Homeowners Assocations (Simpson: real estate, HOA, attorney)

[cstownhomes]

How can owners of townhomes in a mixed community break away from the present HOA and form its own?

[Tober138]

[chicagocubs]

Originally Posted by cstownhomes

How can owners of townhomes in a mixed community break away from the present HOA and form its own?

I think that would require a deed change. Pls consult a Real Estate atty.

[Jake Ryan]

I would imagine it would take a lot of time, $$ and effort. Is the HOA THAT bad?

[ultraviolet*]

I wish ours would!

Oops, did I say that out loud?

[DV8]

Originally Posted by chicagocubs

I think that would require a deed change. Pls consult a Real Estate atty.

Good advice.

Asking that question on a forum is going to get you a different answer from each reply. Consult with an attorney for the best answer. Speaking from experience I can tell you that typically the entire community is under the same umbrella, so it's usually not possible. If it was, in theory you could have a cluster of say 10 homes in any given community break away and form their own little HOA within the community. So I wouldn't hold your breath.

[Blue Moon Athena]

The “loose” answer to your question is yes, it can be done. But it would probably require a super-majority (67% or 76%) approval of owners in the current association. And unless there is a good reason for the majority of owners to vote in that direction, why would they? In most associations, it’s difficult enough to get enough owners to vote on anything, let alone getting enough of them to vote in one direction. But that would only be the starting point of the process, which, as someone else posted, would require a tidy sum of money for legal fees.

In most instances, when someone feels that there is a problem with an association what they actually mean that there is a problem with either individuals on the board of directors, the management company (assuming your association uses one) or rules/regulations that are part of the association documents. Any of those three are more easily dealt with than it would be to attempt to secede from the association.

If it’s a problem with the board, vote ‘em out. If it’s a problem with the management company, fire ‘em and hire a new one. If it’s a problem with the rules, change ‘em.