I live in an area that was a developed community. When we purchased over 10 years ago there were wonderful walking paths, access to a small lake with a gazebo, and biking trails. Well, it’s 10 years later, and the paths are non-existing, the trails go through people’s driveways, and the gazebo is falling apart. When I talk to the development company they just don’t bother to respond. Is there anything we homeowners can do?
When a community is developed the developer has several options to draw people into the community. First the developer can establish a community with ‘common’ areas that are owned by the developer and eventually handed off to a Home Owners Association or HOA. Each home owner is a member of the Association, they vote for the officers of the association, and hire a group to oversee the maintenance needs of the common areas, called a Management Group. The common areas would include the trails, the gazebo, the lake, and sometimes the roads and sidewalks.
The HOA has a fee that is charged to each homeowner. That fee pays for the expenses of the common areas, including the upkeep, taxes and insurance. You see HOA’s in all condo or townhouse settings, but you can also see them with private homeowners.
Additionally if there are homes on a lake, those homeowners will also be part of a Lake Owners Association, and would pay a LOA fee as well as a HOA fee. (If you don’t take care of a small lake or pond, it becomes a swamp really quickly ). The Management group collects the money, pays the taxes and deals with the concerns of the members, such as why are the walking trails are not taken care of.
Now the developer can decide that they will not go through the process of establishing a HOA. It is something that has to be established and approved in accordance with the laws of New York. It’s a long process with lots of paperwork. In that case the developer keeps the common area, and they can pretty much do what they would like with it. There are no promises to the homeowners concerning the areas. It’s just fluff to get them into the development. It would be nice to see them maintained since that’s one of the things that the homeowners expected, but was never guaranteed .
The developer than owns these spaces and has to pay the taxes on them. Hopefully the developers will remain in the area, but I have seen where they finish the development, and just close shop, leaving these areas to what ever happens with land that is too small to develop.
A HOA really has to be developed prior to the homes being built. It’s hard to force homeowners into an Association that they have to pay a yearly fee to after the fact. Though some owners would be happy to keep the place looking good, and having a little extra, like the bike trails, or walking paths, there are many that would just not care. Sounds like your development didn’t opt for the the HOA. You really don’t have a lot of leverage to get the developer to do anything.
This is a general answer to a general question. Your specific issue should be discussed with your Attorney.
Please forward your questions to attorney Kukuvka at 330 E. Main St, Palmyra, NY 14522 or to cklaw@verizon.net