10,296 foreclosure suits by Florida HOAs against their own members, 460,412 liens on homes, 48,999 court records, 6,661 associations out of standing: how…
You have to agree with everyone else in your building how to maintain the building somehow. And when they don’t do as they’re supposed to, major catastrophes can ensue.
I remember a story from years ago where essentially the entire building hated the idea of increasing costs so they constantly deferred costs because no one wanted to pay them, until a massive crack appeared in the foundation that essentially made the whole building worthless… and could have been prevented by doing the deferred maintenance when they had a chance. Now they weren’t even in a position to sell and move… because it wasn’t in condition for anyone to want to move in.
We gotta remember that HOAs are just made up of the people who live there. If everyone who lives there is a selfish piece of shit, everyone is gonna have a bad time, as in the example above.
That’s why the idea of buying property in a building seems so insane to me (at least in the US). Because in the US you cannot trust that people won’t be fucking idiots who will do everything to defer maintenance until it’s too late and then whine and cry about how it’s not their fault (even though it 100% is).
If everyone who lives there is a selfish piece of shit…
Yeah, but even if only the one person in charge is a selfish piece of shit, that’s more than sufficient to make everyone’s lives a living hell.
I’m fortunate to be able to say I don’t speak from experience, and I’m not in a jurisdiction where existing residents can be forced to join an HOA. But I used to be an /r/FuckHOA junkie.
If you’re in a condo, you need to attend and then fight to lead the condo association / HOA. It’s the only way you can try and push an agenda of proper maintenance and code compliance.
The local muni mandated ALL rentals, for instance, comply with the 2023 building code forcing one room at least down to 26c in the summertime, so blue-hairs don’t die – old AND new units. If you want to mandate (or prevent) all units (rental or occupied by owner) fulfill the same obligation, it’s a hard sell either way. They’re gonna do the wrong thing, otherwise.
I remember a story from years ago where essentially the entire building hated the idea of increasing costs so they constantly deferred costs because no one wanted to pay them, until a massive crack appeared in the foundation that essentially made the whole building worthless… and could have been prevented by doing the deferred maintenance when they had a chance. Now they weren’t even in a position to sell and move… because it wasn’t in condition for anyone to want to move in.
We gotta remember that HOAs are just made up of the people who live there. If everyone who lives there is a selfish piece of shit, everyone is gonna have a bad time, as in the example above.
That’s why the idea of buying property in a building seems so insane to me (at least in the US). Because in the US you cannot trust that people won’t be fucking idiots who will do everything to defer maintenance until it’s too late and then whine and cry about how it’s not their fault (even though it 100% is).
Not being able to sell is hardly the worst that can happen if the regular maintenance isn’t done.
Yeah, but even if only the one person in charge is a selfish piece of shit, that’s more than sufficient to make everyone’s lives a living hell.
I’m fortunate to be able to say I don’t speak from experience, and I’m not in a jurisdiction where existing residents can be forced to join an HOA. But I used to be an /r/FuckHOA junkie.
If you’re in a condo, you need to attend and then fight to lead the condo association / HOA. It’s the only way you can try and push an agenda of proper maintenance and code compliance.
The local muni mandated ALL rentals, for instance, comply with the 2023 building code forcing one room at least down to 26c in the summertime, so blue-hairs don’t die – old AND new units. If you want to mandate (or prevent) all units (rental or occupied by owner) fulfill the same obligation, it’s a hard sell either way. They’re gonna do the wrong thing, otherwise.