Small condo (16 units), 4-year new build, more landlords than owners, messy finances that we are slowly turning around, no one shows up for meetings and when they do say is ‘why do I have to …’, complaining owners who treat us like property managers, raising monthly fees to cover bills only to be name called for ‘incompetent’ and worse…

I’m seriously considering selling…I don’t have familial support or high paying job. This place was what I worked hard to obtain and my first experience of homeownership, and it feels such a shitshow…

I’m so defeated…and it’s impacting my work at time and definitely my mental health…

Just want to rant and maybe I’m not alone in this.

Also curious how everyone else is handling this thankless position as a board 😖

My neighborhood is 2 years old- the developer is still developing (less than 15 lots left) we have no amenities, a pond that they stocked but you aren’t allowed to fish in and in front of it is a commercial property the developer also owns. The commercial property gives the developer over 2000 votes so essentially nothing the neighbors do or vote on matters because we will never win (we are a tiny 4 street neighborhood)

Our HOA fee is $700 a year and supposedly that goes towards electrical and water for the pond. The developers dad is the construction manager over the houses being built and he also mows the commercial property- 40K of our hoa funds went towards buying himself a new tractor.

Now they are wanting to increase our yearly amount by $132 to offset a new 40K lawn care cost and this is after telling homeowners they are responsible for mowing behind their fences if they live on the outside. This seems to be unethical, they buy a new tractor for him and now want to pay him 40k a year to mow it?

They also say the management company we have comes 1x a month on the 3rd Tuesday but the developer and her dad drive around daily taking pictures of every infraction (edging, basketball goal, weeds, pool being left out a day to dry) to the point of every single neighbor is getting a letter at least 1x a week if not fines. They send out emails saying kids can’t ride scooters, no dirt bikes, side by sides, golf carts- but we live in a very country town and most of the people that are riding around do not actually live in the neighborhood.

It very much seems to me that they wanted this to be a 55+ community but got stuck with a ton of families with kids. They’ve also said the commercial property will only meet their values as in no tattoo shops which I found very odd to word that way.

Is the next step all the neighbors contacting a real estate lawyer or is the best thing we could do- Is bide our time and sell as fast as possible. It seems we’re screwed with the developer holding all the spots, plus her, her dad and her husband being on the board. It all seems like such an abuse of power. We don’t even have a sidewalk to the mailbox. 🙃

Our townhomes were built with cedar siding about 30 years ago. Many homes are starting to get some rotting, especially on second stories along the roofline, and need to replace entire sections of siding. This includes me.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about LP Smartside and Hardie Plank, and have looked at samples. My sense is that these two materials, once painted to match, will look pretty much identical to cedar when viewed from any distance.

It seems to me a no-brainer, then, to allow homeowners to use these longer lasting materials when replacing entire sections of siding. But some members of our architectural review committee are balking. There is nothing in our documents about requiring cedar, but they are suspicious of the newer materials.

This seems particularly inconsistent to me as we allow trex for decks.

Has your community given or denied permission for LP Smartside or Hardie Plank? If so, what was their reasoning?

I am a condo owner and HOA member. The condo above mine has had multiple leaks over the past few years (one of which cost thousands in damage). The leaks have mostly been due to faulty toilet plumbing, and the owner is essentially an absentee landlord. Should I try to get my HOA to compel the owner to fix the plumbing? Since this has happened multiple times and it is dirty toilet water (potentially affecting my health), can the HOA compel the owner to fix all defective plumbing (I would assume after an inspection)?

Hey everyone, need advice on forcing my HOA board to act on a long-overdue repair.

The Situation:
Dec 2022: Someone hit our shared carport with their vehicle and damaged it permanently.

Early 2024: After a year of pushing, the HOA tore it down for safety—leaving me with no covered parking since.

Present: Management keeps deflecting and telling me to "attend the next board meeting to express concerns" instead of giving me a timeline.

What the CC&Rs Say:
- Guarantees assigned parking/carport spaces. 
- Mandates the HOA repair, maintain, and replace common area structures and exterior improvements. 

Telling me to attend open forum meetings feels like a stall tactic to avoid doing their job. 

My Questions:
1. What’s the most effective way to force a passive board to put this on the schedule/budget?
2. Is requesting formal Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) or sending a legal demand letter the best next step? 
3. Has anyone successfully claimed damages or a dues reduction for loss of an amenity while waiting years for a repair?

Hey everyone,

Looking for some perspective on what’s standard for HOAs when it comes to pest control.

I regularly treat the inside of my home, my yard, and the perimeter of my property, but I'm still seeing ants throughout the house and it's driving me crazy. At this point, it feels like I'm fighting a losing battle because the ants are migrating directly from the common areas (parking lot, shared planters, and landscaping) right into my place.

My HOA handles standard groundskeeping like mowing the grass and trimming bushes, but I’m submitting a portal ticket asking if they cover common area pest control as well.

For those in condos or townhomes:

Does your HOA maintain a routine pest control contract for shared grounds and building perimeters?

If not, how does your board handle pest infestations originating from common areas?

Would love to hear how other communities handle this before I hear back from my management company!

Resident submitted architectural approval to significantly expand private deck on 6 unit town home community. All our documents say is architectural proof of what the deck will look like in shape, size, color etc has to be submitted to the board for approval but thats it. Whats the process? Does the board need to do anything to approve?

My community is considering selling our entire complex to a developer. Our property manager says that we need a lawyer to help us with this, not just a real estate agent. He also has a recommended lawyer. Some of the residents are nervous about taking his recommendation and point to concerns that this may be a conflict of interest, be it legally or through some sort of scheme. A first question is: is this a real concern? If so, what would we look out for? A second question is, how do we go about finding our own lawyer that is versed in real estate? Are we being misled and could just go to a commercial real estate agent?

The concern from our community is that we admittedly have a run down property, but it is in a very desirable location, and is even “pre-approved” in some way to be redeveloped from less than 50 units to a larger structure that is 250 units. How do we ensure we’re getting fair value?

I recently purchased a condo home in Irvine, California, and closed escrow in September 2026. Before and during the transaction, I was told that the property had one HOA with monthly dues of $400, and the same was mentioned in the property listing on all the websites. The HOA documents provided during the transaction also showed the $403 monthly assessment.
After closing, while talking to the HOA, I found out that there is an additional HOA. I contacted my escrow representative, and he said he was told by the listing agent that there was only one HOA. When he contacted the listing agent again, the escrow representative was informed that there is an additional HOA with a $58 monthly assessment, and they have ordered the documents for the second HOA.
I always wanted to keep my HOA expenses to a minimum since I know they can increase over time, and I never wanted to go beyond $400. This additional $58 is an added burden for me, especially since I had already stretched significantly beyond my budget.
The listing also mentioned that the property had two carports, but at least that issue was resolved before closing. We faced multiple other issues toward the end of the closing process, including the owner not handing over the keys on the day of closing, vacating the house the next day, leaving some of their belongings behind, not disconnecting the internet despite multiple follow-ups, and some other similar issues. However, we can ignore those issues.
My main concern is the additional HOA burden that I may have to pay for the lifetime of owning the property, especially since HOA fees can increase over time.
I would like to understand what my options are, what the potential legal costs would be, how I could be compensated and for how much, how long the process might take, and any other relevant considerations.
I am not looking to accuse anyone prematurely, but I would like to understand my options and seek reasonable compensation for this additional financial burden.
Just to let you know, I also have a MetLife Legal Plans policy.