Homeowners...it's time to PETITION the Association to do its job and do it RIGHT!

January 8, 2011

Dear Fellow Homeowners,

As you are all aware, the Oak Knoll Homeowners Association (HOA) via Superior Community Management Company (SCMC) has sent its annual budget for 2011 that includes a reserve account in the amount of $13,650 for the maintenance and repair (i.e. replacement) of the street trees along Foothills Drive.

A review of the HOA Newsletters dating from 1999 to 2005 has shown that the HOA has paid for the replacement of trees along Foothills Drive more than once through the Landscaping (maintenance and repair) fund with no need for such a large reserve account.

While it is the Association’s (i.e. the homeowners) responsibility to maintain these trees, it is the HOA via SCMC to ensure that the landscapers are doing their job in what they were hired to do…i.e. prune the trees. This failure to properly care for the trees along Foothills Dr. has resulted in an the SCMC consulting and subsequently hiring (at an annual cost of $5,200 to cut back a few branches) noted the same deficiency in caring for the trees, and had no conclusive answers as to why the trees were dying to begin with.

Nevertheless, if a little common sense were applied it is within reason that maybe these trees are dying due to a lack of proper care by the landscaping company – and – no oversight of SCMC to ensure that they were doing what they were hired to do.

Now as a result of the combined negligence of the landscaping company and SCMC, the HOA now wants us homeowners to collectively pay $13,650 for their mistake via an arbitrary reserve account. In other words, they do not have to explain how they came to that figure and why, much less how they intend to use it.

In order to make the HOA via SCMC more responsible to the homeowners for this reserve account, and any future payments into it and accountability for expenditures made from this account, we need a majority of the homeowners to sign a petition in order to force the reserve study and maintenance plan provisions of Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 94.595 (3) and (4) upon them.

In doing so, the HOA via SCMC will be required to conduct an annual reserve study to review and update an existing study to determine the reserve account requirements; in addition to a review and update of the maintenance plan as necessary in juxtaposition to the reserve study.

If we do not obtain a majority of homeowners to sign a petition forcing the HOA via SCMC to comply with ORS 94.595 (3) and (4), then the Board of Directors will be free to increase the amount of the reserve account year after year without so much as an explanation as to why. I don’t know about you, but I for one do not like paying increasing annual dues to an association that does not follow the Declaration of CC&Rs, Bylaws and/or statutory law to the letter.

Other issues concerning the HOA that should make you angry is the fact that when the very first HOA established a reserve account in the first adopted budget in 1999, which was continued through 2004 with so much as an additional payment to increase the balance; it was abruptly depleted in 2005 and ceased ever since without an explanation.

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Another example of the HOA via SCMC violating the rights of homeowners that should really get you even angrier is the street tree issue on individual homeowner’s lots.

ORS 94.780 Remedies makes it perfectly clear that (1) the Declarant, association, any association member or any other person subject to ORS 94.550 to 94.783 to comply with applicable sections of ORS 94.550 to 94.785, shall be cause for suit or action to remedy the violation or to recover actual damages; (3) A suit or action arising under this section must be commenced within one year after the discovery or identification of the alleged violation.

The issue of the street trees on individual homeowner’s lots was effectively “discovered” in mid 2000 and ended mid 2001. Therefore, any letter sent by the HOA and/or its management company (SCMC) since threatening suit or action should the homeowner fail to comply with their demands that street trees be planted at the homeowner’s expense was beyond their statutory authority in this matter.

In 2008 I receive several letters, as I am sure many of you did just the same, telling me I needed to comply with the CC&Rs and have the street trees planted on my personal lot or they would be planted for me and I would be billed for it. And if I did not pay that bill, they would charge me fines and put a lien on my home until that bill was paid in full.

In response I addressed this issue over the street trees with the HOA’s attorney and prevailed.

The underlining facts of this matter, as admitted to by previous Board of Directors in written HOA Newsletters dated 2000 - 2005, is the fact that the legal contractual responsibility for planting street trees on individual lots was the Declarant (i.e. developer) via the contract with the City of Newberg. That contract specifically states that permits of occupancy were not to be issued until the developer completed its development of each lot – which included planting of street trees – prior to receiving permits of occupancy. Therefore the personal and financial responsibility for planting the street trees remained and continues to remain with the developer and NOT the individual homeowner.

For more than a decade the HOA has been committing violations of the Declaration, Bylaws and the Oregon Planned Community Act (ORS 94.550 to 94.783) while arbitrarily and selectively enforcing the same governing documents upon various homeowners in our planned community.

I believe it is time that we take a stand, as a community of homeowners, and demand accountability of our Board of Directors and the management company they hired to act within the boundaries of the Declaration, Bylaws and governing statutes.

In order to accomplish this, I would encourage everyone to sign the above petition and return it to the HOA via SCMC as soon as humanly possible. Once a majority has been reached, the HOA will have to comply with the statutory provisions of ORS 94.595 (5)(B) upon receipt of our (majority approved) petition; and thusly conduct the required reserve study and maintenance plan as mandated by ORS 94.595 (3) and (4).

In sum, we as homeowners need to stop blindly paying whatever annual dues the HOA via SCMC bills us without holding them accountable for those funds.

We need to be informed and continuously apprised of all board actions, to include arbitrary and capricious selective actions by the HOA via SCMC (e.g. you receiving a letter to comply with a particular section of the CC&Rs meanwhile having knowledge that another homeowner in the association has never received such a letter for the same alleged violation), and most importantly…communicating with one another.

In facilitating that communication amongst the homeowners I have created this blog spot where we all can post our comments, suggestions, grievances, and questions about the actions that our HOA via SCMC are taking without consulting the homeowners of the Oak Knoll Community.

I will also be posting important links to the Oregon Planned Community Act, Declaration, Bylaws, and other important sources of information to all our benefit.