Board Members Get a Pass on Quail Valley HOA Inspections

Photo A. A year ago, at a community meeting, the HOA president reminded the homeowner that "missing house numbers" is a property violation. On April 16, 2023, the house (center) still had no numbers on it. The house belongs to a longstanding HOA board member.

Photo B. This walkway has sunken below the level of the sidewalk, creating a tripping hazard. It's been that way for years. "Walkways not level" is a violation listed on the Home Maintenance Checklist. The homeowner is an HOA board member.

Photo C. This cable wire sticking out from the wall can be seen at the Quail Valley Community Center. "Dangling or excessive amounts of exposed cable" is on the Home Maintenance Checklist. The HOA property manager wrote that this is not a problem. It's a violation if it's on your home, but this is an HOA-owned building, so it's NOT a problem? What’s up with that?

How very hypocritical this is. (Note 1) Today, the HOA board members are targeting their own neighbors with hundreds, or even thousands of dollars in fines: repaint the trim; conceal the cable wires; remove the little food garden plots in your yard. The HOA placed a lean on a home because it had stains in the driveway and rusty brads on the mailbox. All the fines, lawyer fees, garnishments, and estate searches that sprouted from those "violations" exceeded $4,600. Another homeowner’s house once had a bit of exposed cable wire on the side, etc.; they received a bill of $4,400. Yet another homeowner, saddled by a bill from Quail Valley HOA for $21,000, fought against it in court, with no lawyer at his side, and won. Among other errors and absurdities, the HOA claimed his house had no house numbers on it, but it did.

These three homeowners are immigrants and ethnic minorities. They are parents. The HOA's financial attacks traumatize families and kill community spirit. I know of four other families who say they have fled Quail Valley because of HOA harassment. All four are ethnic minorities, and three are immigrants.

Most residents in Quail Valley don't want this kind of management or governance, and yet it's almost impossible to challenge the system, much less reform it. It's a legal system of abuse, a killer of the American Dream, anchored in antiquated and corrupt Maryland HOA and debt-collection laws. Unlike racial redlining, which was based on exclusion, this system is based on entrapment and punishment. New homeowners have no concept of the trap they are stepping into unless they happen upon one of the few reports critical of HOAs. (Note 2)

So why don't the 592 residents of Quail Valley simply elect new board members? Elections come and go with the very minimum notice required by law. Residents have barely two weeks between the announcement of elections and the deadline to fill out the application to run for office. There are no candidate debates. No campaign posters. Participation in elections is miniscule. There’s no mention of upcoming elections at the HOA website, not even on the community calendar. (Photo D) The next election is at 8:00pm, following the HOA Board Meeting (at 7:00pm), at the Community Center, Monday May 8, 2023.

When a new person does get elected to the board, they're presented with an HOA budget deficit. Gotta fix that. They're quickly schooled on the practices of the "HOA industry." This volunteer is not told, however, that the industry’s players make a profit by fining
* as many homeowners
* as much as they can
* as rapidly as possible.

Debt collectors, developers, law firms, insurance companies, real estate agents, banks, and property management companies profit from the system. Many of these actors enjoy additional profits if you decide to flee the community and sell your home, or the property forecloses.

Apparently, the $696,120 that the Quail Valley HOA collects each year in monthly assessments ($99.00 per month for a townhome) is not enough to operate the pool, mow the grass, and shovel the snow. The 2023 HOA budget shows that the HOA also squeezes $19,000 in fine income, late fees, and legal fees from the residents.

Our HOA, comprising 592 homeowners, is not unique. This abusive system exists, in some form, in every state, as reported by Independent American Communities and described by John Oliver in the recent episode of Last Week Tonight, "HOAs are Glorified Debt Collectors." In 2021, of all the new single-family homes sold in the United States, 82% were in an HOA. That’s up from around 40% in 1990. It's a booming industry. So, here we are in Quail Valley in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in the new millennium, living not our dream, but the HOA industry's dream. How does it feel? How do we fix this?

** *** **

Steven Sellers Lapham is a 21-year resident of Quail Valley. A retired editor, he can be reached at MuskratMusic@gmail.com. The "Living on Cuckoo Court" collection of essays is on Patch.com.

NOTES
1. I don't know if these board members are actually receiving property violations today, tomorrow, or next week, or in response to this blog, or not. The problems on their properties have persisted for more than a year. That they set a poor example is regrettable. That they fine their neighbors thousands of dollars for lesser infractions I find unconscionable and intolerable.

2. The HOAs from Hell series in Kansas City Star (2016); 60 Minutes segment on the Surfside, FL condo collapse (2022); ProPublica’s Homeowner Hell series on HOAs (2022-2023); AARP on harsh treatment of homeowners who fall behind on HOA fees (2019); and HomeAdvisor’s survey that found homeowners don’t think HOAs are worth the added stress (2022). [Source: Deborah Goonan, editor of Independent American Communities, lists these earlier investigative reports].