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Water Shut-Off at HOA Complex

Submitted by Admin on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 12:34am.

Reported by: Cheryl Conner
Email: conner@wmar.com

Dishes have piled up. Bottled water is essential. People who live in the Bynum Woods community are trying to figure out why their water was shut-off for a day.

"Why are we the ones suffering when we've paid our bills. We're caught up with everything. We should still be able to wash our clothes, brush our teeth, take a shower," said one resident who doesn’t want to be identified.

ABC2News was at the complex when the water was turned back on, giving some relief to homeowners. Some say it's unfair that the homeowners association is now requiring residents to pay a one-time charge of $150.

But homeowner Tim Arnold says he understands why the extra money is needed.

"This is a fantasy land for people who think they can stay here and live with a 50- some-dollar-a-month association fee," said Arnold.

The property manager would not speak on camera. But Jim Conway with JC Property Services says the price of services covered in the HOA, like garbage removal, have gone up.

Also, $3,000 is missing from people who haven't paid, but he says the special assessment is needed regardless of the delinquency. Still, some don't buy the argument.

"We're struggling just like everyone else. And we just can't afford to pay for expenses that aren't our own," said the homeowner who wishes to remain anonymous.

The water was shut-off until two-thirds of the residents voted in favor of that assessment. Enough votes came in Thursday morning. The checks were cashed, and the water was restored.

Homeowners wonder why everyone was without service when there are individual meters in homes. But a spokesman for Harford County say the Department of Public Works comes out and reads one meter for the complex, which has 50 homes.

Those homes could be without basic services again if the HOA doesn't increase the dues to keep up with service payments.

There will be a vote in the coming months to increase the HOA fee to around $80 from the current $54. Right now, the bylaws say the HOA can only go up five percent every year.

Source


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Sounds like the HOA is

Submitted by Anonymous12345 (not verified) on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 7:55am.

Sounds like the HOA is operating as an interloper between the utility company and the actual customers. An opportunity ripe for mischief by the HOA and the entity "managing" the HOA. Look at what has happened. As for the HOA dues, the homeowners are paying for their own water. If not for the HOA, there would be no need for the fees paying the HOA management company, insurance policies, etc. This is a negative sum game for the homeowners. The HOA offers nothing of value.


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How little you know about

Submitted by Anony (not verified) on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 9:02am.

How little you know about the Bynum Woods HOA


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If the article accurately

Submitted by Anonymous12345 (not verified) on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 6:42am.

If the article accurately states the facts, then I stand by the points made. The HOA is an interloper between the customers and the utility. The HOA has now entangled assessments with utility services. This is called "bundling" and it is beneficial to the utility provider, HOA management companies, HOA attorneys, and perhaps the HOA corporation but NOT the homeowners.

What "services" do the homeowners really get from the HOA? They should be getting utility bills directly from the utility company instead of having the HOA acting as an interloper. If not for the useless HOA, you would not have assessments that get wasted on HOA attorneys, insurance for board members, etc. and you wouldn't have this problem in particular.


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Interloper nonsense. Give us

Submitted by Anonymous2222 (not verified) on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 11:22am.

Interloper nonsense. Give us a break from your paranoia. It's not the HOA that set up the relationship with the utility, that would have begun with the developer and it stands until it's rescinded; pure and simple.

Whenever I see your paranoid rants I always hear the theme to Twilight Zone.

The services HOA members receive are directly correlated to what their covenants state and nothing more. This isn't new. There's requirements to pay for insurance, attorneys, property manager, etc. just try and find one that doesn't and you'll find an association that's likely in the red and demanding assessments.

HOA's exist because of local government demands of the developers for the development to exist in the first place. Unless there is a concerted effort to end the formation of HOA's they're here to stay and that means the members must participate and not be apathetic and just complain like anonymous12345. It would be nice if HOA's no longer existed, but for now either participate or move out when you can.


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