Saturday, May 12, 2001

Lege may curb power of homeowners associations

AUSTIN - There's something terribly wrong with a system that allows a homeowners' association to take an 82-year-old widow's house and auction it for $5,000, leaving her homeless.
   That is what happened recently to Wenonah Blevins, who lives in the Houston area. The Champions Community Improvement Association in north Harris County auctioned Blevins' home in March because she didn't pay two years of homeowner dues.
   The total for the dues and interest was $814.50. The home, which was paid off, was worth $150,000. Blevins' situation is among hundreds of horror stories about homeowners' associations throughout Texas and the United States. Her plight has caught the attention of Texas lawmakers, who are now looking to curb the power of these associations.
   Foreclosure cases
   Homeowners often face huge legal fees if association officials target them for unpaid dues or cite them for other problems. And homeowners' associations frequently hire attorneys who file foreclosure cases, forcing homeowners to pay the legal fees of the association's lawyer to stop the case.
   In Harris County alone, associations have filed more than 4,400 foreclosure cases against homeowners in the past five years, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. Sen. Jon Lindsay, R-Houston, is the main sponsor of legislation that would require associations that auction a home to reimburse a property owner if it sells a foreclosed property for less than its value. Senate Bill 1834 also would set tougher procedures and guidelines that associations must follow before foreclosing.
   ''It's just not right for someone to be able to have substantial equity in their home to then lose it over a small amount of debt," said Lindsay, whose bill has passed the Senate and awaits House action. Many believe lawmakers will pass the bill because of what happened to Blevins.
   Officials with the Champions Community Improvement Association said they followed procedures in auctioning Blevins' home. Of course, homeowners have an obligation to make sure they fully understand the provisions of the deed restrictions when they buy their home. And they are legally bound to abide by those restrictions.
   Home lost over back dues
   Nevertheless, isn't it morally wrong to seize and auction the home of an 82-year-old widow because of $814.50 in back dues? Homeowner associations are set up to enhance and preserve neighborhoods and most of them use fees they collect for upkeep of common areas and other services to property owners.
   But the actions of some have tainted the reputation of associations that are doing good work. And the problems are not isolated to Texas.
   Consider the behavior of a homeowner association president in one Mesa, Ariz., subdivision. Workers were building a fence at a house when he ordered them to leave. The owners came home to picks and shovels scattered across the property. The fence was the same kind that the association approved in other yards. ''This is the closest thing to communism in the United States that I've seen in my 67 years,'' said the owner of the property.
   Lindsay is on the right track with his legislation, but many disputes between homeowner associations and homeowners could be resolved with common-sense approaches, such as face-to-face meetings before filing lawsuits or liens. Perhaps the parties could agree on a resolution before going to court and avoid huge attorney fees.
   Disputes between homeowners and associations generally involve small amounts of money, but the attorney fees often mount into the thousands of dollars. That means no one wins except the attorneys. It's time to rein in these associations because no one should be allowed to auction your home because you owe a few hundred dollars in back dues.
  

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Ty Meighan is chief of the Scripps Howard Austin Bureau. You can reach him by phone at (512) 334-6640 or by email at meighant@scripps.com.

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