Section 4.2: Owners maintenance responsibilities
Fun Fact: The original Declarations does not contain a "owners Maintenance Responsibility Section and Article IV was completely rewritten. The Original article IV was Covenant for maintenance assessments NOT Maintenance and Service Responsibilities.
There are several reasons where the association would be responsible for pipes:.
#1 Drainage issues - Clearly the association is responsible for the drainage on the property and they have clearly neglected it making the pipes in my opinion their repsonability.
#2 Historically the association has covered the exterior pipes, both sewer and water pipes without question.
#3 HOA modified pipes with shut-
Fun Fact:
You cannot get coverage for exterior pipes of any kind with a "studs out" policy. A watermain repair can cost between $5k-$15K and the associations master policy may or may not cover the cost.
I love how every decision rest soley with the board of directors.
This is too much power to give the HOA board members.
Fun fact:
Some of the changes that were made came from the insurance section that was amended back in 2017.
Fun Fact:
The original maintenance chart from 1998 was rewritten in 2019 with mostly the same responsibilities.
Fun Fact: It was rewritten by the same law firm that rewrote our declarations.
I asked the HOAs lawyer how they could change the association and the homeowners' responsibilities and she explained to that this maintenance chart was not a legal doc and not legally binding?
WTF?
Sections 4.4 and 4.5
Section 4.4 does not exist in the original declarations.
If Millbrook were condos, then I could understand this wording.
The other thing to consider is that the association has never had this right, and they should not unless the owners of the association have had a chance to actually understand how these changes affect them.
Section 4.5 should concern every owner in Millbrook BUT I have a question to ask the Board.
Why do these same rules not apply to the association?
I have a front porch that was supposed to be replaced in 2004. Please explain?
Article 6: Covenant for common expense assessments
Article 6 from the proposed Declarations is the rewrite of Article IV from the current Declaration's which you will see the comparable section below from the current Declarations, Article IV.
Section 6.2 is not in the current Declarations and changes the ability of the association to raise dues more often than annually.
"...may be made on an annual or more frequent basis."
Article IV from the current Declarations.
The yellow highlight is similar to what was rewritten in Article 6 above but with fewer words.
Section 2 Purpose of Assessments has been completely removed from the new Declarations.
They key part of this section is that assessments are to be used for "the imporovement and maintenance of the Common Area, and of the HOMES SITUATED UPON THE PROPERTIES.
Section 6.3 Annual Assessment:
This raises the assessment cap from 8% to 12% annually.
Fun Fact:
Originally the HOA wanted to eliminate the cap completely allowing them to raise dues as high as they wanted WITHOUT having to explain to the owners why.
There is a lot more to this story that we will explain in detail at a later time.
Article IV Section 3 Maximum Assessment:
This section has been eliminated from the proposed Declarations entirely.
This would have capped the maximum assessment to $780 which would force the association to ask for a vote change the Declarations if they want to exceed this amount 10 years from now.
This should not be changed to help protect future homeowners.
Section 3, subsections (a), (b) & (c)
The current Declarations cap the annual assessment to 8% UNLESS 67% of the homeowners APPROVE the budget.
This protects homeowners and forces the Board of directors to explain to the community the need to raise the dues higher than the cap.
The problem is owner participation and they know that getting 67% of owners to vote on anything is impossible.
Article 4, Special Assessments for capital improvements:
Currently the board is limited by the current wording of the Declarations which protects the homeowner from excessive special assessments without the homeowner's approval.
It says the association can only assess the community with the approval of 67% or more of owners.
The Proposed Declarations makes it easier for the HOA to raise $