HOA-Review

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National Blog

Water System Problems

Site Administrator

Surfside HOA, Ocean Park, WA.

Surfside seems to have endless problems with the water system. The pipes constantly break, the water is frequently reported to have a bad taste, a bad smell, often there is low water pressure, and there is a constant stream of warnings not to drink the water. The water system is the largest item on our budget. Can anyone specify why we have all these problems? What are the solutions?

Voting/Electronic Voting

Site Administrator

Surfside HOA, Ocean Park, WA.

Many of the members of Surfside HOA feel that a small “Elitist Faction” controls the Board. The Board controls the voting and holds the votes for the Independent Voting company that counts the votes. Some feel that some of those votes are lost or miscounted. Some have proposed electronic voting in a manner that all could see the results and the results could be audited. Deb Blagg proposed a software program that cost less than $1000 per year that could achieve this. What would you suggest as a solution to this problem?

Free Member to Member Communication

Site Administrator

Surfside HOA, Ocean Park, Wa

One of the biggest problems in Surfside seems to be lack of communication. The Board controls the Weekender weekly newsletter, the Facebook page and the Website. The HOA refuses to post opposing viewpoints. The only voice of the property owners is a property owner blog, surfsideinfo.blogspot.com/ , that is produced by George Miller. The Board also has the ability to send emails to all the members, but this ability is not shared with the other members. Thus a “Faction” of the community controls all the information sent to the members. Should the email list that the HOA has be available to all the members? Is there some other solution?

Illegal and Unethical Actions of the Surfside Board

Site Administrator

Recently it was discovered that Surfside Board Members and Managers had allowed illegal cutting, removal, storage and burying of the removed asbestos pipe. Surfside was fined and some of the people involved were criminally investigated.

It was also discovered that they moved soil into a wetland, and built a building, without permits. There are fines and Surfside is now required to purchase wetlands to replace what they damaged. More costs to be paid by the property owners.

There has been a flurry of false covenant violations made against the property owners, which have ended in a variety of lawsuits. These included the Durdels, Ottersens and Johansens. There may be others but frequently actions are taken by Surfside in secret, and sometimes even some of the board members are not informed of the actions. Of those we are aware of, most were won by the property owners. We understand that these costs far exceeded $100,000, but we are also aware that the HOA filed many other lawsuits that were not mentioned at board meetings and the details of these were hidden from the members.

It appears that Surfside HOA is controlled by a small group of people. This group seems to be involved in all of the above and includes most of the members of the board. What Solutions are available for the mass of members to get and maintain control of the board?

I am not an attorney, these are my beliefs and understandings.
Patrick Johansen

Cement/Asbestos Water Pipes

Site Administrator

Surfside HOA, Ocean Park, WA

There are really two problems here. Surfside’s drinking water is in danger. The pipes that deliver the drinking water are made of asbestos and cement. The cement is dissolving. This cause several problems. The pipes are getting weaker and breaking, dirt and potential hazardous debris getting into the lines, cost of repairs, but also, asbestos is running down the lines and into your faucets. Some have said that drinking asbestos is not dangerous, only breathing it is harmful. We find that hard to believe. I don’t like the idea of drinking asbestos. Surfside is in the process of replacing the pipe, a certain amount each year, but we are getting more and more breaks, and each foot is costing more to replace each year.

What would you suggest we should do from here?

Tree Topping, Surfside, Ocean Park, WA

Site Administrator

Currently Surfside has covenants that require only people on the west side of J PLace to top their trees to various heights. These seem to be random heights and we have not been able to get an explanation of why those heights. Two neighbors who live next to each other may find that one is required to top their trees to 16′ yet the other can let theirs grow to 24′. J Place is about 30′ to 50′ above most of the other street. The houses on “Ocean Front” properties like G and F Streets can all keep theirs at 24′. What is the logic of topping trees between the Ocean Front properties shorter than those on the Ocean Front properties. In reality most of the trees between G Place and J Place, could grow to their full height and not interfere with the views of the J Place Members. The cost to the properties that have to top their trees is high and and is the damage to the appearance of their properties. What solutions could we find to solve this problem?

Steps to fight false covenant violations.

Site Administrator

I am not an attorney, this is not legal advice, it is intended as helpful
information and is my opinion and beliefs from my experience fighting false covenant violations charges by Surfside HOA in Ocean Park, WA.

  1. Your HOA is fining you but you dont believe you are violating the covenants. You would like an inexpensive way to take it to court.
    Always respond to everything they send you, in writing, within 10 days or whatever is required by the CCRs.
  2. Make SURE you are right. Read your covenants cover to cover, read your bylaws, ask the HOA, in writing, to tell you what specific covenant you are violating, in writing. Email is acceptable and may be better because there is a documented record that you sent it and the other person received it.
  3. If it isn’t in writing it didn’t happen.
  4. Pay whatever fines they send you, so they don’t have a reason to get an attorney involved. The attorney’s fees can be much more than the fines.
  5. File an appeal with your HOA Board and ask them in writing to stop the fines until they hear and decide on your appeal.
  6. If they drop the complaint, ask for it in writing. Then immediately after the meeting, send the HOA a letter or email stating your understanding that they agreed you were not in violation and request a letter or email from them stating so.
  7. Document EVERYTHING that happens.
  8. If they don’t drop the complaint, as long as the fines are less than your the maximum amount allowed by your small claims court, you can take the matter to small claims court. The court fees are usually under $20, you can usually serve the paperwork to HOA by registered mail, or have a friend do it. The friend must sign a court document stating when and where they delivered the court notice. Check with your small claims court to get all the rules right.
  9. No attorneys are allowed in court, so it is you against an HOA manager or board member. Bring all the written evidence you have. The judge believes written information. It can include emails or letters you wrote, or the HOA wrote you. It can also include notes you kept, photos, receipts, etc. Even testimony from witnesses is better if in writing and the person comes to court to testify.
  10. If you win, the HOA can appeal your case to Superior Court. You will need an attorney. I understand the costs are generally about $2500 and if you are right, you will win. Make sure your attorney files for attorney fees. I understand that appeals from Small Claims court rarely reverse the Small Claims judgement.

Patrick Johansen, former property owner of Surfside HOA, Ocean Park, Wa.