Hacienda Real HOA Forum

Latest Thievery brought to you by Lake Biltmore Village Ass.

2009-05-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

As owners at Hacienda Real, even though no one ever told you, you are in a double HOA, one inside the other, and you are also owners in Lake Biltmore Village Owners' Association. That ASSociation has NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER to charge any OWNER $15.00 for a key to their own property, but that is what they are proposing. DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS THIEVERY!

Speaking for myself, I have no interest in visiting a foul-smelling, run-down part of the neighborhood rife with registered sex offenders as residents and God only knows who else, and I would not let my kid hang around there either, but you have the right to visit your own property. In the very least, the keys should be given out to members, and no owner should be charged for them. Don't let them take your ownership rights away!

HACIENDA REAL VANDALISM ALERT

2008-09-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

HACIENDA

REAL

VANDALISM

ALERT

HACIENDA REAL HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION

September 16, 2008

Dear Homeowners:

Your fellow homeowners in the HOA would like to advise everyone that there has been, and continues to be, ongoing occurrences of criminal vandalism in Hacienda Real. This criminal activity is occurring particularly at Unit 18 on the corner of Mercer Lane and 29th Drive. The vandal is defacing private property as well as damaging plants.

The plants were put there for the sake of improving property values. We are asking for everyone’s cooperation in identifying who this criminal is. A police report has been made. The homeowner has every intention of prosecuting the individual/individuals once they are identified. A reward is offered for information leading to the prosecution of the vandal.

The vandalism seems to occur in broad daylight when the homeowners are not present, and again, is currently isolated to the area at the corner of 29th Drive and Mercer Lane. We ask that all of you be alert and keep an eye on our community property and immediately report any suspicious behavior to me at 602-978-4720. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Your neighbor

Tenets of HOA Board Members

2008-09-14T12:16:00.001-07:00

Right here at Hacienda Real, where Jehovahs Witnesses like to run the HOA the way their church is run:

1. Erase Individuality – Create Conformity: The First Duty is to ensure that all traces of individuality are erased from the community. Conformity is the creed. Everyone must look alike, think alike, landscape alike, and be alike. Call the lawyers, they’ll advise you as to the exact shades & tones of every house, rooftop & flower in your community.

2. Build a Community of Terror: Ensuring every member of the community feels terrorized ensures submission & subjugation. This is important to ensure conformity. Use the Lawyer.

3. Forced Alienation: If any thinking member comes forward with any questions, or ideas, put their name on the list for daily inspections. Study their habits. If you determine they arrive home every evening at 6pm, then pass a new rule requiring the garbage bins to be brought in by 5pm. This will give you the excuse you need to send them violation notices at least once per week. Then send a copy to the lawyer every time, and instruct the lawyer to send them letters too.

4. Subjugation: If any member dares to question your decisions, especially at meetings or in front of other members, shut them down immediately. Tell them you don’t recognize their right to speak, and tell the group that they are trouble-makers and gadflys that cause disharmony in the community. Then call the lawyer, or pay the lawyer to come to the next meeting. They will listen to the lawyer because everyone believes that the lawyer is the final authority.

5. Provide No Information: Simply make your decisions & implement them. If anyone questions it, see Rule # 4. Then call the lawyer have the lawyer send letters to those questioning it to silence them.

6. Provide No Accounting: Send out a newsletter notifying everyone that their dues are going up and tell them only that “expenses are rising”. If they complain as a group blame it on the one you labeled a gadfly and explain to them how that member is forcing you to call the lawyer every month.

7. Disregard All Laws: You are a private community and you are above the law. There is no oversight, no checks and balances, and you do not have to adhere to anything. If anyone one or group of people show up to the meeting spouting the laws, have them removed, and call the lawyer.

8. Recognize Financial Limits: Pay the lawyer first every month. Make sure to put away 20% of all money collected into the reserve fund. We’ll teach you how to make this money disappear during private consultation with the lawyer. Then use some of what’s left to maintain the community. If funds fall short that month skip the area in and around the gadfly’s house.

9. Capitalize on Opportunity: If you hear that one of the resident’s has fallen ill or has an extended stay in the hospital. Take that opportunity to send him past due notices. It doesn’t matter if he’s already paid, he has to prove it. Make sure to send copies to the lawyer, so they can send him letters too and collect their fees for doing it.

10. Rule with an iron fist: Your rules are your rules. If you start bending them in any way for any kind of special circumstance you are opening the door for chaos. Remember, there can be no “special circumstance” in a truly successful conformed community. If everyone is the same, then there are no special circumstances or reasonable arguments. Even if the entire community bans together to disagree with you and threatens to vote you out, don’t worry and don’t give in. Just make sure the votes are counted in private, and then give them the tally that you won again. Your perpetual service, will ensure that the conformity and subjugation you’ve created will be maintained. Remember to send copies of the tally to the lawyer.

The final rule of thumb: When in doubt, call the lawyer.

News Articles about HOAs in AZ

2008-09-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

HOAS in disrepute - AZ Rep

What you don't know about your HOA

Loads of relevant articles here

Another piece of garbage from the HOA Board

2008-09-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

Hacienda Real HOA Board is guilty of littering. They keep putting pieces of paper on my patio. Stop it already, litterbugs. I don't want your garbage. Save a tree, ferchrissakes! Oh, yeah, how could I forget - you all hate trees, don't you?

At least you could act like professionally and use the US Postal Service if you intend people to actually read your crap.

Anyway, this latest communique rants about vandalism. I guess what goes around comes around. It has been well-documented that the Hacienda Real Board has committed acts of vandalism towards certain targeted homeowners for years, and now it appears they are getting vandalized in return. Karma can be a bitch, can't it?

These notices claim someone is removing the cheesy plastic towing signs that have been put up recently here and there around the community. The notice states the signs were put up for safety reasons. BULLSHIT! They were only put up to harass certain, but not all, homeowners who have friends who park on the HOA's street, in the assigned parking spaces, near their homes. Three of the seven signs put up throughout the HOA are located within very close proximity (10 yards or less) to my house. More selective harassment by that idiotic HOA board.

In reality the Board ought to reward this rare and exemplary attempt to beautify our community! Wouldn't it be wonderful if the HOA Board would do something positive for the homeowners for a change, instead of harassing them? There are still dead trees that can be disposed of, so please, go occupy yourselves with something worthwhile for a change.

Latest conversation with Don Abbott

2008-09-12T07:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening as I was walking my dog, who should drive up but my gayboor, Don Abbott. Not really wanting to waste any time talking to this idiot, I started walking towards my house.

DON:"Have you seen who is removing the new "no parking" signs we have put up?"
ME:"No Don, the only thing I've seen is the nasty email you put in my mailbox."
DON:"I didn't put anything in your mailbox, you old bitch. If you were nicer, people would like you. Just get the hell out of our HOA!" (Oh,yeah, nice like you, Don?)
ME::"Just now you said exactly what you wrote on the email, the same phrases."
DON:"Well, you are an old bitch and you write nasty things on your blog."
ME: "Bite me, Don. Last I heard was we have certain freedoms in this country, one them being the ability to express oneself legally. Unlike you, I don't feel the need to break laws and harass people by stuffing nasty notes in people's mailboxes. And I don't need to drive up in a van and yell profanities through the window at people either."

(Hello - Don! I'm a good 20 years younger than you, so what does that make you, my great auntie?) Does the truth hurt, Don?

How's this: Wake up Don. You are a needy, mysogynistic, old homosexual and you are being used by Dale Maus to accomplish things around the HOA for him. Have you seen how they mock you? I have. Have you seen the hatred and listened to that nasty Dorothy Maus and what she really thinks about you? She never tried to hide it at the HOA board meetings.
You are just a tool, fool, and you are just being used. Quit drinking their koolaid. If you weren't so needy you would realize that these are not nice people and they do not have best interest of the community in mind when they manipulate people. They are corrupt, incompetent, nasty people. They have so pathetically little going on in their tiny little insignificant lives that they take pleasure in trying to control people living in this little bitty 28 house HOA. Too bad if the truth hurts.
Now, stay the hell away from my house. I have witnesses that have seen you snooping around, and looking in my windows. Have you been taking snooping lessons from Barbara Hoggan? Do I need to get an order of protection?
You all really need to get a life. Why don't you all do something useful and set up a neighborhood watch group, perhaps integrate with some of the neighborhood outside of Hacienda Real? Mercy Salaz (salas98@aol.com) is now in charge of the Cholla Neighborhood Association, and I'm sure she could use your help. God only knows she is nicer and doing much more for the neighborhood and the community than the idiots running Hacienda Real HOA ever will.

2008 Annual report was due in March, doesn't get updated until September

2008-08-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

And even then there are several errors. Most troubling is that it is posted on the Corporation Commission's website that the monthly dues are listed as of June are $180, not as I was informed in writing, $190. All homeowners in the HOA should be informed of this discrepancy and an audit of the HOA's books needs to happen. This, combined with the fact that Dorothy Maus is listed as treasurer and Hacienda Real HOA pays dues to the Biltmore Neighborhood Association which Dale Maus, her husband is treasurer of, is extremely troubling. People of Hacienda Real HOA should be informed of this quite obvious conflict of interest and potential for defalcation. 2008 Annual Report for Hacienda Real HOA So there will be a little adjustment in my payment this month, as I will deduct $10 for every month that I have overpaid as a result of your "mistake". Don Abbott is not a director, clowns. Doesn't your "HOA Manager" even know how to read and complete the Corporation Commission Annual Report? Isn't anyone in the HOA Board capable of checking her work? For the love of God, get it together, people. Let's get rid of the idiots running this HOA once and for all. Better yet, let's dissolve this HOA. I'm sick of having these idiots try to tell me how to live my life when they can't even fill out a simple form correctly.

What idiot would prune a fig tree with fruit still on it?

2008-08-15T08:02:00.001-07:00

Hacienda Real HOA Board: Get a clue already! Anyone with a bit of common sense would know this.
Call the County Extension and get some free advice. 623-546-1672 M-F 9am-12pm

Or email them. You can post your question right here:
Ask a Master Gardener

The collective lot of you clearly know nothing about pruning trees. If you had any inkling of common sense you would not prune a fruit tree when it still had fruit on it. That is wasteful, for starters. Squandering community assets. Secondly, some homeowners in the HOA actually enjoy that fruit (and I'm not the only one), and you removed that benefit from the homeowners. You are idiots, you aren't fit to run this HOA so do us all a big favor and retire already.

Is it going to take a lawsuit to wake you fools up? There are four units for sale in this community, and no one will want to buy any of these if there is a lawsuit pending against the HOA. Keep it up and there will be soon.

There are numerous trees that do need your attention and a great deal of pruning. The palms trees haven't been taken care of in at least four years, and they look it.

Take this bush located next to the Maus house.(See photo below) Isn't it strange how the plants around their house are spared from your butchering? That's conflict of interest in action, folks. Also yet another example of selective enforcement, which is illegal.

Do yourselves a favor, and keep your gardening shears away from things you shouldn't go near. Like fruit trees with fruit on them, and plants planted by homeowners in the non-common areas.

Burglary Fantasy Revenge

2008-08-14T17:40:00.000-07:00

I have often thought of learning how to bend and twist metal into wrought iron and weld the curled strips together, transforming it into something strong and beautiful. Lately as so many people have been telling me the tweekers are just melting down all the precious metal treasures they steal to sell for dope to poison their bodies I fantasize about how I could use those metal tools to extract my revenge on the tweekers that ripped me off. First pound them to a pulp with the mallet. Then use the welding torch on their balls just like one would do when roasting marshmallows over a fire - until they are crispy & black on the outside and oozing on the inside. Yumm. Revenge will be delicious.

Who are the buyers of this metal anyway? Don't they see there are handmade objects of art, not just scrap metal to be melted down? Don't they see the sellers are just tweekers hungry for their next fix? Can't we hold the metal buyers as responsible as we do pawn shops?

Yippee! Someone can read!

2008-08-13T09:31:00.001-07:00

I posted pictures of two dead trees in the HOA a couple days ago and they have been taken care of. If nothing else, this blog does communicate.

Yesterday, someone placed the following half-page of paper on my patio:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ATTENTION HOMEOWNERS! 8/12/2008

FOR YOUR INFORMATION.. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL BREAKINS ACROSS 28TH DRIVE RECENTLY. ENTRY HAS BEEN THROUGH THE SKYLIGHTS.

PLEASE WATCH FOR ANY UNUSUAL ACTIVITY IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

THANK YOU
HACIENDA REAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I contacted the detective who is working on my break-in, and he said that there hasn't been any spike in break-ins in the area, just the normal number, and as far as he has seen, none of the break-ins happened through the skylights. As our little clique of HOA Board busybodies thrive on gossip, they likely confused gossip about a break-in and gossip about someone having their skylights replaced.

In any case, the note is less than helpful. For one thing, they've already been to our community and they've already broken in. The note says to watch. Period. Watch and then what? Watch them come and watch them go? Watch garage doors open for hours on end and do nothing?

Wouldn't it be a better idea to organize some kind of block watch, and have the Phoenix Police come out to help train people with this, so everybody actually knew what would be the best thing to do in the event someone were watching and saw any unusual activity? How about a review of the CC&Rs and/or other rules, codes of conduct and highlight those rules which pertain to security in and around the complex? Months ago Don Abbott said the locks would be changed on the common area gates so they become self-locking. That has yet to happen.

Meanwhile, why doesn't the erstwhile board take a break from the gossiping and find a metalworker willing to put grates in skylights for a decent price that will prevent that kind of unwanted entry?

Game Over at Hacienda Real HOA

2008-08-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

The last straw came on Thursday (just coincidentally with the return of the nasty Maus household).

First, a little background:

A few years ago, there was a lovely little tangelo tree planted behind my unit. The leaves didn't look altogether right, but the fruit was tasty and plentiful. I was a board member at the time. The board president, Sue Doyle, commented that there was something wrong with the tangelo tree. I volunteered to contact the county extension service to find out what was wrong and get back to the board at the next meeting.

But that was not enough for Suzie. Did she research it herself? Oh no. Did she ask me to be quicker about finding an answer? Oh no. Instead, at a community cleanup day, she saw an opportunity to use free labor to destroy the tree. No discussion. No permission. She made an "executive decision" and simply ordered it cut down.

That tree shaded my bedroom and provided nice fruit, so I complained. The board did nothing except Dale Maus went around and slandered me to neighbors and solicited enough signatures to get me kicked off the board. I offered to replace the tree at my cost. The board refused. I took them to city mediation, where the board "conceded" and backed down all the way to letting me replace the tree they erroneously cut down. At my cost, of course. If they had a clue they would have made Sue Doyle liable for that tree in the first place. Idiots.

What the board failed, and still fails to realize is that trees add value to the community. They do not understand that being on a board gives them a fiduciary duty to maintain the property and by cutting down trees right and left without any replacement plan, they are failing that duty. If they had waited until the next board meeting as was originally intended they would have learned what I learned from the county extension office: that the tree had thrips, a non-fatal pest common to citrus, and the tree could still be there, providing shade and growing nice fruit.
There have been many more trees cut since then yet none have been planted.
Idiots.

Next, a large planter was stolen from my property.

A new hose was stolen and replaced with an older one.

Another hose was cut in half.

Hundreds of dollars of plantings have been torn out or mowed over.

A vine I planted was ordered to be removed, even though I asked for and was given permission to plant around my unit.

A tree shading a west-facing window had a large limb shading that window cut off by a "community volunteer". When I complained to HOA Board member Don Abbott he told me a woman had hit her head on the tree limb and was threatening a lawsuit. I commented that she must have been a very tall woman. He replied that she was indeed quite tall. Turns out it was a completely different tree - right next to Beverly's garage. That particular tree has since been removed. The tree which used to shade our window has continued to have even more branches cut off by these idiots, and now has had so many branches removed there is now no shade at all for that window. See photo.

Then, last Thursday, my property was trespassed. My property was vandalized. My plants were destroyed. Keep in mind that all of these are climbing plants, and they were climbing up a garage wall, helping to shade the garage. The plants that were vandalized were not interfering with access, as we walk through here everyday. Some nasty "community volunteer" maliciously cut down all the climbing plants in the middle of the garage wall for no good reason at all. These plants included climbing roses, clematis and wisteria still in bloom. As you can see in the photo, their intention was not to clear away any of the dead leaves, but merely to destroy something living, pleasant, green and flowering which covered a boring off-white wall.

The Hacienda Real HOA Board is responsible for this activity and from now on, they will be held accountable as well. If plants were blocking access, which they were not, the board would have been correct in requesting that I trim my plants. That did not happen. The HOA board bypassed that process. No notice is ever given the homeowner before these acts occur. Sneaky "community volunteers" wait until homeowners are absent before they vandalize homeowners' property, cut down trees and commit other atrocities.

Yet around the community there are not one but TWO dead trees which need to be removed. Yes, that tall tree with the brown needles next to the gate is dead.

There are walkways that cannot be walked down because hedges have not been trimmed in months.

In the tennis court area we have what looks like a fountain of weeds which has been neglected for at least as long.

One would think they would have enough to do to maintain common area problems before vandalizing private property.

1. All damages from last week's brutal attack on my personal property will be fairly remedied, either voluntarily or through litigation. This time I will not back down from this issue. Ignore this at your risk. I will take you to court. No mediation.

2. Dorothy Maus must be removed from the board. There is a troubling conflict of interest that Dorothy can control the money of this HOA and at the same time her hubbie Dale Maus is treasurer of Biltmore Lakes Neighborhood Association, an organization to which Hacienda Real HOA pay money. Sure hope these people are bonded.

3. Maureen Watrous must be replaced by a real property manager, preferably one on-site. She has a felony assault charge, and that makes her unbondable. Do you really want your dues money to be turned over to someone who cannot be bonded? What that means is she can steal our money and we wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. That is a risk I do not want to take.

4. Concrete steps and real action must be taken to eliminate selective enforcement by the Hacienda Real HOA Board. If that means the whole board is to be replaced, then so be it. It's high time there was some proper housecleaning in this HOA. Let's get rid of the corruption and the complacency.

If these things do not happen, life will go on as it always has at Hacienda Real HOA. Residents who suck up to Dorothy and Dale Maus will continue to do whatever they want, while those who do not will continue to be persecuted. An HOA which behaves in the way Hacienda Real HOA has is no HOA at all, and will be treated accordingly. So if you are on the Hacienda Real HOA board and you don't want to be personally named in a lawsuit, you'll have make some serious changes. It is high time the Hacienda Real HOA Board accepted some responsibility for its unthinking actions.

Break In

2008-07-31T14:34:00.000-07:00

Some tweeker broke in to my unit yesterday, brought his car into the garage, loaded it up and drove away leaving the garage door open.

Isn't it amazing that those noisy neighbors who don't have any problem calling you at both your home and cell phone numbers when they want to tell you your kid is making too much of a racket in the pool can't be bothered to call to check when your garage door is open for hours on end? I wonder how many neighbors noticed this yet did nothing? The two I spoke to, certainly others.

I think there is an HOA "rule" about not leaving your garage door open, so I am rather surprised none of our erstwhile board members got involved when the garage door was open for so long. They'll probably write me a nasty letter after they get done with their stupid and useless anti-parking campaign.

From the AZ Republic

2008-07-21T18:16:00.001-07:00

BY: CLINT G. GOODMAN, ESQ.

QUESTION: My association fined me for weeds on my neighbor’s lawn. I’ve tried to explain that the weeds are not mine but they won’t listen to me and demand that I pay the fine or they will put a lien on my home. Can my HOA really put a lien on my home if I refuse to pay the fine? What about if I refuse to pay my assessments until the fine issue is resolved?

ANSWER: This is the type of case that gives homeowners associations a bad name. As a trial attorney, I see these cases on a daily basis and they almost always happen because HOA boards do not know the law. In the past, associations could record liens and foreclose on a homeowner’s property for almost any reason. You may have read about the 83-year-old woman in Tequesta, Fla., who battled her community over nearly $1.8 million in fines for weeds; the 82-year-old widow who was evicted over $814.50 in unpaid dues; or the California couple whose home was foreclosed because they failed to pay $120 in assessments. Fortunately, our state lawmakers enacted laws to combat situations such as these by addressing when and how liens can be recorded and foreclosed.

Under today’s laws, associations have an “automatic lien” against every home in the association for unpaid assessments. Assessments are the dues paid on a regular basis for maintenance and upkeep of the association; they are not fines. This means that associations need not record a lien for unpaid assessments to foreclose on one’s home because the law implies one already exists. But, unlike other states where associations may evict homeowners for a few dollars, Arizona associations cannot foreclose until the unpaid assessments have accumulated for more than one year or until the amount owed reaches $1,200, whichever occurs first.

Lawmakers also took great care in distinguishing liens and foreclosure actions for unpaid assessments from liens and foreclosure actions for unpaid fines. Unlike assessment liens, an association cannot record a lien for unpaid fines until it first sues the homeowner in court and wins. This means any “lien” on a homeowner’s property for unpaid fines without proper court authority may be a “false document” in violation of Arizona’s false recording laws. It also means the individual director and/or the association responsible for its recording may be liable for statutory damages of at least $5,000.

Importantly, unlike assessment liens, an association cannot evict a homeowner from their home for fine liens. Thus, even if a homeowner is sued for fines and the association wins, the association still cannot foreclose on those fines until the home is sold or the title is transferred

A little fyi - may come in handy

2008-07-14T11:11:00.001-07:00

Good to know

Depends on who you talk to, I suppose

2008-07-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, I had a civilized conversation with board member Donald Abbott. Or so I thought.
He told me that the board wanted a resident to step up to be property manager, but no one had applied.
Yet this morning, I was talking to a neighbor and fellow resident who told me she had applied for the property manager job but was turned down by the board because she had applied for the job a day too late.

Now who would you rather see as property manager:
1. Resident or non-resident?
2. Licensed real estate agent or bill collector?
3. Experienced in property management or not so much?

Seems like a very easy decision to me, regardless of whether the application came in a day late, particularly in light of what we now know about our so-called property manager, Maureen Watrous (see prior posts), and further proof of the conflict of interest that exists with Dale Maus and Maureen Watrous.

Words to the Wise

2008-07-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

from HOANuthouse

Homeowners association fights get costly
Submitted by Admin on Mon, 06/09/2008 - 10:08am. Living The HOA Way
Members could end up footing the bill for directors' mistakes

By ELIZABETH RAZZI | The Washington Post

WASHINGTON -- Beware the homeowners association squabble that escalates. Back-fence grousing over parking restrictions, architectural rules or allegations of cronyism can grow into civil war, and homeowners -- the source of all money in the association -- can end up paying big legal bills, no matter which side wins.

One long-running D.C. fight shows why homeowners who serve as directors of their association had better pay strict attention to the details of good governance. People can be surprisingly dogged about how their dues are spent, how elections are held -- even for thankless board-of-director jobs -- and about how the rules are made, changed and enforced.

For Jo-Ann Fiscina, a decade-long resident of the Devonshire East Homeowners Association in suburban Rockville, Md., the battle with the board started back in 2005.

She, along with some neighbors, believed that just a few elected board members were inappropriately controlling the entire association, making changes as they pleased, preserving their power by allowing other seats on the board to go unfilled and inappropriately encouraging the reelection of incumbents.

Fiscina said these board members were not allowing community input before making rule changes, such as allowing new windows that were less Colonial-looking than the ones originally installed by the builder.

"If the community wants to do that, that's fine," Fiscina said. "But a board member doing it without notifying the community was against the regulations."

In October 2006, she filed a complaint with Montgomery County's Commission on Common Ownership Communities, which has authority to resolve disputes involving homeowners associations, condominiums and cooperatives. This kind of redress is rare; in other places, such disputes can end up in civil court.

Fiscina had an unusually long list of complaints. She charged that board members were not holding regularly scheduled open meetings. She claimed they approved architectural changes -- such as the window styles -- by voting on the changes only after the work had been done.

She also challenged the way proxy votes were handled in a 2006 board election that resulted in the reelection of an incumbent instead of his lone challenger. The proxies transferred a member's right to vote but didn't say for whom they wished to vote. "The board members would go and collect proxies, and they would vote for who they wanted," she said in an interview.

Fiscina stressed that she's not opposed to change per se. "My main objection was how they went about doing it."

Hers was a particularly complicated case, said Peter Drymalski, a commission staff member. Most complaints aren't involved enough to warrant a lawyer, as Fiscina's did, he said. The commission held 11 hearings on this one complaint, including two all-day Saturday sessions.

On May 21, the commission ruled in Fiscina's favor, saying the association's board should maintain a full complement of seven members, unless it votes to change its bylaws. The challenger in the 2006 election, Frances Mielach, who lost because of all those proxy votes, is now entitled to take her spot on the board.

The commission said the board frequently violated Maryland law and the association's bylaws by doing business at closed meetings. And financial records weren't made available to community members as they should have been.

It was a big win for Fiscina. The crowning touch: The commission ordered the association to pay Fiscina's legal expenses, which she said exceed $20,000. It's the first time the commission has awarded legal fees to a homeowner, Drymalski said. It was done this time because the association's own bylaws call for it, he said.

It's rarely pleasant to challenge the way things are done in a homeowners association. After all, these are your neighbors. At best, you risk being labeled a crank. At worst, you can be ostracized.

"They said I was frivolous, that I had a bone to pick and that I just wanted to get my way," Fiscina said. But she said she was willing to invest the time and money because she wanted the association's business to be handled fairly.

After she filed the complaint, board President Stephen Shaffer sent a letter to all residents alerting them to the complaint and warning of its potential to affect their pocketbooks.

"I am very concerned about the financial impact our legal fees will have [on] the community," Shaffer wrote. He warned of the risk of a special assessment. "Unfortunately, to pay these expected legal fees and unbudgeted amounts, the [homeowners association] may be forced to seek funding from each and every homeowner."

At least, thanks to the commission's ruling, decisions on any such assessments will be held at open meetings.

Source

Hacienda Real HOA CC&Rs re: Parking

2008-07-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

The CC&Rs are the supreme law of the HOA. Any other rules, regulations, codes of conduct, etc. or whatever else the board dreams up CANNOT contradict these basic rules governing the HOA:

ARTICLE II.
PROPERTY RIGHTS IN COMMON AREA
Section 1. Owners' Easements of Enjoyment Every owner shall have a non-exclusive right and easement of enjoyment in and to the Common Area which shall be appurtenant to and shall pass with the title to every lot, subject to the following provisions:
e. Rules and Regulations
The right and power of the association to promulgate reasonable and uniformly applicable Rules and Regulations governing the use and conduct upon the Common Areas;
f. Parking
The right of individual owners to the non-exclusive use of any parking areas which are located adjacent to said owners lot.

Please note some key phrases:
1. Reasonable and uniformly applicable:
That means you don't pick on the people Barbara or Dorothy or whichever board member wants to victimize that week. You apply the law evenly to all owners.
2. The right of individual owners to the non-exclusive use of any parking areas which are located adjacent to said owners lot
That means owners can park their cars or their guests' cars outside in the designated parking spaces adjacent to their houses. Note nothing is said about how many cars you need to keep in your garage. If the HOA towed cars as they have threatened to do they would be liable for those fees because according to these CC&Rs, the owners have EVERY RIGHT to park their cars outside if they so desire.

A little housekeeping the Hacienda Real HOA board should have taken care of by now

2008-07-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

Arizona Revised Statutes 33-1807
J. The association shall record in the office of the county recorder in the county in which the planned community is located a notice stating the name of the association or designated agent or management company for the association, the address for the association and the telephone number of the association or its designated agent or management company. The notice shall include the name of the planned community, the date of the recording and the recorded instrument number or book and page for the main document that constitutes the declaration. If an association's address, designated agent or management company changes, the association shall amend its notice or record a new notice within ninety days after the change.

The former property manager Dorothy Maus resigned in December 2007. Let's say she didn't resign until the annual meeting in January 2008. That means the board and the property manager have had six months to get this up-to-date. This (above) is the most recent document filed by Hacienda Real HOA at the county recorder's office.
A real property manager and a real HOA board would have known to take care of this before now.

When's the last time this happened at Hacienda Real HOA?

2008-06-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

In 1994 the Arizona Legislature enacted ARS. § 33-1804 and required that
"all meetings of the [homeowner] association and board of directors are open to all members of the association" except for any portions of a meeting relating to four exempted topics (employment, legal advice, litigation, and enforcement matters).

Also, the homeowner association must supply notice of its meetings to all members, unless the articles of incorporation and bylaws provide otherwise. See AR.S. §33-1804(B).

When does Hacienda Real HOA supply these notices? I have never seen anything to that effect except for the annual meetings.

Now that I have your attention, class

2008-06-27T08:41:00.000-07:00

Let's go over some basics.

What is conflict of interest, anybody?

Conflict of Interest defined

This is what is Arizona Law regarding conflict of interest as per ARS 33-1243:

C. If any contract, decision or other action for compensation taken by or on behalf of the board of directors would benefit any member of the board of directors or any person who is a parent, grandparent, spouse, child or sibling of a member of the board of directors or a parent or spouse of any of those persons, that member of the board of directors shall declare a conflict of interest for that issue. The member shall declare the conflict in an open meeting of the board before the board discusses or takes action on that issue and that member may then vote on that issue. Any contract entered into in violation of this subsection is void and unenforceable.

We have some real life examples right here at Hacienda Real HOA.

Dale Maus is a homeowner at Hacienda Real HOA. He's the one who enlists the chosen ones to become board members, "vets" the board members-to-be, and has board members thrown out when they don't march in lock-step with his wishes. You know, he's the one who looks in everybody's garage on his frequent walks and bike rides around the HOA. Dale Maus is the husband of Dorothy Maus, a Hacienda Real HOA board member and former long-time property manager of Hacienda Real HOA, thankfully now retired.

Busy Dale is also the agent and secretary/treasurer of Lake Biltmore Village Owners Association Lake Biltmore Village Owners Association, an HOA to which Hacienda Real HOA pays dues.
Having Dorothy Maus as property manager or board member while Dale Maus is an officer of the Lake Biltmore Village Owners Association was a problematic conflict of interest. Happily for the homeowners, finally, Dorothy Maus is no longer the property manager. But she is still on the board of Hacienda Real HOA.
See Hacienda Real HOA's 2007 financial statement and other information here:
Hacienda Real HOA

Note also who currently is the property manager for both these associations: None other than Maureen Watrous of Arizona HOA Management, a firm licensed by the state to be a bill collector. (See prior posts on some of Maureen's uh, less-than-glorious achievements).

Naturally, Maureen likes having the money come from both groups, so she will do whatever it takes to keep Dale Maus (and by default his wife Dorothy Maus) happy. Having seen Dale Maus in action Maureen no doubt is keenly aware of how vindictive he can be. Having Maureen Watrous as property manager for both of these HOAs when one (Hacienda Real HOA) pays the other (Lake Biltmore Village Owners Association) membership dues is yet another conflict of interest. The relationship definitely violates Arizona law regarding conflict of interest and is just a little too cozy to be considered professional.

That's your lesson for today, boys and girls.

Now, how many homeowners were made aware when they purchased their residences in Hacienda Real HOA that they belonged to not one, but two HOAs? Where was the disclosure as required by law? (See below.)
Hacienda Real's board usually sends out the requisite information to purchasers about Hacienda Real, but it fails to inform buyers about their forced membership in Lake Biltmore Village Owners Association. Lake Biltmore Village Owners Association calls itself a homeowners association, but when did any homeowner in this association ever receive any communication from them?

Arizona Revised Statutes
33-1806. Resale of units; information required; definition

A. For planned communities with fewer than fifty units, a member shall mail or deliver to a purchaser within ten days after receipt of a written notice of a pending sale of the unit, and for planned communities with fifty or more units, the association shall mail or deliver to a purchaser within ten days after receipt of a written notice of a pending sale that contains the name and address of the purchaser, all of the following:

1. A copy of the bylaws and the rules of the association.

2. A copy of the declaration.

3. A dated statement containing:

(a) The telephone number and address of a principal contact for the association, which may be an association manager, an association management company, an officer of the association or any other person designated by the board of directors.

(b) The amount of the common regular assessment and the unpaid common regular assessment, special assessment or other assessment, fee or charge currently due and payable from the selling member.

(c) A statement as to whether a portion of the unit is covered by insurance maintained by the association.

(d) The total amount of money held by the association as reserves.

(e) If the statement is being furnished by the association, a statement as to whether the records of the association reflect any alterations or improvements to the unit that violate the declaration. The association is not obligated to provide information regarding alterations or improvements that occurred more than six years before the proposed sale. Nothing in this subdivision relieves the seller of a unit from the obligation to disclose alterations or improvements to the unit that violate the declaration, nor precludes the association from taking action against the purchaser of a unit for violations that are apparent at the time of purchase and that are not reflected in the association's records.

(f) If the statement is being furnished by the member, a statement as to whether the member has any knowledge of any alterations or improvements to the unit that violate the declaration.

(g) A statement of case names and case numbers for pending litigation with respect to the unit filed by the association against the member or filed by the member against the association. The member shall not be required to disclose information concerning such pending litigation which would violate any applicable rule of attorney-client privilege under Arizona law.

(h) A statement that provides "I hereby acknowledge that the declaration, bylaws and rules of the association constitute a contract between the association and me (the purchaser). By signing this statement, I acknowledge that I have read and understand the association's contract with me (the purchaser). I also understand that as a matter of Arizona law, if I fail to pay my association assessments, the association may foreclose on my property." The statement shall also include a signature line for the purchaser and shall be returned to the association within fourteen calendar days.

4. A copy of the current operating budget of the association.

5. A copy of the most recent annual financial report of the association. If the report is more than ten pages, the association may provide a summary of the report in lieu of the entire report.

6. A copy of the most recent reserve study of the association, if any.

B. A purchaser or seller who is damaged by the failure of the member or the association to disclose the information required by subsection A of this section may pursue all remedies at law or in equity against the member or the association, whichever failed to comply with subsection A of this section, including the recovery of reasonable attorney fees.

C. The association may charge the member a reasonable fee to compensate the association for the costs incurred in the preparation of a statement furnished by the association pursuant to this section. The association shall make available to any interested party the amount of any fee established from time to time by the association.

D. A sale in which a public report is issued pursuant to sections 32-2183 and 32-2197.02 or a sale pursuant to section 32-2181.02 is exempt from this section.

E. For purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires, "member" means the seller of the unit title and excludes any real estate salesperson or real estate broker who is licensed under title 32, chapter 20 and who is acting as a salesperson or broker and also excludes a trustee of a deed of trust who is selling the property in a trustee's sale pursuant to chapter 6.1 of this title.

Oh Donny Boy

2008-06-25T16:54:00.001-07:00

Look what one of our board members - who also is my neighbor two doors down, Donald Abbott, threw in my mailbox today!

Don, don't you know it is a crime for anyone to put anything other than stamped mail in someone's mailbox? Silly boy, you forgot that your email address, dabbott@cox.net, is printed right up at the top of the page you dropped in my mailbox (see the yellow highlighted area). Whoopsie! And I bet you thought you were so clever at the time.

Was your action sanctioned by the Hacienda Real HOA board of directors? From your actions it is pretty obvious exactly who the "Property Inspector sans cajones" actually is, isn't it? It's probably the same "Community Volunteer" who makes sure homeowners aren't around before they cut trees down next to their houses and chop tree limbs off without any notice to the homeowner.

Don Abbott in his role as a board member asked me a few weeks ago after the board threatened to remove a vine I had planted (despite my getting the requisite permission from the board years ago to plant around my unit), "You like gardening. Errr, have you ever thought of moving to a house that isn't in an HOA?" I wonder if he has asked that same question to board members/other members of the community, like Barbara Hoggan and Sue Doyle, who are able to plant whatever they want without hassles, and whose plantings are undisturbed by the vicious "volunteers" of Hacienda Real HOA. I wonder if the board asked him to inquire in his capacity as board member/spokesperson. That's a tactic meant to intimidate, no doubt.

BTW, Don and the rest of the board, you might want to read up on Arizona Revised Statutes. Among the many rules the Hacienda Real HOA board has violated, selective enforcement of CC&Rs is ILLEGAL and may likely cause the HOA Board and the individuals on the board individually and collectively to be sued.

Furthermore, as far as your little sentiment (highlighted in pink here): as you well know I'm much younger -by far, we're talking decades here- than you and the vast majority of the inhabitants at Hacienda Real HOA. Your ass is bigger than mine as well. Why wouldn't the board check out who they hire as a property manager independently instead of trusting Dale Maus's recommendations?

This information is readily available to the public and the Hacienda Real HOA board couldn't even do that?!?

Also, if you define "sick bitch" as one who points out obvious problems and speaks up to correct them, then you are certainly right, as Hacienda Real HOA and its unprofessional, bumbling, ignorant board is FULL of problems that need fixing and I seem to be the only one who realizes there are problems and cares enough to fix them. So if that makes me a sick bitch, I want be the sickest bitch there is. If that scares you, get off the board. Anyone stuffing nasty notes in their neighbors' mailboxes as you have done is not fit to be on any respectable board anywhere, anytime and if the board members had an iota of intelligence among them, they would take actions to remove you from the board and to distance themselves from you ASAP.

As for your suggestion of shoving your little email up the ass, that's really more your bailiwick, isn't it, so I'll leave you to it.

Criminals in HOA Management

2008-06-13T14:32:00.000-07:00

Wowee - we have someone with an assault record collecting our HOA fees. I wonder if the State Banking Board doesn't have rules against licensing criminals? I don't know, it is Arizona, after all, renowned for banking scandals.

Meanwhile, down at the HOA, we have a new "Property Inspector" who doesn't even have the cajones to sign their name on letters threatening homeowners. Freaking little coward.

Hacienda Real HOA's new property manager?

2008-04-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

Maureen Watrous

Is this really who we want managing our HOA?

Welcome to Hacienda Real HOA Complaint Forum

2008-04-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

I started this blog because of a growing dissatisfaction with the HOA I belong to, Hacienda Real, located in Phoenix, Arizona.

For far too long the Hacienda Real HOA board has been manipulated and controlled by a small group of HOA Nazis.
This group of people have so little going on in their lives that they seek to control as much as possible of the lives of residents in the Hacienda Real HOA. Basically if a resident does not either suck up and cowtow to these control freaks or duck and cover, staying as inobtrusive and obeisant as possible, these board members make life miserable for them.
For example, trees are cut down whereever and whenever by an anonymous "community volunteer" when one of these HOA Nazis feel like making a power play. No homeowner is notified beforehand. It's more like two malicious children saying "Let's see what vandalism we can do over at so-an-so's house." No stumps are ground out, and no trees are ever replaced, and as a result, the common area is a minefield of traps and hazards with at least ten stumps in varying degrees of decay providing a very unkempt and forlorn landscape. Suggestions that the board start a fund for replacement trees go unanswered. Apparently these individuals favor a barren, bleak and desolate look for the HOA. That is, anywhere except around their units, where they plant whatever they want.
If you however, are not on the board or are not one of their synchophants, and you want to plant anything around your unit, you need to ask permission of the board, in writing. They may give you permission, but there is always a catch. Sprinklers near where you plant suddently stop working, and written requests for repair are repeatedly ignored. Landscapers kill plants and no one, not the board, not the landscapers, and not the property (mis)managers, ever take responsibility.
The pathetic individuals who make our lives miserable include:
Dale Maus, Dorothy Maus, Barbara Hoggan, Ed Canavan, Sue Doyle, and Calvin Doyle.
I think it is high time things become illuminated.

To begin with, how does someone get on the board at Hacienda Real HOA? Easy. Dale Maus selects and "vets" the chosen few necessary every year, and puts only those names on the ballot. Ballots must be returned with the voter's name on them.
Check out the annual reports posted here: http://starpas.azcc.gov/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=wsbroker1/names-detail.p?name-id=01266091&type=CORPORATION and see the cycle of names that are repeated over and over again.

Who is Dale Maus and why does he play this role?
Dale is the husband of the former property (mis)manager, Dorothy Maus.

He's also an officer in a neighborhood association that Hacienda Real pays money to every year, the Lake Biltmore Village Owner's Association.

http://starpas.azcc.gov/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=wsbroker1/names-detail.p?name-id=00945892&type=CORPORATION
He was president for many years, and now plays the part of agent, treasurer, and secretary of that association. In that role, he employs the services of a certain Maureen Watrous, of Arizona HOA Management:
http://starpas.azcc.gov/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=wsbroker1/names-detail.p?name-id=07987198&type=CORPORATION
Coincidentally, Maureen Watrous and Arizona HOA Management has been engaged as the property manager for Hacienda Real HOA. Quite chummy, isn't it?
Why does Hacienda Real HOA pay money to the Lake Biltmore Village Owners' Association?

GOOD QUESTION!
Why don't we find out?