I-Team: HOA Drama Caught on Tape
595,535
Published 2016-03-14
Aired March 14, 2016
A quiet, DeKalb County neighborhood off of Flat Shoals Road is cozy with its bungalows, townhomes and single family houses. But, neighbors say, their new homeowners' association president has created tension.
"I've lived 10 years and I've never seen anything like this. It could be a reality show," said Lauren Hise , a Brighton Village homeowner
Brighton Village Board Treasurer Derick Montegomery chimed in, "I'm exhausted and tired and very frustrated."
Many residents and some board members also blame the property management group, Sentry Management, for the new tension which spilled into a recent meeting.
In an audiotape, you can hear Sentry representive Caren Brown challenges board member Brianna Gage who has pushed back at how the community is being treated.
"Do you want to see me outside Brianna? Let's go," yelled Ms. Brown.
Board treasurer Derick Montgomery was there.
I said, 'We're professionals. We are not going to engage in a fistfight wth a property management who is on the clock and we're paying her to be there'."
So how did it come to this? The installation of a security gate opened the neighbors' eyes to just how closed off they feel they are to the management of their community. Even the HOA treasurer, the man in charge of the finances, says he no longer has a say in how the money is spent.
The treasurer says Brighton Village shelved an $80,000 gate proposal because they didn't have the money. But then after new board leadership arrived, he says, a gate was going in and the price was going up.
"And we're now at $135,000," he told the Fox 5 I-Team.
Alarmed Montgomery sent a letter warning his neighbors "no decision was voted on by the board." Neighbors chimed in wanting to know more.
"We want to see the contract. We want to see the financial," said homeowner Zakia Funchess
The Fox 5 I-Team has tried to talk to board president Michael Pillow about the mounting tensions since he took the post. When I asked him, "Can we talk to you about the ill will between the board and some of the neighbors," he kept walking.
Neighbor David Thompson sums up what we heard again and again.
"There just hasn't been a lot of transparency."
Residents say they were told the bylaws give the president a lot of power to make unilateral decisions.
Fed up they gathered signatures to call for new board elections, but they poured out of that packed meeting furious, again.
"They humored us by giving us the meeting that we had a right to and then at the last moment threw it in our face that we needed half of the members which is half of the homeowners to vote in order to get anybody off the board," said an obviously furious Lauren Hise
Neighbor Brian Sheffer said, "We thought we had the votes."
He placed blame for the community not knowing more about how the process was supposed to work.
"Our property manager, our board, the lawyer we're paying to be there right now."
We tried to chat with Sentry Management, but they instead called the police on us.
The community told me at the meeting to vote off the board, they finally asked the current members to just step down from their volunteer positions so they could start over. We were told, one board member said she would, but not the president.
And finally, the neighbors say many of the board positions - including the president's - are about to expire, so they will hold new elections. But they want all spending to be on hold until that happens.
All Comments (21)
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This is why i paid $130,000 more for a sightly smaller house. Just to be in an area with no HOA. HOAs should be outlawed.
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Before I bought my current home I told my Realtor that if he shows me any homes in an HOA he's fired
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HOAs usually consist of snobby people who think they're above others.
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"Home owners associations, they work well the majority of the time..." No they don't.
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Can’t believe that HOA lady’s name is Karen
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As a member of an HOA i think bringing back fist fights might be a good thing.
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I've worked in law enforcement for many years and the one thing I can tell you when someone calls the police on a news crew for just asking a few questions then there's something wrong going on. Have audit done and find out who is getting the contracts. I bet you anything you'll find some kickbacks.
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The gate only stops cars. Pedestrians appear to be free to come and go, which means this six-figure gate only provides a false sense of security, like most of them do in a gated community.
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My first house was in an HOA neighborhood and we continuously got warning letters for ridiculous things. My husband and I sold the home even though we lost money on it but we have never been happier to leave. I am never living in an HOA property ever again.
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Never understood why anyone would buy property in an HOA. I never would.
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how the hell does a gate like that even cost $80k ?! and there's no way it could be $135,000! that's crazy.
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this is why HOA'S should be outlawed.
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My late husband and I were once considering buying a condo. While driving thru a very nice condo complex I noticed that ALL the window boxes on each condo had red geraniums in them. I told my husband that we would NOT be buying any condo here. If I'm choosing to spend over $300,000 for a house, I do NOT want to be told what flowers I can plant in pots or what colors I cannot paint my front door. I love my clothesline but that is NOT allowed by HOAs and you also cannot hang a beach towel on your deck railing. IT'S ALL NONSENSE!!!
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I own a home beside an HOA they have tried to enforce. their rules on me and MY PROPERTY. The first time I told to pound salt second time they were met with my dogs they left in a hurry third time they had actually come on my property they were met with a shotgun.I called the police and they told them that if they ever come back on the property they would be arrested for criminal trtrespass.I told them if they don't like my house build a fucking wall.
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We as homeowners need to be protected against this HOA bullies
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"Homeowner's Associations for the most part, they work well the majority of the time." Uh, no they don't! I used to live in an HOA neighborhood. Never again! People claim that they're "safe" (main reason why I moved there) but my old neighborhood was a target for thieves for quite some time. The HOA never does anything about these issues, but they'll gladly take your monthly dues and harass the ever living shit out of you so you can cough up more money for their bullshit fines. When I buy my first home, I know where not to buy! I am never going to live in an HOA neighborhood again!
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Owners should stop paying their dues until an investigation by an outside firm is made.
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It's all about money and power nothing else
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HOA is hell! Never buy into an HOA.
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This is why I live in a neighborhood with no HOA. We get the occasional problem lawn, but so what? Doesn't seem to have any effect on property values. Lots of people envy us and want to move here.
