u/codeCycleGreen

I live in an ~1,000 unit, 55+, condo community. Residents own the land under their units. The rest of the land (the common area), is leased from a property company. Those lease payments are part of our monthly dues. There were different lease terms offered to residents who bought at different times (back in the 60s). Earlier buyers had $15 a month grandfathered in. Later residents have a lease that escalates.

About five years ago, some of the escalating-lease owners started to think that they, (even though leases are sacrosanct and prices fluctuate) , should be compensated for the difference. They got themselves elected to the board. Their first lawyer told them that what they wanted to do was illegal, so they shopped and found one to tell them what they wanted to hear.

Anyway, they passed a "flat-lease" amendment. One-third of residents started being overcharged (read "extortion") and 2/3 started being undercharged. This went on for several years and thousands of dollars. We could not refuse to pay the un-contracted fee because a lien would've been placed on our home.

A non-profit was formed, one of the flat-lease residents sued the association and won (last year). Every single HOA argument was thoroughly rejected in court and the amendment was ruled illegal.

The judge utterly savaged the association in his decision:

>To allow ‘escalating-rent’ property owners to infiltrate the HOA board and co-opt the association for the purpose of unilaterally ending the benefit of the premium paid by ‘fixed-rent’ landowners would represent a grave inequity and profound miscarriage of justice.

After this judgement, the HOA did stop overcharging us (I'm actually slightly surprised that they did). But, of course, they didn't come out and say "we made a mistake, here's your money back." They hate flat-lease residents and they doubled-down. Since it wasn't a class-action (don't know why it wasn't), they are forcing every single victim to sue them individually to recover the ill-gotten gains. EDIT: needless to say, the association has no chance of winning any of these cases, they are just cluttering up the courts to be obstinate.

I'm not a person who was reflexively anti-HOA before this, but this association sure is making that stance difficult. These last several years have been a madhouse. This isn't the only story of how they've made my life hellish.

Also, it's so bizarre to me that we live in a system where no one who did this will suffer any repercussions. The board members don't even have to return, to the association, the extra money that they made from the amendment.

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Here is the full paragraph from the judgment, for anyone who's still reading and interested. He clearly explains why the idea that the flat-leasers weren't paying their fair share was incorrect.

>Before concluding the Court wishes to express that equity weighs strongly in favor of Plaintiff and other ‘fixed-rent’ landowners. It is entirely possible, if not likely, that purchasers of property in the _______ development would consider and rely on the stability of a 99-year ‘fixed-rent’ sublease in deciding what property to purchase. Naturally, it is likely such a purchaser would decide to pay a premium for a ‘fixed-rent’ home to ensure their monthly obligations are limited. Similarly, a purchaser may achieve a substantial discount when purchasing an ‘escalating-rent’ property knowing their monthly land rent obligations will periodically increase. To allow ‘escalating-rent’ property owners to infiltrate the HOA board and co-opt the association for the purpose of unilaterally ending the benefit of the premium paid by ‘fixed-rent’ landowners would represent a grave inequity and profound miscarriage of justice.

Does anyone know what video this is from? (It's hilarious)

My HOA is Slammed Down in Court, Still Won't Return Stolen Money

Planétarium Suite at Puy Du Fou in the Le Logis De Lescure Hotel