HOA-Review

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21 thoughts on “Surfside Open Blog”

  1. Here is a perfect example of what can happen when a rogue board unethically fines a homeowner, has no evidence, no due process is offered and the Board is jury, judge and executioner. This board cost the Corporation over $400,000 to defend their false accusations. Then the Attorney kept appealing the case. This is unethical, when attorneys deny our rights. They are above the laws. Time to add penalties to the laws, so board members caught violating their duties, think twice before they violate the law. All attorneys should be disbarred for their ethics violations. WA residents CANNOT SIGN AWAY THEIR RIGHTS IN A PRIVATE CONTRACT TO A CORPORATION.

    Authored by Raelene Shifano

    https://independentamericancommunities.com/2021/02/04/illinois-condo-settles-dispute-over-500-fine-pays-owner-125000/?fbclid=IwAR1eHbgTbxLCMD7H1ICa-KKZPDKdjhyDgIyrfn5kvYb0P2HgHbHkDONfbVM

  2. Should there be penalties in the law for HOA (homeowner associations and condo associations) that violate the law, vote to violate the law, or misenforce their covenants?

    Should the laws provide compensation for damages suffered by property owners due to the illegal actions of the Board Member(s) including pain and suffering?

    HOAs present special dangers to homeowners. An HOA board can falsely accuse a property owner of violating a covenant and fine them with no due process. The HOA does not have to enforce the same rules on everyone. They can enforce their interpretation of the rules on only one family if they want to.
    The fine can be a daily fine and no limit is placed by the law on the amount of the fine. If the homeowner does not pay this fine, the HOA may hire attorneys to collect and add the attorney’s fees to the homeowner’s bill. Often the attorney’s fees can far outweigh the original fine. Late fees and other fees made up by the HOA can also be added.

    The HOA can then file a non-judicial foreclosure against the property for a fine that may have been because their grass was an inch too long. The first time that the homeowner hears about the foreclosure, could be when the Sheriff office notifies them that they must leave their home and their house will be going up for sale in a Sheriff’s sale.

    Did you ever see that Geico HOA commercial? That is no exaggeration. I was in an HOA that cut down trees if they felt they were too tall. The fact that Geico created this commercial, proves that this is a nationally known problem.

    When the Association Board Members vote to violate the laws or covenants, the homeowner is in the position where they must risk their money on attorney’s fees and court costs to enforce the law or protect themselves. Conversely, the offending Board Member is either using the HOA insurance money or the collective HOA money for their attorney’s fees and court costs, thus have no risk. There are NO PENALTIES IN THE LAW FOR BOARD MEMBERS THAT VIOLATE THE WASHINGTON STATE HOA LAWS. This is extreme unequal power between two neighbor groups.

    For this reason, we believe that there should be penalties in the law for HOA Board Members who violate the laws.

    What do you think?

  3. How many times has that been since the start of 2020. It seems like the pipes have broken about 8 or 9 times. You would think that would be decreasing if Surfside is supposedly replacing bad pipe.

  4. Anyone else concerned with the excessive number of Boil Water notice around here?

    It appears our infrastructure is failing, while the Board fiddles away, buying trucks, and assuring themselves that there isn’t a single twig in their view.

    What higher priority should this organization have, other than dependable water?

    1. It’s seems to us these are way more than should be viewed as expectable. It seems unusual that neither town near to us experiences these same problems!
      We didn’t purchase property here and pay such high dues to live like we’re camping out way too frequently!

  6. Hello everyone. I assume you are here because you are concerned about the illegal and unethical actions of the Surfside Board.

    Would you be willing to put in a little effort to help with HOA Reform?

    I learned a while back that just writing on the blogs is not going to change anything. I started looking for ways to take action to improve the plight of people who live in HOAs. I am now Chairman of the Housing Justice Committee of RiseUpwa. This is a group that is working with legislators to change laws to protect Homeowners in HOAs and also to protect all homeowners from unfair foreclosure practices.

    Did you know that in an HOA, the Board can falsely accuse you of violating an HOA Covenant, like what happened to Joanne McMurphy, Roy Ottersen, Randy Durdell, Me, and plenty of others. They can then fine you with no proof, and no due process. If you don’t pay, they can hire an attorney to collect the fine, charge you late fees and interest, and add that to the fine. They can also put a lein on your property, and foreclose on your property through a non-judicial foreclosure, meaning they never have to give you the chance to defend yourself in court. You are supposed to be notified and given a chance for mediation, but you have seen how well Surfside follows the laws. Surfside is not the only HOA that ignores the laws. For many people in the State of Washington, the first time they know they are being foreclosed on is when the Sheriff presents them with a notice to vacate because their house is being sold in a Sheriff’s sale. We need to change the laws to protect homeowners in HOAs.

    I need your help. I found several other groups in WA that are fighting this. I found many around the country. Joining us can help to change the laws rather than just complaining on a blog while the Faction laughs at us. This is where we can make a difference. Now is the time to help. We have some good laws on coming but not enough. We need to put penalties in the laws for Board Members that violate the laws.

    RiseUpwa is a non-partisan organization and has Democrat, Republican, Libertarian and other members. We try to keep national politics out of our group and focus on getting things done that benefit the people of Washington. My part focuses on Housing including HOA and Foreclosure Reform.
    Please come, visit and JOIN https://riseupwa.org/housing-justice/ and also our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=riseupwa

    Patrick Johansen
    Chairman of Housing Group
    RiseUp WA, IgniteFoundation LLC
    [email protected]
    503-781-4492
    We are not attorney’s. All communications are opinions and beliefs.
    Nothing in our communications should be considered to be legal advice.

    “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke

  7. If you want to change Surfside, you will need to take some action. It is pretty easy. Invite people to come to this blog so we can all freely communicate outside of the control of Surfside. That is the first step. It is easy! Get their name, address in Surfside, phone and email and I will set them up. Or they can come to the site and register themselves, or you can do it for them. I find many say they will register…when they get home…then life happens and they forget. It is better to get their info and you or I register them. We are growing but we need more people to invite their neighbors and friends that live in Surfside.

  11. I’ve had very little contact with the HOA board or the office but the few times I have needed to contact them, they seem pretty much incompetent.

    The past couple years, you actually are the one who enlighten me when you dropped by our RV.? Sorry, I never got involved but I’ve just heard about all the pettyness, the trees, the dislike the Faction has toward RVers & the rules for some & not others. I really hate that!!
    I don’t really mind storing my RV in the “winter” but wish it was Nov 30th because it’s not winter weather until Dec so I hate the setup & breakdown all through Nov.

    Not giving those folks a covid exception, that’s absurd when the whole state isn’t allowed to evict anyone through Dec it should be the same for RVers.

  13. This is a good article about what bills you dont have to pay during the Covid crisis. It is a good idea to stay up with your bills if you can, but if you need to, this is a good thing to read. HOA dues and assessments are not included on the list, you still have to pay those.

    https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/saving-and-budgeting/articles/bills-you-dont-have-to-pay-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic?fbclid=IwAR01l6ptz5DjLdFze8OCmRSGWPAzD-g6viqbiFtPoOLSY2dcgl-ZgfXkb00

  14. Copied from NextDoor. Maybe not a horror story, but very close to one.

    Dawn Carnahan of Surfside
    Surfside Property Owners…be aware when selling your property. Just wanted to inform all Surfside property owners living within the HOA confines to be aware that the SHOA board monitors all Surfside real estate listings looking for violations or property information they do not like. We actually received a complaint about our property which is for sale. The complaint accused us of not being compliant based on an assumption read in our listing. Instead of contacting us and asking, a complaint was filed against us and jeopardizing a sale. After showing our property it was found that we had done nothing wrong and we were in fact compliant. We were asked to change our listing to align with verbiage that SHOA approves of. The covenants do not include SHOA approval of property listings. This was total overreach and harassment by SHOA. They seem to think they can reach beyond the written covenants when it suits them. This SHOA board is showing themselves to be very duplicitous. Also, if anyone does some research, the tree removal requests (not sure if tree height is included) that people have received from SHOA are not legal since the tree removal has not been added into the covenants, it was discussed but never put in the books….again…they, SHOA, are duplicitous and operate on the basis that property owners in Surfside will blindly comply. It’s time to vote them all out, clean house and get SHOA back to taking care of legit and legal business. Also, the current county commissioner supports the SHOA board, he’s got to go as well: we’re voting for Dan Driscoll, he knows what it’s like here and will work to clean things up.

  17. Thanks for coming here and registering. I hope you all remembered to check the box below to make sure you get emailed when someone posts. I think most of us are here for the same reason. I talked to you and you told me how unhappy you were with the management of Surfside. It would be good if you would comment about what specifically you would like to see change.

    The reason the Board can continue it’s abuse is that the total membership has no way to communicate with each other. I have provided this blog, and this page on my site to allow that communication. We all know that most of the community does not like the tree topping covenant, the bullying, the lack of transparency, the refusal to honor the State and County laws, etc., etc. We all want change. We need to bring more people to this blog so that this can happen.

    I need help coming up with ideas as to how to make this happen. I we slowly growing, but it is slow. What can we do to speed it up and get more people here more quickly?

    We are not attorney’s. All communications are opinions and beliefs.
    Nothing in our communications should be considered to be legal advice.

    Patrick Johansen
    [email protected]
    [email protected]
    HOA Reviews and Reports LLC
    503-781-4492
    “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke

  18. Unethical Sheriff Contract with Surfside.

    A local citizen, Judy Coleman of Ocean Park, complained that Surfside HOA in Ocean Park, WA had made a special deal with the Sheriff’s Office in Pacific County. She says, “I have recently become aware that for quite some time there has been a “contract” between our Pacific County Sheriff’s Office and the Surfside Homeowners Association for an officer assigned to do patrols in their area. It is my understanding that the Surfside HOA pays this officer’s salary as per this said contract. Yet this officer drives a sheriff department vehicle, wears a sheriff department uniform, and responds to various sheriff department calls.”

    See the full article at the address below…
    https://www.chinookobserver.com/opinion/letters/letter-citizen-doesn-t-like-private-contract-with-sheriff-s/article_1889c448-da45-11e9-8963-5f40779d4061.html

    Pacific County Sheriff Robin Souvenir made a proposal to Surfside:
    “My proposal is that at the very, very beginning, we say that they have to pay for it,” said Souvenir. “They have to pay for the salary, they have to pay for the car, they have to pay for the gas, they have to pay for the computer, they have to pay for anything that’s associated with that position.”

    See the full article at: https://www.chinookobserver.com/news/local/sheriff-s-office-surfside-hoa-negotiate-for-deputy/article_ef1d2808-62f6-11ea-b769-d729d6df4c70.html

    How will this solution answer Judy Coleman’s objections? Doesn’t seem to solve the issues she is addressing. As Judy states, “Are we going to only have good patrols in our county areas if we can afford to have a separate contract with our sheriff’s office? Are we only going to have sufficient patrols in our areas if we can afford to have a separate contract with the sheriff’s office? Could this lead to wealthy areas and wealthy people getting better service from our sheriff’s office with a private contract? I thought that we paid taxes for the protection of all our county citizens.”

    Judy is correct. What if we have a future cutback? Will the Surfside patrol be cut or will a non-Surfside patrol be cut? Will the citizens in Surfside, or actually the Board Members of Surfside have more pull with the County on other political issues because they are using the money of the HOA to pay for the Sheriff? Will Pacific County residents that can afford to pay the County directly get better service? Will this extend to the fire departments, road repairs and other County services?

    Shouldn’t we all pay the same and get equal police patrols?

    Personally, I think this is a very unethical arrangement and a very slippery slope.

    Patrick Johansen
    HOA-Review.com

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