Author Archives: staff
KHOU – Local homeowners rally in Austin to reduce power of HOAs
Local homeowners headed for the state capitol Tuesday morning in hopes of changing the way Home Owner Associations operate in Texas. The homeowners traveled by bus from Sugar Land to Austin to join hundreds of others in an attempt to rally legislators.
To read the entire article, click here.
My San Antonio – HOA Reform Rally Set for Capitol
Do you think your homeowners association has too much power?
If you answered yes – You might want to take a trip to Austin tomorrow and give lawmakers an earful.
In the past few months I’ve reported on HOA board members lavishly spending homeowners money, the president of an HOA rigging an election and interviewed homeowners who had their homes foreclosed on because they owed a few hundred bucks in past dues.
The HOA Reform Coalition is holding a rally and says on its website – “HOAs have broad governmental powers with no oversight. HOAs tax, fine, and sue homeowners with little accountability because boards are controlled by developers or unfair election schemes.
To read the entire article, click here.
HOA Punishing Homeowner for Solar Panel Improvements
Since June David Tharakan has been fighting his HOA for the right to install solar panels on his home. The HOA insists that the panels are an unapproved improvement and are refusing to allow him to keep them.
Read Tharakan’s story and watch the news video from KSAT 12 by clicking here.
Houstonian loses home to HOA legal fees
She got caught up on her payments, but the lawyers want thousands in fees for sending her form letters and legal documents.
See story on Fox here.
HOA Reform Rally at Texas Capitol – Feb 15
IT’S TIME for CHANGE! Join the Coalition for HOA Reform Rally on the South steps of the Capitol in Austin on February 15, 2011. There will be a Press Conference at 12 Noon. Please try to arrive at 10:00 am so that we may gather for instructions and material. Handouts will be available for homeowners to take to their legislators listing the changes needed.
Homeowners will be able to visit their senators and representatives to voice their personal concerns and need for change!
Sun City HOA Draws Objections Over New Golf Course Costs
A controversy is growing in Sun City Texas over whether residents should have to pay an extra $241,000 per year from their homeowners fees for taxes and insurance for the community’s three golf courses and the salary of an operations director.
The developer, Pulte Homes, had been paying the taxes and insurance costs for the golf courses, but Sun City’s community association board voted in November to switch the costs to the homeowners.
More than 600 residents of the retirement community near Georgetown attended a meeting Thursday organized by Byron Raynie, a resident who is organizing a protest of the association’s decision. The association’s decision violates a 2008 legal agreement in which the developer agreed to pay for any losses in the operational costs of the golf courses, he said.
Story continues, here.
HOA in Cypress Won’t Let Vet Fly US Flag
Another symptom of the problem. HOAs continue to assert too much influence over homeowners time and time again. This ex-Marine was sued by the HOA for flying a United States Flag on a free standing pole. Nina Tran, the attorney representing the Lakeland Village Community Association, said her client encourages that residents fly the American flag but has regulations in place to be consistent with its members:
“If you have a freestanding flagpole, someone may eventually want a 50- or 100-foot pole,” said Tran. “Everyone is in support of displaying a freestanding pole. But what if someone wants to display a swastika? There may be future things that are offensive to one person and supported by someone else.”
The story was covered by ABC News on January 13, 2011 here.
My Fox Houston – HOA Reform Rally
Would you like to know what legal rights you have when dealing with your homeowners association? Do you think there needs to be tougher state laws addressing what HOAs can and cannot do?
If you answered yes to either of those questions, there’s somewhere you need to be on Saturday December 4th between 10 a.m. and noon.
Texas Homeowners for HOA Reform has joined with the National Homeowners Advocate Group and Homeowners for Better Building forming the HOA Reform Coalition in an effort to get HOA reform.
To read the entire story and watch the news broadcast, click here.
KHOU – Northeast Houston residents protest HOA management
A group of northeast Houston residents say they are holding a rally to protest the mismanagement of their neighborhood’s homeowners association.
The resident’s main concern is the locks that were placed on the subdivision’s gates that possibly created a delay for first responders.
Blouis Gipson, who recently lost his wife to a heart attack, said he wonders what would have happened if the Pine Village North subdivision had a different lock on the gates.
“I tried CPR and I called 911 immediately,” said Gipson.
To read the entire story and watch the news broadcast, click here.
Houston HOA Coalition Rally – November 3, 2012
The HOA Reform Coalition held a conference on November 3, 2012, At Salem Lutheran Church in Houston, Texas. Speakers at the conference seemed to focus on fiscal issues, varying in some details but sharing the common, related problem that boards still insist on far too much secrecy. A related problem, increasingly of concern, is that some boards simply refuse to comply with law because they face no effective oversight, including the lack of effective sanctions. Of course previous problems remain.
Of particular concern, there is the problem of boards that have sued owners who dare to oppose them. Homeowners must be strengthened and protected when they exercise their rights to insist on board accountability – not only, but significantly, regarding money; and boards must face stronger laws that ensure they provide information, actually consider issues of concern at open meetings, and follow pro-homeowner policies. There is a need to develop a list of “Fair and Balanced” reforms. There is a need to identify particular reforms that merit high priority in the Legislative session, both as to homes still under developer control and those at later stages.
HOA Reform Coalition 