Gah, my condo association just screwed me.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Well, I’m sure many dopers have noticed that the US Real Estate market, is well, um, a bit depressed. I’ve noticed as well.

So I was a bit put off to open a letter from the county assessor a few months back: “WTF?! My condo is assessed for like 25% more than I paid for it LAST YEAR plus that’s up 3% from the previous year? Have they driven down my street at night? Can they see how many of these units are dark and empty? F!”

Anyways, shortly after I got a letter from the condo association. Read something like: “Many of you have called us complaining that these recent assessments are bullshit. Well, you’re right! We’ve hired a lawyer to contest this!”

…a month or two later I got a letter from the county assessor: “It has come to our attention that you have challenged our assessment in court. We appreciate your participation! However, our county court has found our assessments to be correct. We award you zero reduction in your assessment. You will pay the property taxes we demand, and may God have mercy on your soul.”

grrrr, oh well, at least they tried, right?

Well just a few days ago I got a letter from the condo association. I should point out now that the association runs a bunch of different condo developments. Let’s just call mine “The Bent Over Man”.

The letter reads:

"Good news! As a result of our legal action, nearly all of our condo developments have had their assessments reduced by an average of 5%! These developments include:

The Happy Loon
Ecstatic Goose Gamble
Easy Street
A Triumph of Chicanery

…etc."

Yep, every single development they own…except my own. They continue:

“So here’s the good news! We ran the math, and on average, our residents will save $500 on property taxes! So of course, it should no big deal that all must pay our legal fees to the tune of $130. Hey, you almost all won, right?”

FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

2

Ah, nothing like the thrill of paying good money for absolutely nothing. Reminds me of the time I had the Sears fridge repair guy out to look at my fridge; cost me $80 for him to tell me it can’t be fixed and has to be replaced. Good times, good times.

3

My problem with condos is more basic. The idea that I’ve got to pay a morgage plus rent (or rather, an “association fee”) to live somewhere just rubs me the wrong way.

4

My condo fee isn’t ‘rent’.

It covers things I would have to pay for anyway if I owned a house.
Roofing, exterior maintenance, snow removal, insurance, etc.

5

Which is what my landlord used to pay for with my rent. Now as a homeowner I take care of exterior maintenance and snow removal etc. and it doesn’t cost me anywehre near as much as what my friend pays out annually in fees.

6

Which still doesn’t justify calling the condo fee ‘rent’ and getting yourself worked up that you have to pay a mortgage AND rent. If your fees are too high, that is something different.

7

My condo fee also includes gas, water, electricity, and chilled-water central air conditioning. And repairs and pool maintenance and landscaping and snow removal and even the non-English-speaking immigrant spraying some chemical from an unmarked tank all over the lawn as the children run past him.

I’m pretty happy about all I get for the money – except that last item. :dubious:

8

Agreed. Condo fees are not rent. They cover maintenance of shared resources - you own these, jointly with everyone else in the association.

My condo fees are several hundred dollars a month. Pays for water, pool maintenance, landscaping, snow removal, etc…

Also paid for my new roof and chimney.

We have had several water main breaks in my complex. Each involved a team of plumbers and a back-hoe.

These are things I would have had to pay out of pocket. By my calculations I am still way ahead.

9

It sounds like you are not being screwed by your condo association. Your condo association is being screwed by the management company it hired to help run the place. There is a difference.

Another possibility is that the development company that built your complex is trying to spread out legal costs to all of their complexes. In this case, the development company is screwing your condo association.

Worst case scenario is that you have to pay legal fees for an unsuccessful action against the assessor. Even then, though, the legal fees should be broken down by individual HOA, not averaged out over many.

10

I’d ask for verification of their expenses.

I live in a smaller condo area (technically they are condos, but it’s a free standing house, so I don’t really-- ok whatever), about 100 homes. If this management company runs several condo developments, it’s safe to assume they have between 500 and 1000 condos, no?

$130 x 500 = $65,000
$130 x 1000= $130,000

Did this matter go to a long, drawn out court case or something that you’re not aware of? Because otherwise, I have no idea how that large sum could be justified.

11

Mindful of the current economic situation, my condo association recently lowered the monthly assessment, believe it or not. They removed a few nonessential items from the budget and lowered our assessment by about 7%. “In these tough economic times, " the president of the condo board said, " we will do what we can to help our owners.”

12

Would you be happier if he was a non-English-speaking migrant worker on the sidewalk as children moved laboriously slowly through the vicinity? (kidding… just the need to throw in the “non-English-speaking immigrant” seemed irrelevant to what your real complaint is)