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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment":


With the state of the economy, I am afraid we will be seeing more sites for sale than ever. At the same time, like all real estate, it is the prime time to buy if you can afford it. Lake Adventure is a relatively affordable way to have a ‘vacation’ or ‘second’ home. This should be the type of community (as with some condo and co-op residences) that there is a waiting list to get in – not over 100 sites for sale!

There seems to be a total lack (or at least, very little) of good PR or marketing about Lake Adventure. Yes, it does cost money for any kind of advertising but as the saying goes: you have to spend money to make money. It doesn’t take a lot to get started. For example, all the t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets and any other promotional items LACA sells with the name Lake Adventure on it should also include who we are and where we are. Just seeing “Lake Adventure” means nothing to a stranger. Seeing “A Campground Resort” located in “Lords Valley, PA” might get a person’s interest. It doesn’t hurt to include a web address either! We have a lot of full color brochures of points of interest at the administration office. Have you ever gone anywhere and seen a general brochure about Lake Adventure and its amenities in a literature rack?

Many of the sites for sale are abandoned. Is it safe to assume that LACA now owns some of these sites? Haul out and junk the old, unuasable trailers for scrap metal. Then hire a couple of college students for the summer to work in the Maintenance Dept. for the sole purpose of cleaning up these sites and giving them the “curb appeal” they need to get sold! Clean out the leaves, dead brush and branches, spread a new coat of gravel on the pad. GET THEM SOLD!

comment + 12' wide issue

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment":


Wow, never thought about the double whammy. How do you tell prospective buyers that they will have the highest dues of any community in the area and if they want to upgrade the old trailer they can only get another one that went out of style a couple of decades ago? I can deal with the dues (almost) because I have many friends here and don't want to leave but we desparately need to get approval for 12' wide homes. We could change the look of the place for the better in one season if all those waiting to buy new homes were allowed to. Has anyone heard news if the new attorney (can't really call her new anymore since she was hired in June) has met with the township yet?

POLL DATA 3

PAST POLL RESULTS
POLL DATA RESULTS

Q: SHOULD LA HIRE A MANAGEMENT COMPANY TO RUN LA

a: yes -------------------- 12
no ------------------------ 54

Q: WOULD THE BOD BE TAKING THE EASY WAY OUT IN GETTING LA A MANAGEMENT COMPANY

a: yes ------------------ 50
no --------------------- 9

Q: IF THE BOD HIRED A MANAGEMENT COMPANY I'D BE

a: thrilled --------------- 6
okay ---------------------- 7
mad as hell ---------------49

Q: HOW MUCH HAS THE FINANCIAL SITUATION AFFECTED YOU

a: not at all -------------- 5
a little -------------------10
a lot ---------------------- 9
disaster ------------------ 32

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment":

I think employees do a good job, the question is why are we paying so much in dues to keep the place running? A catch 22, the dues go up and fewer people pay them so the dues go up and fewer people pay them. In scanning the For Sale by Owner list there are many trying for years to sell their lots without success. Same for the Joco site which has many more listed for years. It would be difficult to buy another lot somewhere else if you can't sell the one you have. We have to seriously think about our investment and how to best improve the situation if don't want more people abandoning their property. I'm lucky, I don't have a rodent infested abandon eyesore next to me but if I did I doubt I'd be able to sell my property either. Never said I didn't like LA. I enjoy my place but think we need to keep up with the competition if we want a new generation of buyers to invest.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment":


Your comments are correct and right to the point. Not only have the elections been a popularity contest but a way for board nmembers to get work done. ie; electric upgrades, sewer upgrades and repairs, culverts repaired and cleaned out. Look at the location at LA where the aforementioned work was completed and you will find board members properties were included.With 12 wide issues that would have improved the attraction of people to purchase at LA is put on the back burner what do we have to attract young people to buy here, the highest dues of any community in the area!! The board is doing a lot of harm with no manager, spending money like no tomorrow and just doing what's best for them, which was shown at the open board meetings. Other blogs have praised other previous board members but if you examined their performance you would see the same results, working for their own gains. Until a completely new board is in we will continue to be managed like a 10 year old is in charge.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment":


you are so right we had a power outage sunday and my sewer pump stopped working security called maintanice who came by late at nite and fixed the problem monday morning a job well done my thanks to all la employees who do fine job I heard eagle lake has some lots for sale maybe some of the complainers who dont like la should go there and bring ccla with you

comment + bod

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment reply":

BOD meets the 3rd Saturday of the month, every month with the exception of Dec & Feb. You can e-mail Cheryl at the LACA wedsite to forward any e-mail to all board members, or to a specific board member. It has been done in the past. Just passing on some info.

#55

comment + bod

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment reply":

BOD meets the 3rd Saturday of the month, every month with the exception of Dec & Feb. You can e-mail Cheryl at the LACA wedsite to forward any e-mail to all board members, or to a specific board member. It has been done in the past. Just passing on some info.

#55

comment reply

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment":

You're right, it takes more than showing up at two open board meetings in the summer to get answers. From what I read in the August minutes questions were asked and not many answers were given. At that point it had been only one month in looking for a new manager. It's now almost five months later and there needs to be some plan to get a qualified PM even if it means working around some of the by laws. I think we really need to fill the management vacuum. When questioned about the 12' wide issue several times all that was answered was the ordinance needs to be changed but not what time line was expected or what plan or strategy the new attorney had. At least the previous PM was working the issue, have the acting PM and BOD members taken on the responsibility or is it in limbo until a new PM is hired? In the past I did contact the PM and got some answers but now we have no direct line to any member of management including the BOD and don't know how often they meet as there is no board meeting schedule that I know of published. I think people are asking questions but not getting very many answers

comment reply

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment":

You're right, it takes more than showing up at two open board meetings in the summer to get answers. From what I read in the August minutes questions were asked and not many answers were given. At that point it had been only one month in looking for a new manager. It's now almost five months later and there needs to be some plan to get a qualified PM even if it means working around some of the by laws. I think we really need to fill the management vacuum. When questioned about the 12' wide issue several times all that was answered was the ordinance needs to be changed but not what time line was expected or what plan or strategy the new attorney had. At least the previous PM was working the issue, have the acting PM and BOD members taken on the responsibility or is it in limbo until a new PM is hired? In the past I did contact the PM and got some answers but now we have no direct line to any member of management including the BOD and don't know how often they meet as there is no board meeting schedule that I know of published. I think people are asking questions but not getting very many answers

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KLuers1 has left a new comment on your post "RISING TO THE OCCASION":

We'll second that......hats off to all of the LA workers who got us back up and running! Thanks for your dedication and hard work. Thanks goes out to the office staff as well!

K.and B. Luers
254 Forest Glen Drive

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment":


Wake up people, where have you been all these years. if you were really worried about our community you would have not voted the same people onto the board over & over again and are the ones responsible for the situation we are now in and you still reelected members who have been on the BOD 14 years, 12 years, 9 years, etc., etc. If you are so unhappy then do not vote them back on or are you too lazy to get out there and do some work. You blame this board for the mistakes of the past . They fired a manager who should have been fired years ago but then why would he get fired when you kept electing the same ones who hired him and got us into the trouble we are now paying for. Do you even realize that you now have board members who care about this community & volunteerd their time to oversee the work that continued on thru the summer & completion of the second phase of electric. Just because there is no property manager the work of the community has gone on. Maybe they want to make sure that the mistakes of the past boards are not continued & are making sure that they find the best qualified person to oversee the continuation of the work that is needed to be done. If you have suggestions instead of complaints why don't you show up at open board meetings or are you too busy enjoying your weekend & letting the rest of us do your work trying to get this community back on track. I am here 25 years & don't believe anyone should serve more than 2 terms on the board so why do the majority of you who vote keep electing the same ones over and over again & then complain that the bod are a bunch of do nothings. Watch who runs for the board this year again, the same ones that did nothing in their terms before and cost us plenty & are looking to get elected again, WHY? Why did the dues go up 100% in thelast 5 years, why was questions never answered when we asked what did they do with the moneies after the mortgage was paid off, why do they want to get more money to pay the loan for the sewers off sooner when so many of us are struggling to pay our bills in this economy why is there so much money in reserves, why do they have the same accounting firm for 10 years, why wasn't there a seperate audit done after the manager was fired lots of questions no answers. ARE YOU ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS OR JUST WHAT TO SIT ON YOUR DECKS COMPLAINING?

less than 2 months!!!

we need to hold on!

#57

RISING TO THE OCCASION

the various groups from maintenance to office support staff and security as well as the compliance officer performed above and beyond their duty to get la up and running after last month's freak storm--- the power was out and there was high winds and heavy snow-- damage throughout la had to be cleaned up, water system and sewage treatment had to be brought back on line after the power failure -- these individuals and groups worked together to get la up and running in as quick as time permitted-- they did a very good job!

the absence of a manager doesn't help but all the same they did the job that was at hand

i've worked 21 years at APCI and i was in the facilities group-- maintenance and contract services was part of my group and i can tell you that whenever it was necessary these people gave their all to keep our company open and operating-- that was through fires, explosions, flooding, major system failures and blizzards and storms-- in every case the men and women from the maintenance to the security, from the grounds operations to the food services units worked double and triple shifts, coming in from vacations and days off to keep our company open and ready to operate on the next shift

many times i've heard people complain about the various services ---
but what they didn't know was what these individuals accomplished to keep apci operating during an emergency and they never saw their exemplar performance under stress and dangerous conditions-- i saw maintenance men and cleaning people (most of the cleaning didn't speak english) go into a lab building after there was a horrendous explosion to drag out lab personnel from collapsed labs, i saw maintenance men shutting off leaking 2" water lines that were flooding 4 floors of a building, the shut offs were above an electrical substation, i saw cleaning people helping to evacuate people from a burning inferno when an office building went up in flames and other times when these workers in maintenance, cleaning or security risked their own safety to help others or to save property--

so yes our workers at la do what is necessary to keep la open and operating and we members owe them our gratitude

PS --- HIRE A MANAGER!!!!!!!

#59

PAUL KRUGMAN - THIS YEARS'S NOBEL PRIZE WINNER FOR ECONOMICS

November 21, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
The Lame-Duck Economy
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Everyone’s talking about a new New Deal, for obvious reasons. In 2008, as in 1932, a long era of Republican political dominance came to an end in the face of an economic and financial crisis that, in voters’ minds, both discredited the G.O.P.’s free-market ideology and undermined its claims of competence. And for those on the progressive side of the political spectrum, these are hopeful times.

There is, however, another and more disturbing parallel between 2008 and 1932 — namely, the emergence of a power vacuum at the height of the crisis. The interregnum of 1932-1933, the long stretch between the election and the actual transfer of power, was disastrous for the U.S. economy, at least in part because the outgoing administration had no credibility, the incoming administration had no authority and the ideological chasm between the two sides was too great to allow concerted action. And the same thing is happening now.

It’s true that the interregnum will be shorter this time: F.D.R. wasn’t inaugurated until March; Barack Obama will move into the White House on Jan. 20. But crises move faster these days.

How much can go wrong in the two months before Mr. Obama takes the oath of office? The answer, unfortunately, is: a lot. Consider how much darker the economic picture has grown since the failure of Lehman Brothers, which took place just over two months ago. And the pace of deterioration seems to be accelerating.

Most obviously, we’re in the midst of the worst stock market crash since the Great Depression: the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has now fallen more than 50 percent from its peak. Other indicators are arguably even more disturbing: unemployment claims are surging, manufacturing production is plunging, interest rates on corporate bonds — which reflect investor fears of default — are soaring, which will almost surely lead to a sharp fall in business spending. The prospects for the economy look much grimmer now than they did as little as a week or two ago.

Yet economic policy, rather than responding to the threat, seems to have gone on vacation. In particular, panic has returned to the credit markets, yet no new rescue plan is in sight. On the contrary, Henry Paulson, the Treasury secretary, has announced that he won’t even go back to Congress for the second half of the $700 billion already approved for financial bailouts. And financial aid for the beleaguered auto industry is being stalled by a political standoff.

How much should we worry about what looks like two months of policy drift? At minimum, the next two months will inflict serious pain on hundreds of thousands of Americans, who will lose their jobs, their homes, or both. What’s really troubling, however, is the possibility that some of the damage being done right now will be irreversible. I’m concerned, in particular, about the two D’s: deflation and Detroit.

About deflation: Japan’s “lost decade” in the 1990s taught economists that it’s very hard to get the economy moving once expectations of inflation get too low (it doesn’t matter whether people literally expect prices to fall). Yet there’s clear deflationary pressure on the U.S. economy right now, and every month that passes without signs of recovery increases the odds that we’ll find ourselves stuck in a Japan-type trap for years.

About Detroit: There’s now a real risk that, in the absence of quick federal aid, the Big Three automakers and their network of suppliers will be forced into liquidation — that is, forced to shut down, lay off all their workers and sell off their assets. And if that happens, it will be very hard to bring them back.

Now, maybe letting the auto companies die is the right decision, even though an auto industry collapse would be a huge blow to an already slumping economy. But it’s a decision that should be taken carefully, with full consideration of the costs and benefits — not a decision taken by default, because of a political standoff between Democrats who want Mr. Paulson to use some of that $700 billion and a lame-duck administration that’s trying to force Congress to divert funds from a fuel-efficiency program instead.

Is economic policy completely paralyzed between now and Jan. 20? No, not completely. Some useful actions are being taken. For example, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the lending agencies, have taken the helpful step of declaring a temporary halt to foreclosures, while Congress has passed a badly needed extension of unemployment benefits now that the White House has dropped its opposition.

But nothing is happening on the policy front that is remotely commensurate with the scale of the economic crisis. And it’s scary to think how much more can go wrong before Inauguration Day.

comment reply

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment":


don't forget about the maintenance department, the STP/Water Operator, Security, and of course the infamous Rec Director who runs all the off season events without a staff!
thank you.

comment

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment":

Thank you Cheryl for KEEPING LAKE ADVENTURE ALIVE!!! Like most people complain about the way things are, well, wake up and realize without Cheryl, Joyce, Joe where would we be as far as running LA. This group, without a manager, have been doing everything to continue the operation and every property owner should give them a BIG THANK YOU when they see them or send them a Xmas card showing your appreciation. Also, the board should take notice of the type of workers they are and reward them with a raise that with their performance, in these times of confusion of management, is truly deserved. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!....

comment

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment":

Thank you Cheryl for KEEPING LAKE ADVENTURE ALIVE!!! Like most people complain about the way things are, well, wake up and realize without Cheryl, Joyce, Joe where would we be as far as running LA. This group, without a manager, have been doing everything to continue the operation and every property owner should give them a BIG THANK YOU when they see them or send them a Xmas card showing your appreciation. Also, the board should take notice of the type of workers they are and reward them with a raise that with their performance, in these times of confusion of management, is truly deserved. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!....

la web page

the la web page has some changes -- there are 2 ways to check the official weather report for the pocono region with links to wnep tv station and the pa state weather web page -- this is a good addition as well as posting of weather events at la by cheryl as they occur -- she also will post any weather related incidents that occur at la -- that's good progress

i see by the notice on the web page that the wifi service at the club house was shut down the beginning of october -- if this is a fact it is wrong -- computers are the way many members communicate with friends and family and check all sorts of information and access entertainment on the web-- this is equivalent to the introduction of the pay phones at la to give members a way to communicate back in the old 70's -- today there are no more pay phones because of the availability of phone service through land lines and now cell phones-- soon land lines will be gone --- members and most of the world outside la use the internet for all forms of communication and entertainment -- but not in la in the winter--young people particularly are tuned into the internet and i know from my family the kids won't even come here if they didn't have internet service-- the bod should want to make la to be attractive to all-- all the time and not just part of the year -- this attitude is why la members only show up 4 or 5 weekends and holidays a year-- this is as the old saying goes " penny wise and dollar foolish " -- save a few dollars on wifi service and that will keep la financially sound -- yea!!!!

#60

POLL DATA 2

MORE POLL DATA RESULTS

Q: DO YOU AGREE WITH HIRING NEW LEGAL COUNSEL FOR THE 12' WIDE ISSUE
A: yes ----------- 105
no --------------- 8

Q: DO YOU THINK THE LA MANAGER REPLACEMENT WAS JUSTIFIED
A: yes ----------- 105
no --------------- 5
don't know ------- 50

Q: HOW IS IMPORTANT IS THE LA MANAGER
A: extremely important ----------- 136
somewhat important --------------- 15
not at all ----------------------- 0
don't need one ------------------- 5

Q: SHOULD THE LA MANAGER CANDIDATES BE
A: extremely vetted -------------- 93
somewhat vetted ------------------ 50
just hire someone ---------------- 1
doesn't matter ------------------- 1

Q: WHAT S THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE YOU HAVE AT
A:annual fee ----------30
12' wide issue --------87
quality of life issues --- 129

Q: ARE THE ANNUAL FEES
A: too high ----------- 29
adequate ------------- 121
don't know ------------ 95

Q: A PROGRAM SHOULD BE DEVELOPED TO
A: clean up derelict properties --------- 148
collect leaves -------------------------- 79
reduce road dust ------------------------ 7
control geese --------------------------- 6

Q: SHOULD LA EMPLOY A DEBT COLLECTION COMPANY TO COLLECT DEFAULTING MEMBER DUES
A: yes --------------173
no ------------------ 16

Q: LOTS THAT LA ACQUIRED THROUGH SHERIFF SALES BE SOLD SO THEY BECOME DUES GENNERATING LOTS
A: yes --------------- 174
no ------------------- 11

Q: SHOULD THESE LOTS BE SOLD AT COST TO HASTEN THEM BACK INTO AN INCOME POSITION
A: yes --------- 167
no ------------- 18

Q: I THOUGHT LA DAY WAS
A: very successful ---------------- 57
enjoyable ------------------------- 28
okay ------------------------------ 50
need improvement ------------------ 3

Q: THE BEST PART OF THE LA FESTIVITIES WERE
A: picnin ------------------- 48
games ----------------------- 3
music ----------------------- 8
pool ------------------------ 28

#61

POLL DATA

when i changed the format of the blog i lost some of the poll data -- i have been able to recreate it from some old data and here are the results of those polls. i feel that since it all deals with the consequences of the october sno/wind storm and power and utilities failures it is important since many people were affected by the failures of the la community management (?) or whomever wasn't in charge of the situation at la during these events

Q: IN AN EMERGENCY LA SHOULD HAVE
A: EMERGENCY HOUSING -------------- 17
GENERATOR 4 WATER SUPPLY ------- 21
GENERATOR 4 CLUBHOUSE ---------- 7
GENERATOR 4 OFFICE COMPLEX ----- 15
GENERATOR 4 PAVILION ----------- 3
OFFICE OPEN -------------------- 20

Q: THE OCTOBER SNO STORM CAUSED
A: NO DAMAGE ---------------------- 5
COLLAPSED SCREENROOM ----------- 15
COLLAPSED GAZEBO --------------- 0
COLLAPSED AWNING --------------- 1
DOWNED TREES ------------------- 8
DAMAGED TRAILER ---------------- 6
BURNED OUT HOT WATER TANK ------ 0

Q: LA WEB PAGE IS
A: JUST FINE ---------------------- 0
NEEDS IMPROVEMENT -------------- 18
NOT RELEVENT ------------------- 4
NEEDS CONTACT INFO ------------- 12
NEEDS EMERGENCY INFO ----------- 16
NEEDS UPDATING DAILY ----------- 23

Q: IN LIGHT OF OCTOBER STORM
A: LA NEEDS ON SITE MANAGER ------- 20
NEEDS EMERGENCY PLAN ----------- 18
NEEDS NO PLANNING -------------- 4

love this cartoon

#63

LOST BLOG -- OPPS!!!!

SETTING UP A NEW BLOG -- LOST THE OLD ONE SO I HAVE TO START OVER

--LATER THAT SAME NGHT-----OKAY I FOUND THE OLD TEMPLATE SO I GOT MOST OF IT BACK -- SOME POLL DATA LOST -- OH WELL WE'LL START OVER WITH NEW POLLS -- ANY SUGGESTIONS???

60 MiNUTES

HERE IS A LINK TO THE 60 MINUTE INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT ELECT OBAMA -- THIS IS THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW AS IT WAS BROADCAST -- IT WAS VERY INTERESTING TO HAVE AN INSIGHT INTO THE NEXT PRESIDENT'S PLANS FOR THE ECONOMY, DEFENSE AND PERSONAL MATTERS -

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4608198n

la emergency plans ??? got any???

Wildfire destroys 500 mobile homes in Los Angeles
1 day ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The mayor of Los Angeles says about 500 mobile homes were destroyed in a wildfire plaguing the city.
-----------------

Fires in Los Angeles County, to the east in Riverside and Orange counties, and to the northwest in Santa Barbara County had blackened nearly 29 square miles and destroyed more than 800 mobile homes, houses and apartments since Thursday night. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared states of emergency in all three counties


---------------
Fire officials estimated 10,000 people were under orders to evacuate. Among them were residents of the Oakridge Mobile Home Park, where about 500 trailers were lost to the flames. Many had housed senior citizens

--------------
In one of the worst-hit areas -- a Los Angeles mobile home park in the foothills of Sylmar where fire devastated 500 trailers overnight on Friday -- police using cadaver dogs began a search for bodies of elderly or disabled residents who authorities fear may not have been able to get out in time

AFTER LAST MONTH'S FREAK STORM AND THE EXPERIENCE OF SOME MEMBERS WHO HAPPENED TO BE AT LA DURING THIS EVENT OUR WE REALLY SURE THE PA STATE POLICE WILL EVACUATE LA IF IT BECOMES NECESSARY? SHOULD LA HAVE A BETTER PLAN?????? I THINK SO -- WHAT DO YOU THINK????? LET ME KNOW!!!!

#64

hoa defaults

the preceding article reviews the problem with hoa defaults in ca. -- sounds a lot like la -- but la has a lot more defaults than it should have -- i believe that the last stated number was 100+ members not paying -- that is unacceptable and this bod needs to consider a better approach to this problem then just carrying these properties for years and having everyone else pay their way-- a collection agency can go after delinquent payments and follow up with filing liens and reporting these delinquent members to the various credit rating agencies -- these people aren't concerned about the financial welfare of the community assoc and therefore the assoc should not be concerned about the consequences of the credit rating being dinged up -- even if la gets nothing financially out of this action it is worth it to send a message that la will pursue all methods to collect defaulting fees and that will lead some to either pay up or perhaps sell their properties -- any way that these non paying members are removed is beneficial to the community--a difficult financial environment may be just around the corner and the bod should prepare to take strong action to go after defaulting members and the fees or else they will be looking for a special surcharge to cover the operating expenses to operate la --that will be bad for the bod

hoa defaults

Foreclosures put county's HOAs in financial bind
Mortgage meltdowns have cut into homeowner association budgets, prompting fee hikes and delays in repairs.
By JEFF COLLINS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Comments 64 | Recommend 11
Correction: The Robinson Ranch Community Association in Trabuco Canyon is not considering asking homeowners to volunteer to provide basic maintenance such as mowing lawns. Nor has it taken steps to negotiate lower water rates with the Trabuco Canyon Water District. Due to incorrect information provided to the Register, an earlier version of this article reported incorrectly that it had done so.
LAGUNA HILLS Hard times have hit Aliso Meadows hard.
The Laguna Hills condo complex had at least 23 foreclosures in the past six months, resulting in months of unpaid homeowner association dues.
Now, Aliso Meadows is so short on cash that it has deferred roof and termite repairs, can't fix rotten wood siding and must wait to fix potholes "big enough for your families to make Jacuzzi's of," association officials said.
"In some cases, we're doing (repairs) piecemeal. A fence here, a piece there," said Art Recalde, president of the Aliso Meadows Condominium Association. "We can't afford more."
Aliso Meadows is one of many HOAs in Orange County and around the state that are having trouble coming up with the money they need for maintenance and services because of rising foreclosures.
While most HOAs in Orange County are able to ride through turbulent times, many – mainly newer ones and ones catering to first-time home buyers – are reeling from mushrooming delinquencies.
Examples of HOA troubles include:
A Lake Forest condo complex plagued by at least five dozen foreclosures and mortgage defaults had to defer all but the most urgent repairs, leaving termite and wood repairs undone.
A Placentia complex with at least 33 homes in foreclosure or default ended up raising monthly fees and levying a $1,000 special assessment. The increases were caused in part because of prior financial problems, but foreclosures were "the icing on the cake," the association president said.
The HOA for a Huntington Beach senior complex has limited its tree trimming services to trees that are in most need because of safety concerns.
Experts say that problems like these are most pronounced in the Inland Empire and Central California where there were more new buyers stretching their finances to afford a home.
In the more extreme examples, lawn mowing, street sweeping and window washing are cut from three times to one time a week. Pools go unheated in the winter. Security has been curtailed.
Industry officials say that the majority of Orange County homeowners associations have the resources to overcome increased delinquencies.
But even financially sound HOAs must budget for bad debts or, at the very least, pick up expenses for one or more neighbors who have abandoned homes in the face of foreclosure.
"It isn't all about destitute homeowners associations," said Robin Owens, managing agent for Affinity Property Services Inc., an HOA management company that oversees about 1,200 units in Orange County.
But, she added, "Am I going to budget for bad debt? Absolutely. Everybody's going to budget for bad debt. I don't know what's coming down the line."
Mini-governments
HOAs are like mini-governments set up to maintain commonly owned property in a housing development. They maintain private roads and care for community pools, clubhouses, landscaping, roofs and elevators.
To pay for those services, they levy monthly dues on each property owner in the development and can require owners to pay special one-time assessments for emergency repairs, like cracked foundations or leaky roofs.
Even a few foreclosures can eat giant holes in an HOAs finances.
Associations must maintain "zero-balance budgets," meaning they can raise just enough money to cover expenses and build up reserves for future maintenance, industry officials say.
Homeowners facing foreclosure often stop paying dues for a year or more before losing their home, so the unpaid dues mount up.
"When some homeowners aren't paying their fair share, it puts a burden on the other homeowners," said Karen Conlon, president of the California Association of Community Managers.
Orange County has 4,400 HOAs, the third-highest number in the state, after Los Angeles and San Diego counties, according to Conlon's trade group.
More than 61 percent of Orange County's residents live in an HOA, with more than 750,000 homes belonging to those associations.
No one tracks how many associations are facing financial problems. But Aliso Viejo-based Merit Property Management reported almost a ten-fold increase in the percentage of delinquencies in the 140,000 units it manages statewide.
Merit reported that 2.4 percent of annual dues were 90 days or more delinquent as of June. That's up from 0.25 percent in June 2003.
Those numbers are skewed upward somewhat since Merit added newer HOAs in recent years that are more prone to delinquencies, said Andrew Schlegel, Merit's vice president of finance. Without the addition of the new HOAs, he guessed the delinquency rate would be around 1.5 percent – still a six-fold increase.
In addition, Schlegel projects that Merit will file liens on 4.8 percent of the units it manages this year for not paying HOA dues, up from 1.2 percent in 2005.
Dues first thing to get cut
Schlegel said delinquencies began rising as recent homebuyers using creative home loans began to get in a financial bind.
As home values dropped and mortgage payments adjusted upwards, many of those new residents "are throwing up their arms and walking away," he said.
The HOA dues are often the first thing such residents stop paying.
When lenders foreclose, the HOA liens get wiped out, and going after the residents in court often amounts to throwing good money after bad, he said. The residents can't be found, and when they are, they're often broke.
In Orange County, however, most HOAs are older and have built up reserves to cover the problem. They have fewer new residents who bought at the top of the market.
And the newer communities here, such as Talega and Newport Coast not only see fewer foreclosures, but also were put on a sound financial footing by the developers who built them, Schlegel said.
Less common, but still pervasive, are associations like Aliso Meadows, where HOA delinquencies swelled to around $150,000 – up from around $35,000 two years ago – as foreclosures mounted, association officials say. The HOA raised fees by $10 to $240 a month to make up for that loss.
Elsewhere, "For Sale" and "Bank Owned" signs dot units throughout the Aliso Creek Villas in Lake Forest, which had 63 units go into foreclosure or default, according to ForeclosureRadar.
Association President Ginny Dunn said those foreclosures created a financial burden for the Aliso Creek HOA, which had to defer wood and termite damage repairs and concentrate on the most urgent items.
"We take care of anything that's a dangerous situation," Dunn said. "But those things that aren't, we put to the side and will get to them when funds are available."
At the Cinnamon Tree condos in Placentia, more than 30 foreclosures and mortgage defaults have aggravated the complex's existing financial troubles and disputes.
Foreclosures, and HOA delinquencies, mushroomed after prices there fell from around $300,000 a unit to as low as $150,000, helping to push the board into raising fees and levying a $1,000 special assessment, property owners there said.
Even in developments where foreclosures are rare, HOAs still have been forced to step in and care for vacant units – at the association's expense.
At Threewoods, a Fullerton community of $1 million homes, owners abandoned one unit under the threat of foreclosure, leaving the association to water and mow its lawn during the months it sat vacant. The association also was forced to act after a 100-pound beehive was discovered inside the home.
Conlon, president of the state trade group, noted that her own association in Laguna Hills discovered 14 squatters had taken up residence in one of four foreclosed units.
While four foreclosures may not seem like a lot out of the 133 units in the complex, Conlon noted that those unpaid fees add up.
"We're not talking about one month or two months. We're talking about a year to 18 months," she said.
"It's going to take us a long time to recover," Conlon added. "I think it's going to take a good two to five years to fully financially recover from all the things happening in the community."
Register staff writer Mathew Padilla contributed to this report.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7734 or jcollins@ocregister.com

rain rain rain

yes all day -- rain and constant misty weather -- mild temps but sure couldn't clean up leaves-- cleaned up some of my destroyed screen house -- finish the rest tomorrow -- then it is going to get cold at night -- low 20's-- need to drain water and put antifreeze in the lines -- winter coming

drove around today and was rather surprised at how many trees are down -- the street behind me village drive west has about 3 or 4 with trees on the trailers -- i think more have come down since the storm because of the high winds that have been buffeting the area-- some members will have quite a bit of fire wood and a few roofs to repair

the october storm caused a lot of damage --

screen houses + bj's

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "screen houses":

Thank you for the information. I checked it out and it's much cheaper then the prices on the Kay website


anon -- yes i just ordered one price was 1211.89 and free shipping -- can't beat that with a stick




#65

comment replys

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment reply":


You're right, I've been here 20 years and invested alot of money in my place. But it seems that there's no pleasing the couple of people who have made dissing LA and spreading all kinds of BS about what is not being done with utilities etc. their main goal in life. Hate to burst your bubble but there is plenty of ongoing work and also much that has been completed. Yes, the BOD right now seem to be chasing their tails, and it probably is no coincidence that the dues were lowered $150 (which we really can't afford to do) because of the upcoming election since it is only for this year!!! That reduction has got to affect the 8 year plan and BOD was foolish to make that move.



Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "comment reply":


Do we really need an obituaries page on www.lakeadventure.net? This is stupid and should be removed. I mean no disrespect to any of the names listed, but they are dead. Move on already!

I can think of so many other topics that would be useful. I'm sure that anyone thinking of purchasing at LA would be pleased with an obituaries section. NOT!