Quail Valley HOA Harassment Continues

PREAMBLE:

"The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) emphasizes the fact that many HOA collection attorneys take delinquent accounts off the HOA’s books by purchasing the debt. It doesn’t take a genius to realize this practice creates perverse incentives for attorneys. They’re free to run up thousands of dollars in legal fees, which they then seek to collect directly from the homeowner — under threat of foreclosure." -- Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities

The Quail Valley HOA is responsible for the actions of its vendors, according to the county's Office of Common Ownership Communities. In fact, the HOA and its vendors work in tandem. Nevertheless, the HOA board members bear responsibility for these things.

Here is yet another example of absurd "violations" (cited by the HOA's property management company) and multiple fees and fines against a new resident to our community (imposed by the HOA's debt collector). See the photo for details of how this extortion works.

What are the resident's "crimes"? What is the punishment?

A spot of "dead/bare grass," cited twice, equals $200.

A chunk of concrete beside the front stoop ("Fine: repair stoop/stairs/walkway"), cited nine times, equals $900.00.

The debt collector adds on various fines and fees ("lien warning letter," "lien notification letter," "lien verification," "filing fee with court," "mail," "promissory note," "accelerated assessments," etc.) to target the homeowner with a grand total of $7,382.57.

Punishment also includes the HOA denying his family access to the community pool, which they, like all of us, have paid for with their monthly dues. Two years denied access to the pool.

Who is Targeted in this "Progressive" Neighborhood?

What sort of welcome did we give to this new family as they moved in to Quail Valley? The homeowner, a Hispanic American dad and successful contractor, deals with many contracts in his profession. He recognizes abuse and absurdities when he sees them on a piece of paper. He and his family moved in just a few years ago. His house and yard are well kept, and dues is up to date. He has made good-faith efforts to communicate with the HOA. He is now seeking legal representation on these matters.

This dad is not a negligent homeowner. I walk in Quail Valley, every day, and my eyes are open. I know that some homeowners are allowing their roofs to rot. Fining such a homeowner is appropriate. The HOA has enforcement powers, but these powers are being grossly abused. The noise, confusion, and bad feelings caused by this mismanagement distracts us all from the true work at hand. The residents have lost respect for the HOA. The noise and confusion are, however, profitable for some. (By the word "noise," I mean false and erroneous accusations against homeowners. "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" was making noise, and he lost credibility among the villagers. It is hard to discern the meaningful "signal" when a lot of "noise" fills the space. It is hard to address this community's real challenges when flack and chaff thrown up by the property management "inspector" suck all the oxygen out of the room.)

What Exactly are the [Non] Problems Here, the so-called "Violations"?

Back to the example at hand. The previous owner of the house had poured a blob of concrete (a couple buckets worth) to direct rain away from the house and stoop. This is not an aesthetically pleasing solution, but the HOA had a chance to object to it before closing. After that, this minor feature of the front yard must be grandfathered in. The blob of concrete is not a hazard. It is not an architectural feature that is poorly maintained. (The homeowner recently dug up and removed the blob.)

"Dead/bare grass" is an oft-cited, favorite income-generator. There are many, many places in Quail Valley where grass will never grow due to the clay soil or the shade cast by large trees, unless you buy sod and water it religiously all summer, and buy new sod again every few years. That little spot of dead grass is an endless pot of gold for the HOA industry. Lots of Certified letters to send. Fines to impose.

(Difficult soil is an opportunity for homeowners to learn about native Maryland ground covers that can survive the conditions, about alternative landscapes to grass, but education not to be of much interest to this HOA. Neither is horticulture or building good relations with newcomers as they arrive in Quail Valley to enjoy their first home.)

A chunk of concrete. A spot of bare grass. These would not be the concerns of a reasonable HOA board of directors. This is not the kind of HOA leadership that builds community spirit, that inspires residents to serve on activity committees or on the board or directors, that welcomes newcomers to the neighborhood. Quite the opposite.

The Citizen's Priorities

We are all being hurt by the current HOA's board's neglect and mismanagement of the community. Some examples. Giant HOA-owned trees are tilting, threatening to crush houses and injure or kill the residents inside. The Community Center needs an emergency exit window so that we can use it again for cultural and family gatherings. Routine maintenance of the Community Center (reported here on 8/16) is still not done (on 9/17 the slate is fixed, but the weeds still grow in the gutter, 9/27. Update: Gutter cleaned early Nov.). These are some of the residents' urgent priorities, but they were not even mentioned at the September HOA meeting.

This HOA installs gutters on a barn even before it provides lids on the litter cans at the bus stops. Basic hygiene ought to be a priority. This HOA (under advisement from its property management) confiscates residents' trash receptacles without notice, contradicting county law, and forcing residents to place their trash on the ground in bags, which attracts rats. Our community barn is deployed to house the confiscated trash receptacles.

These spirit-destroying, abusive practices must stop. The current HOA board members can do better than this. They can begin by hiring new property management.

The Concept of Proportionality

The resident's crime? A spot of "dead/bare grass," cited twice, fine $200. There is, in the law, a principle of "proportionality." The scale of punishment must relate to the scale of the crime. The HOA exhibits no sense of proportionality in the many examples of punishment cited in these blogs.

If there is a spot of dead grass on a front lawn, what is a proper, neighborly response? Punishment? How do we treat each other? How do we build community? How do we respect the land and water? What was your spiritual training as a child, and what are your ethics now as an adult? We are in a time of pandemic. Now, or at any time, Do you fine your neighbor for a spot of dead grass?

No Government Accountability

"What was the cost of the HOA suing a homeowner, taking him to court, and losing the case?" The HOA president and the property manager (hosting the Zoom meeting) refused to answer that question at the HOA board meeting on September 13, 2021. Thus, they cover up the costs of their own mismanagement and incompetence. We, the residents, paid for this fiasco -- for our own government (the HOA) to attack us, and then bungle the doing of it. There were lawyer fees and court costs, perhaps more than ten thousand dollars. I watched the court proceedings on Zoom in May May 12, 2021. The HOA's hired accountant could not provide a complete record of the defendant's (the homeowner's) monthly payments. I have learned that this is not the first time a judge has had to turn to the homeowner to get an accurate record of assessments paid to the Quail Valley HOA.

At one point in our community meeting last night, the HOA president told a resident, "The property management company works for the HOA, not for you." The president is not wholly correct. The HOA itself was created by the residents. Everything it does, and everything its vendors do, should be in service to the community of residents. As the Covenant says, promoting the "health, safety, and welfare of the residents" is the HOA's responsibility. That trust has been broken.

A Predatory Industry

I'm worried because I see the board members defending their past actions, rather than honestly assessing what is going wrong, reaching out to interview residents one-on-one, taking corrective action, and making amends to those who have been harmed. I ask them to recognize that this Quail Valley HOA is not the only institution in American that needs to face this difficult task. This change is hard work, and we have to do it together.

I'm worried because I can see no dis-incentive that might curb property management and debt collection companies from fining residents for absurd "reasons," for taking residents to court habitually. It's a win-win for them. Win or lose the case, it's no cost to them. The residents pay for the lawsuits aimed at us. Then we, the residents, are not allowed to know what that costs us. Somehow, this abuse has got to stop. Must residents now take the HOA to court? Or can the board take corrective action?

The HOA should not need to aggressively fine its own residents to balance its own budget. If the HOA cannot balance its budget with the $600,000 annually it collects in dues, then it should be disbanded. Most people in Montgomery County do not live under an HOA. We could live without the HOA and its constant attacks against us.

CODA:

Here is the closing passage in a letter from our debt collector to a Quail Valley resident, fined multiple times, more than $7,000, for a "broken/missing" wooden slat in a fence:

"Please bear in mind that the community needs these revenues to properly conduct its affairs so that all homeowners, including you, benefit."

"Very truly yours,

[The debt-collection attorney for QV HOA]

"This communication is an attempt to collect a debt by a debt collector and any information obtained will be used for that purpose."

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Read various Chapters of "Living on Cuckoo Court" at tinyurl.com/CuckooCourt.
Read about condo and HOA "dysfunction, corruption, and abuse" all across America at IndependentAmericanCommunities.com.