The Knacks

Mark Swain's response:

Fritz,

First let me complement you on a well-written comment to our proposal. You bring up some very good points. However there are some points that I think may not have been conveyed properly in the meeting. I will attempt to address them here.

Before I do that I feel that I must address the insinuation that we are "misleading" people. The people that have been involved with this effort have worked hard to put together something that will be lasting and good for our community. From the beginning people on both sides of this issue were involved in this. In fact the three people that have been leading the movement against the HOA were involved every step of the way in forming the CCR’s that were proposed in the meeting Monday night. We knew from the beginning that they would oppose this effort; however we felt strongly that they had every right to be a part of the process. I think that speaks volumes about the integrity of the people on this initial committee and I think you owe them a public apology for the accusation.

You said, "I respect your right to live in yours so long as we don’t interfere with each other"

I could not have said it better myself. If a home or common area is in such a state of disrepair and unkemptness that someone loses a potential sale of their home, then that home or common area IS interfering. Individual’s rights do not give them the latitude to infringe on others individual rights. Furthermore the HOA we are proposing is not intended to intrude on anyone’s individual rights and I guarantee you every effort is being made to ensure that does not happen.

In fact, we have asked that the following things be incorporated into the bylaws, CCR’s or wherever appropriate to ensure their integrity:

· Temporary hardship waivers for dues

· Term limits on board membership.

· Term limits for board members

· Bylaws and CCR’s can only change by an 80% vote of the membership

· No cumulative voting (majority rules)

· Prohibition of closed board meetings

· Public budgets and records

· Excess annual funds are allocated per a vote of the membership (in many cases members vote to reduce the dues for the following year)

I will forward the suggestion about the "two residents of the same home could not both be on the board at the same time" to the lawyer as well. Thank you for a very good suggestion.

You said "No relaxation of any of the rules by the HOA can protect you from anyone except the HOA."

Exactly! The proposed rules were proposed to be less restrictive for that exact reason.

The way it works is actually this. If the Joneses join the HOA and the Smiths do not, then the rules that the Joneses have under the HOA will be the only rules that the HOA enforces. If the Smiths want to take the Joneses to court over their truck or their boat that the HOA is NOT enforcing, then that is the Smith’s prerogative. However the Joneses will not have to worry about the HOA saying anything to them about it. This goes back to live and let live unless it is interfering.

I want to stress that the CCR’s are just a starting point and are completely open to discussion. The point is no one wants to live under an oppressive HOA. Again I want to thank you for bringing to light some changes that may need to be made to the CCR’s to make them more effective and less confusing. The intent all along was to submit them for review and hear comments and suggestions.

The HOA is not just about enforcing CCR’s however. It forms alliances with city and police, the railroad, and other organizations to promote the interests of our community. It works to inform and protect the community from zoning changes that affect it, organizes community events, takes care of common area etc. It enters into contracts and hires vendors as well.

What you are in fact proposing is a Community Association because the dues are ultimately voluntary. We did look into a Community Association and here is the problem with the Community Association proposal:

1. If you don’t incorporate you are opening yourself wide open from a liability standpoint. Let’s say the Community Association organizes a community event and someone gets hurt for whatever reason. Now that person decides that the Community Association was negligent and they sue. As a board member of that Community Association YOU are personally liable.

2. If you do incorporate you have insurance and legal requirements that MUST be paid. If you are relying on volunteers to pay their fair share all the time, you may one day find yourself having to pay money personally so can fulfill those obligations and keep yourself from getting sued.

3. If the voluntary dues are not coming in the way they need to be, you may also find that you are only able to meet these basic obligations of the association and do not have any money to do what you set out to do in the first place.

This effort is vital to our communities’ future. Liens are there only to ensure that the funds the HOA relies are available on a consistent basis. This ensures they have the funds to do what the membership expects of the HOA. The issues that the HOA will address are:

1. Crime in the neighborhood

2. Upkeep of the common areas and properties

3. Contributing to our fair share of upkeep for common areas outside of Overlook/Club-View.

4. Communication

5. Community

6. Enforcement of the CCR’s

The HOA Committee was indeed formed because its members saw several problems they felt could be solved if they could get the help of the community. They were not however "self appointed" because the original meeting was announced and open to all homeowners in our community. The committee was comprised of homeowners from most of the streets in the Overlook/Club-View neighborhood including Kenneth Oren, Dalphon Jones, Melanie Thompson, Katherine Kiker, and Vera Jones.

As for the Community Watch, you are correct. A neighborhood watch is not exclusive to an HOA and one should be formed as soon as possible.

The data for the home sales and crime is available to anyone who would like to see it. Dwayne Hunter from Allen Tate Realty, who is also a Faires Farm homeowner, pulled the data for homes with similar demographics to our neighborhood located in Northeast Charlotte. The range of home sale prices was from $80,000 to $155,000, square footage from 1000 to 2500, built between 1986 and 2001 and in our geographical location. The "million dollar" homes were not included because that would have obviously skewed the results inaccurately and we have no intention of misleading anyone.

I hope this clears up any confusion that you may have had regarding our goals and intentions as well as the underlying faults of a Community Association.

It would be real shame to go to all this effort only to have it fall apart because the "few" who did all the work either left the neighborhood or gave up because they were tired of doing all the work or paying most of the money. As you said yourself "the few end up doing all the work".

Since you are obviously an intelligent and concerned homeowner I would encourage you to join the association and I will personally nominate you for the board. Together we can do great things for Faires Farm.

Sincerely

Mark Swain

My reply to Mark, posted at the Faires Farm website.

Mark,

Thank you very much for your reply. I was pleased and relieved to find that the by-laws y'all are working on had already begun to address several of my concerns.

As I said, I think the HOA as it's currently being proposed is a good idea gone too far. I simply can't join the organization as it stands now, but if you'd like to tell me when and where the committe is next meeing, I would be happy to work with you and the other committee members so see if we can come up with acceptable compromises so that I—and the other folks with similar concerns—can do so.

I think we all care about the neighborhood. We just don't want to replace one set of problems with another.

Best regards,
Fritz

From: Mark Swain
To: fknack
Sent: August 15, 2003 17:19
Subject: The CCR's

Fritz,

Thank you for the reply to my message. We are waiting for the attorney to draw up the CCR's and Bylaws. Looks like about 2 weeks or so and then we will meet again to review them. I will let you know the time and place.

Sincerely
Mark Swain

What was the formal conclusion to the vote for the "expanded" HOA. I hear rummors but.