From:
shantele@lakesidevillage.com
Sent:
Wednesday, August 27, 2003 8:24 AM
To:
aoliveri@uswest.net; skidon@aol.com; geoffrey@silvercreekllc.com;
rrasmussen@petzl.com;
mary_finan@yahoo.com;
michale.d.mitchell@boeing.com
Cc:
brent@lakesidevillage.com
Subject:
Fwd: Letter from Brent
Hi All,
I
received a copy of an email from Mary Finan to Brent this morning which stated
she had
not received the letter I emailed out last week. I do not have email
addresses
for owners in the existing condos however I do have email addresses for
the
board members and each of you should have been included in the first email.
The
board is and the homeowners are separate groups in my address file and I have
been
having experiencing problems with my email server and with my address book
specifically. I have to assume that there was some sort of
a glitch with respect
to your
group when this email was sent. I do
apologize for that.
The
letter is included below for your reference.
Also hard copies were mailed to
all
homeowners yesterday.
If you
have any questions please contact me at 435-462-7403.
Thanks
shantele
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Start of forwarded message -------
Subject:
Letter from Brent
From:
shantele@lakesidevillage.com
Date:
Wed, 20 Aug 2003 07:09:39 -0700 (PDT)
To:
awhite@fcinteractive.com, bmenne@northropgrumman.com,
buffywatts@hotmail.com, woodstvl@msn.com,
williamfcof@msn.com,
cory@applydaily.com,
denise.m.talcott@jci.com, skidon@aol.com,
geoffrey@silvercreekllc.com,
gerbun@webtv.net, hbwhitaker@aol.com,
mark.a.silva@irs.gov,
mrosner@conducivecorp.com, ralcock@aol.com,
rek4801@tm.net,
lisaandronadams@compuserve.com, testjmpr@aol.com,
sodbusterreed@aol.com,
stewart.connard@irs.gov, skizoff@ford.com,
brent.greenwood@reden-anders.com
A hard
copy of this letter will follow via mail.
August
19, 2003
Re: Lakeside Village
Dear
Homeowner,
I hope
each of you had a delightful summer and are making plans to visit Lakeside
Village
often this fall and winter. It is very
pretty in the valley these days,
but I
am really looking forward to the fall colors and a relief from the heat in
a few
weeks.
I am
writing you today with regards to the differences of opinion Legacy
Properties
has had with the Lakeside Village HOA over the past several months. I
have
heard from some of the homeowners that the HOA board has contacted you more
than
once regarding their view of the issues in question. It is curious to me
that
although we own three condominiums at Lakeside we have never received said
communication.
As I
see it, we have three main issues:
1. Homeowner’s Dues: The CC & R’s or Association Bylaws clearly states that the
developer
does not have to pay HOA dues, they don’t start until the unit is sold
and
there is a new owner. The HOA board
interprets this as saying that once we
complete
a unit we are the owners and must begin paying dues.
We met
with most of the HOA board a few months ago to discuss this issue. After
much
discussion we agreed to pay our back dues and they agreed to pay the money
the
Association owed us. The next day I
handed the president of the board our
check. We are still having trouble collecting all
that is due us.
My
compromise proposal at that time was that we would begin paying full dues on
condos
we rent out, but on condos we don’t rent out which are complete, we would
only
pay dues for our water, sewer, and insurance (which we have always been
doing). I felt, and still feel, that we shouldn’t
have to pay usage expenses or
reserves
on units that are not occupied and are not costing the HOA any money.
Naturally,
the HOA board sees it differently. They
see it as an opportunity for
the
developer to contribute cash to the Association which was not expected, thus
giving
the Association a windfall. When the
Association calculates the annual
budget
and monthly dues for each unit, they do this based on the present members
of the
Association, not the anticipated number.
Thus if we as the developers
decide
to build a new building and it is finished and new owners move in, they
begin
to pay their dues and the Association experiences extra, unanticipated
cash. On the units that don’t sell and are
standing inventory, we are paying our
actual
costs, but not unfair expenses.
This
seems like a fair compromise to me, but it is my understanding that the
board
has rejected this option and wants us to pay full dues on all units as soon
as they
are complete. This, in my opinion, is
not fair.
Please
consider a few items from our point of view.
It is in your best interest,
as well
as ours, to have us build out this project as quickly as possible. You
will
notice that each phase has an increase in value which in theory brings the
value
of your condominium up. Also, as we have
more members of the Association
paying
dues and sharing in the expenses, your dues should decrease. If we as the
developer
have to pay full dues on our standing inventory, it is a disincentive
to
speculate and construct buildings that aren’t sold. One board member told me
that
the HOA fees were minimal compared to what our profit will be. First of
all, we
haven’t had any profits yet. Second of
all, we have two units that have
been
complete for over a year and a half and aren’t sold. Both are in the rental
pool
and we are paying dues on them.
Calculate what that has cost us and I think
you
will agree that it adds up to more than a minimal cost.
Some
may categorize us with developers that are solely self-serving and not
interested
in our homeowners. Please consider that
we were not required to make
improvements
to Highway 39 until the fourth or fifth building. We put in the
acceleration
and deceleration lanes along with the first building at a cost of
nearly
$100,000. Further, we weren’t required
to build the clubhouse and pool
area
until the fifth or sixth building. We
built them with the third building.
We
didn’t have to put in a children’s pool, but we did. We didn’t have to put in
travertine
floors in the entry or knotty alder beams and trim, but we did because
we
thought you would enjoy a nice looking reception area. We didn’t have to
contribute
$15,000 to towards the residing of the existing condos, but we did.
I think
it is the principal of the thing even more than the money. I sincerely
feel
that we have gone the extra mile, at a rather large expense to us, to make
Lakeside
Village as nice of project as we can.
Let me
mention a few repercussions of your board’s uncompromising position. At
the
start of this summer we were contemplating putting pavers around the pool
instead
of concrete. This would have cost us a
bundle, but we were going to do
it. After being treated as we have from the
board, we decided to go ahead and
pour
concrete. We went ahead and poured
colored concrete and stamped it and it
looks
great, but it isn’t the same as pavers.
As a side note, we went ahead and
put in
a nice portico to provide shade for us sun sensitive people-again not
required,
but nice touch. We will buy some pool furniture,
but not as much as we
would
have. We also offered to pay for the
maintenance of the pool for the
balance
of this year, but given the rejection of our proposals, this is no longer
offered.
We had
no obligation to put exercise equipment in the gym, but we were going to
put
three pieces in there anyway. After the
way we have been treated, we decided
to only
put two in. Nevertheless, they are nice
and there is a TV in the room,
so you
will like it. But if you want another
piece of equipment, the Association
will
have to buy it. By the way, we also
purchased a very nice camera monitoring
system
for the interior of the clubhouse as well as cameras to view the pool
area. We thought you would enjoy the extra
security.
We had
thought about building a water feature in the front mound, but I think we
will
pass. We will however, be doing some
extra landscaping next month.
There
is an old saying, “penny wise, pound foolish”.
It just may be appropriate
in our
situation.
2. Use of Clubhouse: It is our interpretation of the CC & R’s or Bylaws that we
have
the right to use the clubhouse as an office.
As I’m sure you know, we are
using a
small section of the reception area for rental property management, and
we are
using the back room as a sales office.
The board is questioning our usage
rights.
We
proposed that we use the sales office until we are completely sold out. At
that
time we will vacate the room and turn it over to the Association. We
proposed
that we be allowed to use the desk in the reception area for a certain
time, I
think 10 years. After that time, if we
didn’t maintain rental management
contracts
with a majority of the condos that are being rented, we will vacate the
area.
The use
of the office for our sales staff does benefit us, I’ll admit that. But
I think
it indirectly benefits you too (i.e. the faster the sales the better).
We have
asked for the 10 years minimum for the rental management area because of
our
large investment in the built-in desk, phone equipment, management software,
etc. It will take us some time to recoup our
investment let alone turn a profit.
With
regard to property management, we tried to find an existing, large
management
company to come to Lakeside. None would
because we just didn’t have
the
revenue to warrant the expense. So we
decided to start a property management
company
ourselves. As a result, we have someone
on site, either in property
management
or sales, almost all business hours.
This is an obvious benefit to
our
owners as well as renters.
We
proposed that for allowing us to use the clubhouse, we maintain the clubhouse
and the
landscape around it. Frankly, I’m not
sure their response to this
proposal. I do want this cleared up before we deed the
clubhouse and pool area
to the
Association. Our conditions of approval
for Lakeside said that we had to
construct
the pool, spa, and clubhouse because we were showing it on our site
plan,
but it didn’t require us to deed it to the Association. But we will be
happy
to do so just as soon as we can come to an acceptable understanding.
3. HOA Board Control: It is our interpretation of the CC & R’s or Bylaws that
as the
Successor Declarant Legacy Properties can take control of the management
of the
HOA during our control period, just under five years remaining.
The
attorney for the board says that since the control has been relinquished to
the
homeowners, we can’t take control back.
Our attorney feels just the opposite.
Do we
want to take control of the HOA board?
No. And we won’t press the issue
if we
can come to an understanding with respect to the above two issues.
You are
probably wondering why I am telling you all of the above. The reason I
am
writing is to let you know of our position and that we have been negotiating
in good
faith to come to an agreement. Two
weeks ago my attorney told me that it
looked
to him like we may have an agreement.
Yesterday he told me that their
attorney
seems to be back peddling.
I don’t
see that Legacy has any other alternative but to pursue our rights in
court. This is the last thing I want to do, but
we’ve run out of options. I
wanted
each of you to know our position and understand that we have tried to
advert
a law suit, but have no other alternative.
I will
be doing some humanitarian work in Guatemala next week. When I return, if
the
board has decided to accept my compromise offer, we will expedite the deeding
of said
common area to the Association. If they
haven’t budged, I will instruct
our
attorney to begin the complaint. I’m
not sure how they plan on paying their
legal
bills, but as a homeowner I will not be happy if they try to make a special
assessment
to pay for them, and I am sure you won’t either.
I urge
you to contact your board members to encourage that they accept our offer.
I’d appreciate any comments or copy of
correspondence
(brent@lakesidevillage.com,
or fax 435-462-7408)
Thank
you for your time.
Best
regards,
Brent
McQuarrie
Legacy
Properties
Manager
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End of forwarded message -------