r/BADHOA

Location: Nebraska. HOA has not had a meeting in 4 years. There is $ in the treasury. They have not had a treasury report in 2 years. Requests for meetings are excuse after excuse why there is no time. The past month, they have stopped responding to homeowners. Unsure if they are even a legal HOA, as cannot find info in state listings. How can homeowners force a meeting? How can homeowners dissolve the HOA and have money refunded when HOA officers aren't responding ? Anyone been through similar? Outcome?

I’m looking for advice from anyone familiar with HOAs/condos, particularly Kentucky law.

About a year ago, my upstairs neighbor’s water heater failed and cause water damage to my condo. Water was pouring through my ceiling, so I immediately called the HOA’s emergency maintenance line to mitigate the damage. Both the property manager and maintenance confirmed the leak originated upstairs.

My insurance ultimately chose not to subrogate, so I already had to separately pursue reimbursement of my $500 deductible. Now, almost a year later, I’m being billed another $333 by the HOA for calling emergency maintenance.

I’ve reviewed my bylaws and cannot find anything stating that simply calling the emergency line makes the reporting owner financially responsible. I was also under the impression that emergency maintenance was covered by our HOA dues, although I’m willing to admit that may be my misunderstanding.

I have extensive documentation: call logs, texts, a detailed timeline from when I arrived home and discovered the leak, photos showing the water coming from above, and texts from the maintenance person confirming the leak was coming from upstairs.

The invoice claims three hours of labor. In reality, the maintenance person arrived about three hours after I called, appeared impaired, spent roughly 45 minutes using a shop vac, and left while the ceiling was still actively leaking. I spent the rest of the night setting an alarm and getting up every 45 minutes to empty pans because the water continued coming through.

So I’m being charged $333 for an emergency response that, in my opinion, did very little to actually mitigate the damage.

The situation gets more concerning.

I got my attorney involved, and he sent the property manager a formal dispute letter. The property manager had also previously told me not to pay the bill while it was being disputed.
I have now discovered that my attorney’s letter was apparently never forwarded to the Board. In fact, it appears that none of the documentation I submitted was forwarded either.

I asked management for the Board members’ contact information and was refused. The only reason I was able to speak with a Board member today was because I happened to discover that one of my neighbors is on the Board. She lives down the street and was someone I had previously encountered while we were observing another emergency situation.

During that conversation, I learned she apparently wasn’t aware that the water originated from upstairs and had not seen the documentation I provided. I’m also now hearing that there has been discussion about potentially placing a lien on my condo over the $333.

At this point, my concern is much bigger than the $333. I’m concerned that the property manager may be giving the Board a different version of events while not providing them with my attorney’s dispute or the evidence supporting it.

For additional context, this also isn’t my first serious dispute with this HOA. I previously had to pursue legal action against the HOA after I was injured because they failed to clear snow from common areas as they are supposed to. I’m beginning to wonder whether there is a broader pattern of management failing to address issues appropriately.

I have now formally requested in writing that the charge be reviewed by the full Board, that all collection/lien activity be paused while it’s disputed, and that everything moving forward be in writing with my attorney copied.

There are also broader concerns among residents about how our HOA dues are being allocated based on things several of us have personally observed, but I don’t want to conflate that with this specific dispute.

I’m not refusing to pay a legitimate bill. I just don’t understand how I became responsible for an emergency caused by another unit simply because I was the person who called for help, particularly when I have extensive documentation establishing where the leak came from.

What would you do next?

Should my attorney contact the Board directly? Should I formally request the HOA’s records/minutes and everything management has provided the Board about this charge? Is there a Kentucky-specific process for disputing an HOA charge or protecting myself from a lien while it’s disputed?
And how do you address a situation where the property manager may be withholding a formal dispute and supporting documentation from the Board?

TL;DR: Upstairs neighbor’s water heater failed and damaged my condo. I called emergency maintenance and spent the night emptying pans every 45 minutes because the worker left while it was still leaking. Almost a year later, HOA billed me $333 because I called maintenance. I can’t find anything in my bylaws authorizing this, and I thought emergency maintenance was covered by HOA dues. I have call logs, texts, timeline, photos, and texts from maintenance confirming the work time and that the leak came from upstairs. My attorney formally disputed the bill, but I just discovered management apparently never gave his letter—or any of my evidence—to the Board. Management refused to give me Board contact information, and I only spoke with a Board member today by coincidence. Now I’m hearing there may be a lien in the works. I’ve also previously had to take legal action against this HOA over an injury caused by failure to clear snow from common areas. What should I do?

And yes I spell assessment with a T on purpose. HOA pond maintenance — is this reasonable?
We have only 5 homes, and our HOA charges $9,000 per household/year for pond maintenance — $45,000/year total.
Is that reasonable for routine pond maintenance? What are other HOAs paying?

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HOA is hiding the bidding process and refusing to disclose the roofing contract. What can homeowners do?

I live in a townhouse community with about 110 units. I’m dealing with a very frustrating HOA situation and would really appreciate advice from anyone who has experienced something similar.

About two years ago, our HOA charged every homeowner a $2,300 special assessment for roof repairs. However, after collecting the money, the HOA never provided a clear breakdown of how the funds were used. The accounting has been very unclear.

Then, about two years later, the HOA claimed that we needed a major roof replacement project. They held multiple homeowner votes until they finally received enough approval to move forward. The entire process took about a year and a half. (For context, my unit’s roof area is relatively small, and we never had any leaks or roof problems.)

The biggest issue is the lack of transparency.
When selecting the roofing company, the HOA refused to disclose the bidding process. They also refuse to provide the final executed contract with the roofing contractor.
Many homeowners felt that the cost was extremely high. We were charged approximately $15,000 per unit for the project. One homeowner independently contacted other roofing companies and received estimates showing around $7,000 per unit, and even that was considered more than enough for our community.

We asked the HOA to provide:
- The bids/proposals they reviewed before selecting the contractor
- The final signed contract with the roofing company
- Detailed documentation showing what exactly our $15,000 assessment paid for

The HOA has ignored these requests. They either do not respond or simply refuse to provide the documents.

They also refused to provide an official receipt clearly showing the roof special assessment payment. I specifically requested documentation because I may need it later for tax purposes when selling my home. Instead, they only provided a basic statement with a number on it, without detailed information.

At this point, I’m honestly considering contacting the roofing company directly. However, since the contract is between the HOA and the contractor, I assume the roofing company will probably refuse to release the contract to individual homeowners.

It feels completely unfair. The homeowners paid for this project, but the HOA is refusing to show us the documents related to how our money was spent.
Has anyone experienced something similar with their HOA?

What steps did you take to obtain contracts, bids, invoices, or financial records?
Is there any effective way to force an HOA to be transparent?
This situation has been extremely stressful, and I would really appreciate any advice or similar experiences.