Sycamore Vista HOA Hell

Was recovering from a hangover (got drunk at home Sunday), Steve Russo asked how I was doing and I wearily said, “okay,” he said, “just okay?!” and I told him I was recovering from a hangover, lol. But I was also weary of the BS involved.

I made a video where I nailed Steve about selling our lots to the builders. He said he would “present our lots” to the builder . . . not sure what this means but i suggested that any new contracts with builders would require them to buy from us. Steve said, “there may be some lots the builder does not want.” I’m afraid Steve will tell me that the builder does not want my lots in Unit 2, end of story.

I also asked Steve why we are paying dues in Units 7, 9 & 10, there was only one other person there with vacant lots, his name was Steve DeGregorio. He said he had a septic put on his lot in Unit 5 in 1997 and it was bulldozed by the previous lot owners. Russo told him to submit a claim to the HOA to compensate him for the septic. Russo seemed kind of stunned that he had permission to put a septic in. As U may know, I had heated arguments with the previous majority owners about whether or not septics were allowed. The previous owners perpetrated a myth that only through development could we build on our lots . . . I had permission to put a septic on one of my lots in Unit 7.

DeGregorio seconded my motion to stop HOAs in Units 7, 9 & 10 or make the dues nominal, like $1/year (maybe it wasn’t clear that I did not include Unit 5 in the motion) and then Steve vetoed the idea with his voting power. He said we need to insure our lots(!), I said my homeowner’s insurance policy covers my vacant lots, he said, “well maybe others don’t have insurance.” I suggested that we only pay HOA dues to the Master Association through Units 7, 9 & 10. He vetoed that idea too.

Biggest news is they are going to start developing in Unit 5 . . . beginning in the SW corner (he says SE corner in the video but adds, “it’s the area next to Unit 2,”) which is 42 lots. (I own about 6-lots in this area.) Assessments for the roads will be $10,000!

DeGregorio asked many questions about the lawsuits and who would get the money if they won. Russo said the $250,000 they won from Arcadus (spelling?) went to the HOA’s . . . this lawsuit was about bogus plans that cost about $1-million. The other lawsuit has to do with the sewer impaction. There was a lot of discussion about this impaction. Steve said they have a map showing where in Units 8 & 2 there have been impaction problems; he said in Unit 8, (there were so many problems) that the map looks like one giant blob of red. Unit 2 was not that bad. (I have seen a problem in Unit 2 where there was a hole in the street asphalt.) If they win their sewer lawsuit, the money will go to fixing the sewer problems. He said he spent almost 3/4-million dollars on this lawsuit so far.

There were maybe a dozen ppl for the Unit 2 meeting and maybe 8 ppl for the Unit 8 meeting but many in Unit 8 sat there for the Unit 2 meeting too. Much of the time was spent electing homeowners to the CC&R Enforcement & Architecture Review Committee, where they discussed the heights of sheds.

I didn’t ask (again) for a copy of the Master Association budget . . . last meeting (April 2012), I asked the HOA-manager and sent an email (krubly@chapmanmanagementgroup.com) for them to send me one . . . she seemed kind of stunned when I asked her last time and mumbled something as if this was confidential info or something . . . made me feel very suspicious. I looked at the latest Corporation Commission filings and didn’t see the latest Master Association Budget. If you read the form they submitted (paragraph 9), it seems to suggest that such a budget is required! (Try this link and scroll down for the latest report.) They do have a report for 2009.
http://starpas.azcc.gov/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=wsbroker1/names-detail.p?name-id=11301315&type=CORPORATION