r/HOA

Location: Pennsylvania - Condo HOA - Condo board recently changed skylights to a limited common element based on the PA Uniform Condo Act stating windows serve the purpose of that unit thusly is a limited common element. I’ve argued windows and skylights are different and the skylight is part of the roof system. Sure the window allows light in, but the surface protects all units below it.

I’ve checked the CCRs and there is no mention of skylights and the window portion only comes from the condo act. We do have precedent set by the board that repairs have been performed and skylights have been replaced as no other board has wanted to touch this item due to it not being clear.

In my opinion with them setting legal precedent of paying for repairs/replacement since the building and association was established and that it was developer installed they dont have sufficient legal standing. Their attorney sided with them of course, but i feel like they framed it as such to get their sign-off. Also i don’t believe anyone will challenge them.

Section 3202 (2) and (4) of the Act – Unit Boundaries are really all that impacts this issue.  They are as follows:

o   (2) If any chute, flue, duct, wire, conduit, bearing wall, bearing column or any other fixture lies partially within and partially outside the designated boundaries of a unit, any portion thereof serving only that unit is a limited common element allocated solely to that unit, and any portion thereof serving more than one unit or any portion of the common elements is a part of the common elements.

o   (4) Any shutters, awnings, window boxes, doorsteps, stoops, porches, balconies, patios and all exterior doors and windows or other fixtures designed to serve a single unit, but located outside the unit's boundaries, are limited common elements allocated exclusively to that unit.

My opinion is based on item 2 and 4…sure it’s transparent like a horizontal window so you win that argument condo board, but it’s designed different to handle higher loads and elements and the surface serves the purpose of more than one unit.

Any opinions on this matter if skylights should be common elements so repairs, replacement and maintenance should be association responsibility?

I’m in the process of getting legal representation and getting a consult as I feel they are not legal and this is a slippery slope to move costs to owners.

I’m hoping Reddit community can come through with opinions and suggestions on this matter

I have a habit of being late on my HOA dues.

This is because I tried to put it on Autopay and the fees for that are excessive, and I look for a notice in the mail, and pay each time. For reference, the HOA charges me 5% for CC transaction and 3% (maybe 2%) for ACH transaction- even if they're on autopay. I hate that I have to pay for ACH. Annual dues are $2000- so they add up. $100 for a credit card or $60 for ACH every 6 months. Last time I left ACH on autopay, I sold the house, and they still charged my ach, and it took a while for me to realize and a little more to get the money back.

I do travel for work, and usually, when I check my mail, I pay the fees with a onetime 3% instead of the autopay and forget. Last two times I missed paying the fees due to the job, and I was late by a month or two- I paid in full. But they charged me 25% late fees (late fees + mail fees+ other fees- total was around $400). I was able to talk to them, and they waived it the first time, but this second time around, they are insistent on the $400 fees. I did some basic search on the HOA code in Texas, and it says I can not be docked late fees if I paid the fees before I get the certified mail- and even after I get the certified mail, I have a curing period before I get charged. Is this true? First time, I got normal mail, and I paid "late". This second time, I did get the certified mail, but I paid within a week of getting it. Needless to say, I still have the $400 "late" fees on my account.

I also read that special (late) assessment fees have a cap- but some people say it does not. And I figured I'd reach out to Reddit.

What exactly is the limitation? How much can they legally charge? 25% for a month late seems too high- or is this what your HOA is also doing?

Note- I said 25% late fees, but its late fees + bunch of other fees.

Our complex is mostly homeowners. We do have a couple rentals in the complex. One of the rentals have neighbors for seven months making unreasonable, loud noise from 5 AM To 11:30 PM. Both direct neighbors of the noisy tenants have complained to property management and Police multiple times. Property management says they cannot do anything without a police report and the police will not give them a police report. The property management and the police do not want to get involved because the noise is in the inside, not the outside. Village code enforcement can only send a violation letter. Please tell us property management has to do their job. Property management says Police have to do their job code enforcement says police and property management have to do their job so they’re pointing fingers to everyone else, but nobody is helping. The landlord of the rental basically said he doesn’t care and they can make it much noise as he wants. The property management said the landlord is difficult to deal with and they try not to deal with him.

I live in a hoa community run by https://mattamyhomes.com/ mattamy homes and signature one

We have one entrance and exit that is controlled by enervation

The gates malfunction weekly sometimes multiple times

No one is able to enter or leave until managment is notified and is able to reopen

It has become very stressful not knowing if I will be able to get to work in time

Last night we needed to take an elderly dog to the emergency vet and were delayed leaving

Nobody in charge seems to be able resolve this issue

Who would we contact to help?

Here's a link to Fannie Mae's website where you may also find the lending letter.

Our small HOA had been self-managed for 9 years. The "system" was a shared Google Sheet for dues, Venmo for payments, a Gmail account three board members shared, and a folder of Word docs nobody could find.

Every month was the same: chase down the people who forgot to pay, manually update the spreadsheet, email the person who paid the wrong amount, argue about whether the late fee applied. It was a part-time job that nobody signed up for.

We looked at the big HOA platforms and most of them want $200-500/month, require a demo call, and are clearly built for professional management companies. Not a board of volunteers who just want to stop texting their neighbors about overdue dues.

We eventually landed on AffordableHOA. It is $5/unit/month, dues go straight to your HOA bank account via Stripe, and it covers the stuff that was actually killing us: online dues with autopay and late fees, violations, maintenance requests, vendor compliance tracking, meeting minutes, payment plans for the chronically late homeowners, and a resident portal so people can check their own status instead of emailing the board.

Sharing mostly because I wish someone had pointed us here sooner.

Has anyone else found something that works well for a small self-managed community? Curious what people are using.

[US-CA] I’m renting a condo in California and had a pretty frustrating situation happen.

The HOA gave notice that they’d be entering units between roughly 9am and 4pm for a plumbing issue on Friday (about two days ago). The faucets were only putting out hot water, so they said a professional plumber would be taking a look.

I got home around 8pm that night and my apartment was completely messed up. They had clearly entered, moved everything out of my closet into my living room, and left a huge industrial fan running at full blast. The carpet in the closet area was damp.

There was zero communication. No note, no email, nothing explaining what happened or what I’m supposed to do.

They also used my personal towels to soak up water and left them wet in my bathtub. One of my clothing items got messed up too. Now the closet has a musty smell.

The fan is still running and all my stuff is piled in my living room, so it’s honestly hard to even walk around my apartment right now. It’s also loud enough that I can’t really sleep with it on. I thought about turning it off but I have no idea if that would make things worse or cause more damage.

I texted my landlord and he said he didn’t know anything about it, agreed this was unprofessional behavior, and told me to contact the HOA directly. I’ve emailed the HOA multiple times and haven’t gotten any response.

I understand if there was some kind of leak and they needed to act quickly, but is it normal for them to just leave my place like this with no explanation or timeline? And can they come back in again without telling me just to grab the fan or do more work?

What should I be doing here? Just keep pushing both of them? Document everything? At what point does this cross a line?

Appreciate any advice. This whole thing feels pretty off.

I am desperately looking for a way to stop the loud walking that wakes me up regularly throughout the week. The noise comes from the new renters below me, and no one there has ever been so loud. They walk so loudly that this wakes me and others in my household. The HOA states they may have wood floors. That may be true, but when it is this loud, does it not become a quiet enjoyment issue?

I have contacted the owners of the unit regarding the issue. They contacted their rental agency. The agency contacted the renters. There was no change in behavior or noise level. I contacted the owners again. No response.

I contacted the HOA head who says they have emailed the owners.
Awaiting a reply, but not hopeful, since no HOA action has stopped other problematic residents as of yet. (People setting off fire alarms, caustic odors, etc).

Please, what should my next steps be?

I live in a 90-home subdivision on the far edge of Metro Atlanta. I recently submitted a formal variance request to our management company (Silverleaf) and the HOA Board to allow me to keep my trash and recycling cans at the edge of my driveway next to the garage.

The CC&Rs say garbage cans must be concealed from view from the street or neighboring properties. In reality, this rule is barely enforced — plenty of neighbors keep their cans at the corner of their driveways or in unfenced backyards with no issue. For the last 6 months I’ve been doing the same (cans at the corner of the garage on the paved area) because I have a mobility disability that requires a wheelchair for anything more than very short distances. Getting the cans through my fenced backyard is extremely difficult for me.

We now have a new management company, so I want to get ahead of this and do it the right way. From what I’ve researched, I should qualify for a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act given my permanent handicap tag and mobility limitations. My request is very specific: I’m only asking to keep the cans at the edge of the paved driveway area next to the garage.

Here’s where I’m looking for advice:

The board is currently run by two women who live in the neighborhood. If you’re in the “in crowd,” violations seem to get ignored. Both of their homes have multiple ongoing violations that never get addressed, while the rest of us are expected to comply. We’ve gone nearly 18 months without an official Association meeting, and there are vacant seats on the board.

What kind of fight am I realistically in for here? Has anyone dealt with a similar situation (disability-related variance for something minor like trash can placement) and had the board push back hard? Any tips on how to handle this? I plan on sending my request via Certified mail and thru the Managment Portal

Thanks in advance.

A new owner purchased their unit and before moving in, tore up their common element patio to replace poured cement with stone. Never applied to the board for review / permission. cement patio is now removed.

Same request came from an existing homeowner and we came to an agreement that they would stone over the cement rather than jackhammer up the entire patio.

Board has now received an application to do the work. do we approve even thought we denied someone who went through the proper channels? do we fine the new homeowner for doing this type of work without permission? welcome your thoughts folks - you never let me down.

Hi! I have an odd situation that just happened and it’s been worrying me a bit as I’m not getting any clear answers. I’m pretty new to this type of stuff as I’m young and was left this place after my dad passed. Apologies if this is a dumb question.

So for the past year or so, a few times I saw a raccoon running under the neighbors balcony next to mine. Many of the balconies on our building are in rough shape and rotting, including mine. They replaced some last year on the other buildings, but not this one. I thought it was just hiding from me and didn’t think too much of it.

A few days ago I went down into my basement storage room, and noticed a foul smell and stains on the ceiling. I called a plumber and when they cut a hole in the drywall, a dead raccoon fell out. It looks like it was there for a while and I only noticed the smell when it started leaking through. The room is detached from the main living area so I only go down there maybe once a week.

After close inspection, there’s a lot of ruined drywall all by the hot water heater and furnace. It’s all lightly stained with decomp and a decent area needs to be gutted now because the dead raccoon seeped into it and the insulation.

I had a gut feeling there might have been a hole under the neighbors balcony that it somehow got in from, so I crawled underneath it. The entire bottom of the balcony is rotted and fell down, leaving exposed wall and insulation. There’s an obvious hole where the raccoon was probably living, and my basement storage room is right next to it. It looked like it had been like that for a long time.

I’m getting quoted very expensive prices on fixing this. I know I’m responsible for damage within my own unit, but when researching online, I saw stuff about how they could be responsible for damages directly caused by neglect of maintenance. The balconies are their responsibility when they need fixing. When I talked to the property manager they said that it was a unique situation and it has to be brought up to the board. I emailed them all the photos of the raccoon being taken out, the stains and damage to my ceiling, and photos of under the neighbors balcony.

So who really should be responsible for this? Me or them? Thank you for reading and I appreciate any answers or advice! I hope you all have a wonderful day.

A condo owner in DC is trying to sell a property, but owes over 3k in HOA fees. Should the board file a lien to ensure payment, or is there a better way?

Got hit with an HOA violation and almost just paid it.

But when I looked closer:

- no real evidence attached

- vague wording

- not clear if rules are enforced consistently

Feels like they rely on people not pushing back.

Has anyone here actually challenged something like this and won?

If this is the wrong thread, please tell me where to ask this question .​

My HOA usually only enforces weeds. They never enforce the by-laws that state no visible trash cans, no basketball hoops in the road, no satellites visible, etc. Suddenly, my HOA has decided that I am not allowed to have a solar motion sensor light above my garage. The violation notice said it was unsightly.

I contacted the HOA and told them if they enforce all by-laws I will take down my sensor light. The person who runs the HOA is insisting they do enforce all laws and decided to switch my violation to "no exterior modifications are allowed."

I have been taking pictures of violations around my neighborhood to prove they are always there. I'm 90% sure she is only targeting me because my next door neighbor thinks the light is a camera (it's a long story). And no, the light isn't very bright, it doesn't go past my driveway.

Do I have a case to sue if the HOA fines me? ​​

I newly joined a dysfunctional HOA in a small building (more than 3, less than 10 units). Unit owners want to be able to make ACH direct payments, former trustees have not wanted to share the account information to set that up. This has led to problems and there's been no tracking of HOA fees for the past year at least.

I was thinking that something like Bill.com or a quick google search showed something called PayHOA, which looks like $50/month for a payment and communication hub. Does anyone have direct experiences with this, and would you recommend? Why or why not?

Looking for some general perspective on how HOAs typically handle this kind of situation.

We recently built a pergola as part of a backyard deck project (not visible from street).The original design was approved by the HOA, but during construction the pergola was extended to match the full width of the deck. The materials, style, and overall design stayed the same — it’s just wider than originally submitted.

The HOA flagged it after a complaint (neighbor that complains about evwrything) and is now saying it doesn’t meet design standards (mostly citing things like “massing” and “architectural integration”). From our perspective:

- The structure is still within all height limits

- It’s in the backyard and not visible from the street

- It’s an open pergola (not enclosed), so no real impact on light/privacy

- There are somewhat similar structures in the neighborhood

We’ve responded and are open to minor aesthetic adjustments (trim, color, etc.), but they are pushing back mainly because it doesn’t match the originally approved dimensions.

For those with HOA experience:

- How do boards typically handle cases where the build deviates from approved plans but doesn’t seem to create real impact?

- Are compromises (e.g., cosmetic changes instead of structural changes) common?

- At what point do these situations usually escalate to fines vs. getting resolved?

just trying to understand what’s realistic and how these situations usually play out.

I really appreciate any help you can provide.

Currently own 1 of 6 condos in my building in Philadelphia, PA. We are currently stuck with a management company that does not communicate with the board at all and from 2021 to 2025, did not hold a single budget review meeting for the upcoming year. Because of this, we were constantly running a net income loss YOY. Around 2023, the management company starting using our reserve funds to pay for operating expenses without notifying us and without asking the board to vote on the reallocation of funds. We have now borrowed $8,000 that we are now required to pay back into the reserve fund.

In a vacuum, I wouldn't think this is a huge deal because the operating expenses are real expenses and they needed to be paid for. My issue is that multiple people have moved out and new people have moved in to the other units throughout the past few years. Had the budget been properly updated and called to a vote, the budget shortfalls would have been paid for by the people who lived in the condos at that time. Now, we have new people who are on the hook for expenses occurred before they even moved in and i'm concerned that people might be deterred from buying my condo when they see an $8,000 debt on the COA balance sheet.

I was reviewing our master condo insurance plan for our building that the management company originally picked for us and I saw we have Employee Dishonest Coverage. I did some research and it seems like this situation could potentially qualify for a claim under this protection since it could be considered "unauthorized use of reserve funds" due to the management company never notifying us and never allowing us to vote on the reallocation. Does anyone have experience with this? I'm not sure if reallocating funds applies to this or if it means the management company stole the reserve money from us / theft.

Our policy lists "6 employees" under the coverage, which lines up with the number of total units. Is the management company still lumped into this since they're the ones managing the funds?

If your community is managed by one of the large, multi-state management conglomerates — the kind backed by private equity and measured by doors under management — I want to ask you something honestly:

When's the last time your manager felt like they actually cared about your community specifically?

Not your portfolio. Not your account. Your community.

The PE-backed model is pretty simple once you see it. Acquire as many management contracts as possible. Assign each manager 10–35 communities. Add fees wherever the contract allows — admin fees, transfer fees, document fees, late fees with markups. Lock the community into proprietary software so switching costs are brutal. Rinse and repeat across every market they enter.

It's not malicious. It's just math. When your company is optimized for dollars per door, every decision flows from that — including how much attention your community actually gets.

I'm James, founder of Saga. I also run a local independent management company, so I want to be clear: I'm not here to trash the management industry. There are great managers out there doing right by their communities every day.

What I built Saga to address is something different — the structural problem that happens when a community's management infrastructure is controlled by a firm whose incentives don't line up with the board's.

Here's how Saga works:

The board is the client — not a contract. Saga is a platform that connects boards directly with independent community managers and accounting professionals. These are people running their own businesses, with their own reputation on the line. They're not employees hitting a quota.

Your data and platform belong to you. Saga holds the master licenses for Vantaca, Microsoft 365, and RingCentral — and passes them directly to your community. Your portal, your financials, your records — they stay with you no matter what. A manager leaves, and they leave empty-handed. Nothing gets held hostage.

Real-time financial access. Not a monthly summary produced by someone else. Your board sees the numbers as they happen, in your own portal.

No extraction. Saga charges a 10% coordination fee. That's the model. There's no menu of add-on fees designed to compound quietly in the background.

Boards have real authority. Most just don't feel like it because the firm managing them has made itself the center of everything.

If you're tired of feeling like a customer of a company that's supposed to work for you, I'm happy to answer questions about how this works. No slides, no sales call required — just a conversation.

What's the most frustrating thing about how your community is currently managed?

Background: HOA of 42 homes, no management company. A previous board member helped transition from everything paper-based to Google Drive...but she has moved and I inherited it. She created everything connected to her own work Google Drive and added our current board members as users. No HOA/board email exists. We just share current members' email addresses with residents.

Current issue: At this point, we need an email for the HOA 1) to start getting paperless bank statements and bills (it'll save us $$) and 2) to centralize record-keeping between board member transitions. I simultaneously want to set up an associated Google Drive for the HOA to get everything separated from the former member's drive. (She's great, no worries with her, but it's time to move on.) I have downloaded all the files, currently about 92 MB.

Question: Can I set up a personal Gmail and Google Drive (as if this was a singular person), such as "ShadyLaneHOA@gmail.com" or do I need to set it up as a Google Workspace account, to the tune of $7/month? We do not need individual board member email addresses; I picture that all board members would have login information and could check the email and access the drive. No need for any other features at this time. Will this work? Pros & cons? Tips for proper setup?

The HOA has issued a notice stating that the street mailboxes must be replaced by the end of Q2, with each unit required to source one that meets the association’s aesthetic guidelines. The guidelines are quite strict, but not very clearly written.

I’m a renter so technically this isn’t my problem but the landlord is four states away and responsive maybe like 60 percent of the time on a good week so here I am trying to figure out what is actually enforceable here bc frankly I don’t trust that anyone has read the original CC&Rs recently including the HOA themselves.

I asked around and felt like the local mailbox vendor in the local store wanted to rip me, so I decided to check alibaba and amazon to confirm the price, but to be honest, I rather buy from the local store. .

My actual question is whether an HOA can compel a renter to replace exterior fixtures at all or if this legally has to go through the property owner bc I don’t want to spend $140 on something that was never my responsibility to begin with and I don’t want to piss anyone off either. Still figuring out how HOA authority even works tbh.