HOA Defined:
Homeowners Association - A homeowner association is comprised of two or more homeowners who belong to a membership organization for the maintenance of commonly owned real estate and improvements. It can range from a simple duplex up to a huge development with thousands of homes, condominiums and townhouses that maintain marinas, golf courses and other extensive facilities (often improvements like a tennis court or swimming pool for the development where the house is located).
I am writing this because as a Real Estate professional, and a Real Estate instructor, I often hear comments about HOAs. There is probably more misinformation out there than true information.
Homeowner's Associations are used for two or more dwellings, of which they are defined (meaning incorporated, or structured, as) either a Condominium, Planned Unit Development (PUD), or a Cooperative (Co-op).
A townhouse describes a type of structure, usually they have the living area on the ground floor, and the bedrooms upstairs. I often hear Realtors talk about condo and Townhomes as two different things (i.e. "it is not a Condo, but a town home") when there is no legal entity called "Townhome" or "Townhouse".
Anyway, Eagle Ridge is a PUD, meaning that each homeowner automatically "owns" (by ownership, it mean they have the right to USE, but not POSSESS, commonly owned land which is owned by the HOA) a fractional interest in the property controlled by the HOA. IT also means that there are CCRs in place, which are recorded with the County Recorder, thereby giving notice to the whole world. What is important here are two matters:
1) Any individual homeowner can enforce the CCRs against another homeowner. For instance, if a homeowner in the same development is 1/2 mile away from where you live, and parks their RV in front of their house (violating HOA rules, the CCRs), the non-adjacent homeowner has the right to file a complaint to get the RV removed, even though it does not directly affect their property (but affects the community) as they are not adjacent to the violater's property.
2) The fact that the residence (could be a commercial property, by the way, such as an office condo) is under a HOA, it must be disclosed to the buyer within the time frame specified under the contract (CA law). If a buyer is or was unaware of the fact that the HOA was in effect, they may withdraw from the contract and receive their deposit back, if they cancel under that provision of the contract.
What people and society have discovered, is that homes with these "restrictive covenants" in place generally maintain their value better than communities without them. Yes, there are monthly or quarterly dues to pay, but they far outweigh the detriment to the neighborhood that may occur...
I will write more about this in my next writing. If you have any questions, pleas e feel free to call at the number
below. Incidentally, the Dept. of Real Estate added a class called "Homeowners Associations" to its list of approved electives to for a Brokers License. I believe I am the only Broker, perhaps agent, in the entire South County to have taken this class!
Life is good in Eagle Ridge!
Gary Frimann
Broker / Owner
Eagle Ridge Realty
"Our Performance Will Move You!"
(408) 846-8284
EAGLE RIDGE REALTY
Eagle Ridge Neighborhood
