energy...
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HOA Landscapers

Hi, The HOA landscapers recently dug up 8 plants from behind my wall. I had a landscaper designer measure my property line with a measuring wheel and based upon his measurements, my property extends 7’...
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  • From Rhonda Wakai on HOA not having annual meeting

    Thank you for including the clause about “all votes to be by secret ballot”.

    Go to comment
    2023/06/08 at 5:26 am
  • From Sunny Bird on HOA not having annual meeting

    Thanks for the reply Dennis. Hopefully you can get something passed, because with a lot of people renting houses these days trying to get 50% quorum is impossible.

    Go to comment
    2023/06/07 at 8:41 am
  • From Dennis Legere on HOA not having annual meeting

    Sunny,

    Unfortunately, this happens in far too many communities. This is the fact. State law requires a meeting of the members to be held annually. it does not say that a meeting must be called annually but rather it must be held. If a quorum is not achieved the meeting is not held and must be reconvened until it is held. Everyone uses the excuse of the unreasonable quorum requirements and the hardship, but no-one remembers that for the most part the board alone can change the quorum requirements in the bylaws to whatever is reasonable for their community. It’s time for board to get off their backsides and amend their governing documents to facilitate the election and annual meeting process. The problem is that boards don’t want to change the quorum requirement to allow elections to take place because this simply extends their power over the community indefinitely. There are many communities in this state that have never held an election and those board members have protected themselves from any accountability to the members of the community.
    I will no-longer wait for boards to do the right thing for their communities and will work to mandate free and legitimate elections in these communities. My top priority legislation for next session will clarify these laws and limit quorums to 25% or any lower number specified in the governing documents, standardize the voter eligibility requirements and the board candidate requirements and standardize the voting and election process in these communities under state law including all votes to be by secret ballot.
    This madness has to end, the only true power the members have is the power to vote and elect or recall their board. We cannot allow these communities to continue to suppress that power by their incompetence.

    Dennis

    Go to comment
    2023/06/06 at 6:47 pm
  • From Rhonda Wakai on Roadway Ownership

    Great, Dennis. Thank you! Luckily, I know already how to search all of those resources you listed!! I know we do take on the responsibility of maintenance, so signs are pointing toward private ownership.

    Go to comment
    2023/06/06 at 6:54 am
  • From Dennis Legere on Roadway Ownership

    Rhonda
    The County tax assessor’s office also has tax maps for every lot in your development including the lots owned by the association as common property. If the area of your streets are shown as lots or parcels then you own the streets. If your community is gated then the streets have to be privately owned.

    Dennis

    Go to comment
    2023/06/06 at 6:51 am
  • From Dennis Legere on Roadway Ownership

    Rhonda,

    The plat for your community must describe all common property usually as “Tracts” if your streets are not included in tracts than they are public streets owned by the city or county. The plat is part of the declaration and recorded in the county recorder’s office. It will also be clear that the streets belong to you if your association maintains them and includes them in your long rang maintenance plans for your reserves.

    Dennis

    Go to comment
    2023/06/06 at 6:47 am
  • From Dennis Legere on Legality of disclosing neighbor personal contact info before purchase

    Prairiebelle,

    Typically contact information like e-mail accounts and phone numbers is treated as personal information and maintained confidential unless the individual approves their release. Nothing in the law however, requires that.
    If the individual involved whose personal information was released by the association without their consent should contact the association and file a complaint. The name and mailing address of the homeowner is public information and free to be deiminated at any time.

    Dennis

    Go to comment
    2023/06/05 at 11:54 am
  • From Kellie Benway on Is there an entity that oversees my HOA Board?

    Thanks for the response. What do I do if they don’t comply with the meeting rules? Is there someone I can make a complaint to? I am going to notify them today about the meeting rules I don’t expect they will comply however. They have shown nothing but inconsideration to myself and most likely others.

    Go to comment
    2023/06/05 at 8:44 am
    • From Dennis Legere on Is there an entity that oversees my HOA Board?

      Kellie,
      Unfortunately, the only way for homeowners to enforce the law is either thru the court system or the ballot box. If the board refused to comply with the law then you can organize a petition for a special meeting of the members to recall the board. The law also provides for a dispute resolution process administered by the Dept. Of Real Estate that allows your case to be heard before an administrative law judge. The burden of proof is on you to prove that the association either violated the law or the governing documents. This process will cost you $500 per issue raised as an application fee.
      Dennis

      Go to comment
      2023/06/05 at 11:47 am
  • From Dennis Legere on Is there an entity that oversees my HOA Board?

    Kellie,

    Your association board has absolutely no obligation to make everyone happy, their only obligation is to act in the best interest of the community as a whole. Any board that tries to make everyone happy will fail miserably. That is simply human nature, we have only ourselves to make us happy.

    There is no organization overseeing HOA or Condominiums in Arizona. What are your issue and concerns? Maybe I can provide you some advice that helps you understand and deal with your association board. Or clarify the laws governing these communities.

    Dennis

    Go to comment
    2023/06/05 at 6:56 am
    • From Kellie Benway on Is there an entity that oversees my HOA Board?

      Thanks for responding.
      The HOA board consists of 5 members and 4 of them live in this small 24 unit complex. There are 16 units being rented and the rest are owner occupied I was told. I just bought this condo in July 2022 so I’m new. There is no website. The board does not post meetings, the board does not post minutes, the board does not respond to emails. The last meeting I was told by my neighbor a board member would be on Saturday June 3rd at 11am by the pool area. I went to the pool area at 11 am and no one showed up. I went back up to my condo after waiting for 20 minutes at the pool and I sent an email to the board asking if the meeting had been changed to a different time and that I was there waiting. On the same day,I received a voice message at 1pm stating the meeting time had been changed to 2pm. I was given an hour notice. I could not attend.
      There are so many issues here. This place was built in 1959. It looks like it was built in 1959. It needs updating and maintenance. For example, the pool needs to be re-plastered It is stained although the board told me it is “clean”. There is a medium sized storage area that only the president or board members have access to I was told by a board member. It is locked. I would like to see the inside of this area, The driveway is full of potholes. The board chose to not get fiduciary insurance which is stated in the rules. I know this because when I tried to buy my property my mortgage person told me that the HOA needed this before I could get the loan. The board said they would not agree to purchase this, so ultimately the seller of my condo had to buy a year of this fiduciary insurance which is about to expire this year in July. There are other issues.
      This could be a fantastic complex a place where people may actually want to live. It’s in a great location. But it needs to be updated and then maintained which is not being done. Some solutions, I think a website where people could report maintenance issues and where board meetings and minutes could be posted for all to see would build trust and respect. I’m about ready to move out because I feel like nobody is listening to me yet they’re taking my money every month. Thank you.

      Go to comment
      2023/06/05 at 7:24 am
      • From Dennis Legere on Is there an entity that oversees my HOA Board?

        Kellie,
        It sounds from your discussion that you live in a condominium. The issues relative to meeting notices and responsiveness and transparency are why we have open meeting laws in this state relative to these communities. The association is required by law to provide notice of a board meeting time and place 48 hours prior to the meeting. This is not optional, they can either hold the meeting as noticed or delay the meeting 48 hours to allow for a new meeting notice.

        As a condominium from what your described there were many reasons why you were not allowed to a conventional mortgage besides insurance including the amount of units that are being rented. It is the fiduciary duty of the board to maintain liability and property insurance for all common areas. No matter what the so call justification of the board to not do so is a breach of duty on their part and they could each individually be held liable for that breach of duty. I’ve no idea what you are referring to relative to “fiduciary insurance” and cannot understand how you were able to get any insurance over common property. Obviously, you can get insurance to protect your unit and anything that you would be personally liable for.
        Many small communities do not have websites but because they are small, they may not need them if people simply talk to each other. The key to issues facing your community is involvement by the owners and holding your board accountable to do the job you put them in that position to do. If people don’t get invoved or don’t care, you get what you pay for. Talk to your neighbors, they see all the same things that you see and if the board does not listen remove them from office and replace them with members that will.

        Dennis

        Go to comment
        2023/06/05 at 8:33 am
  • From Dennis Legere on Online voting

    Keith,
    Let me first thank you for your very generous donation, please do not believe that I expect anything for my help. This is a very controversial issue. In 2016 state law was changed to allow non-profit corporations to use on-line voting systems. The statute that was modified was ARS 10-3708. All HOA attorneys and community managers immediately informed all association boards that they can now use on-line voting if they want, because they are all for the most part non-profit corporations. Ignoring the fact that the non-profit corporation act cannot supersede any provision in the planned community or condominium act. Both those statutes specifically identify that all voting in these communities must be done in-person and by absentee ballot. Additionally, both the planned community act and condominium act specifically excludes the use of ARS 10-3708 for these communities. This is not convenient for the HOA attorneys, so they just ignore it claiming that an on-line voting system is simply another form of delivery for absentee ballots. This is simply untrue, as these systems are complex voting programs accessed via the internet and easily manipulated.
    It has always been by understanding of the literal language in the statutes that on-line voting is not appropriate for these communities based on the current law. The most significant issue here is that even in the non-profit corporation statute, the use of an online system is only authorized if certain conditions are met and the corporation allows anyone that does not want to use the on-line system to be provided a paper ballot. This is another issue that the attorneys and community managers conveniently ignore or forget to tell homeowners. You absolutely under any circumstance must be allowed to use a paper in-person or absentee ballot. They don’t want to have to do any more work and don’t want you to know that you have a choice.
    I personally don’t have a problem with the use of an on-line voting system as long as the association board and the community managers are not allowed to manage the system during the voting process and adequate controls are applied to ensure the integrity of the voting process. These systems are most useful for large communities and of very little value for small communities.
    I’ll be proposing legislation to reform the entire voting process for these communities and allowing an on-line voting system with the necessary controls in place. Even in my proposed legislation any homeowner that is not comfortable with the use of an on-line voting system must be allowed to vote with a paper ballot.

    To your very simple question, these systems are in use throughout the state in large communities today and in my opinion this is totally illegal under Arizona Law as it applies today.

    Dennis

    Go to comment
    2023/06/04 at 6:50 pm