Category Archives: Hidden Costs of HOAs

With no active HOA, who should pay for bridge repair on private road?

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Old snow covered Bridge over creek

By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities debgoonan@icloud.com What will it take to rebuild safe access to a private 9-home community with no active homeowners’ association? It’s a neighborhood problem that has been brewing for at least 15 years. The issue: for decades, nine secluded properties on the northern end of East River Road were served by a private road crossed by Baker’s Creek Bridge. But 4 years ago, when it developed gaping holes, the city Continue ReadingWith no active HOA, who should pay for bridge repair on private road?→

Building your Dream HOA — a Checklist

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hands-team-together-community

By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities debgoonan@icloud.com Does your HOA have what it takes to work well for residents? The industry that builds, sells, and serves homeowners’ associations (HOAs) promotes a wildly unrealistic premise — that unit owners and shareholders will forever engage in fair and friendly cooperation with their association leaders and their neighbors. Unfortunately, in the real world, HOAs aren’t always fair or friendly. In the U.S., reports of HOAs from Hell are Continue ReadingBuilding your Dream HOA — a Checklist→

Storm water flooding, erosion threaten Fort Worth homes

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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities Each time it rains, a torrential river of storm water threatens to wash away the fenced-in back yard of a North Texas homeowner. Steven Owens shows CBS DFW a video recording of rushing storm waters, which flood the grassy area that divides several back yards of homes in the Villages of Woodland Springs, Fort Worth. When the sun is shining, the area behind Owens’ home is a peaceful babbling Continue ReadingStorm water flooding, erosion threaten Fort Worth homes→

Ohio Condo owners face landslide nightmare

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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities Thirty Cincinnati area condo owners fear they might lose their homes, due to a dangerous landslide within a few feet of their hillside homes. But if the condo association can figure out how save threatened homes, all members of the condo association will have to share the cost of stabilizing the hillside, plus repairing any structural damages to at least one condo building.   Heavy rainfall erodes hillside Drenching Continue ReadingOhio Condo owners face landslide nightmare→