Homeowner associations HOAs

If you are covered by a homeowners, condominium, or cooperative association, suggest you read this 'cut and pasted' opinion piece Posted on September 19, 2017 by deborahgoonan
"Will FEMA help rebuild Florida’s waterfront condos?"
https://independentamericancommunit...fema-help-rebuild-floridas-waterfront-condos/

FEMA’s role, if any, in helping these associations recover depends on several factors.
FEMA provides two kinds of cash assistance in Counties under Presidential declaration as a Disaster Zone: Individual Assistance and Public Assistance.

Individual Assistance may be granted to applicants for short term temporary housing and basic repairs to make their individually owned homes or condo units livable: for example, restoration of utility supply lines, heating or air conditioning units.

Public Assistance may be granted to local, municipal, or county governments, to be used for hauling away debris or making emergency repairs to public roads, and traffic control devices. Public funds might also be allocated for emergency repairs to public housing, public buildings such as libraries and schools, and certain non-profit attractions open to the publics, such as a zoo, animal sanctuary, or museum. In all cases, cash assistance from FEMA is only intended to restore infrastructure to basic safety standards. Local governments are expected to share a portion of the costs.

HOAs, including condo associations, are neither individually owned nor open to use by the general public. By and large, most association governed communities are collectively owned by a private non-profit or mutual benefit organization. FEMA and the IRS regard most HOAs as business entities, whether incorporated or not. Therefore, most associations do not qualify for cash assistance for FEMA.

Orange Park associations damaged by Hurricane Irma are private organizations, so it is highly unlikely that either association will receive cash assistance from FEMA.

However, both associations can apply for low-interest SBA (Small Business Administration) loans to help cover the cost of rebuilding. There is no guarantee the loans will be approved, or that any amount approved will be sufficient to completely restore or replace buildings or common infrastructure.

What about flood insurance?
Of course, if either association had active insurance policies through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), prior to being hit by Hurricane Irma, the associations can begin the difficult and complicated process of filing insurance claims.

Flood insurance policies typically come with hefty deductibles. In Florida, an individual policy has a $2,000 deductible. But association policy deductibles can be tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the size and value of assets being insured, and the type of policy elected by the board.

Homeowners will, at the very least, be paying their share of deductibles.

As far as flood insurance coverage, it has been well-documented that FEMA insurance adjusters often grossly underpay on valid claims. A recent New York Post article reported that many victims of Hurricane – Superstorm Sandy have never been made whole on their property losses, even though many maintained flood insurance policies for years prior to making a disaster recovery claim.

The challenge for many owners of property in association-governed communities is daunting. Each homeowner will be paying not only to restore personal property, but also to restore his or her proportional share of common property – anything that is normally maintained by the association.

If either Association has opted not to have flood insurance, if their policy has been allowed to lapse, or if the policy elected is insufficient to cover the loss, homeowners are basically out of luck.

By the way, regular hazard insurance policies for each Association may pay for some wind damage, but will not pay for flood damage, and very likely will not pay to eradicate mold.

It should be noted that either of these associations could be considered a total loss. And in that case, owners will probably fight among themselves as to how to fairly divvy up limited proceeds from their insurance policies. While an investor-owner may have already recouped up front costs to purchase, plus a profit, owner-occupants might suffer substantial loss of financial equity, and may even be stuck paying a mortgage for an unlivable or nonexistent condo unit or villa.





One important note, to clear up confusion.
Some association-governed communities, especially large scale subdivisions, are also governed by special districts such as Community Development Districts (CDDs) or Municipal Benefit or Improvement Districts. In most cases, the special districts fund the cost of construction and maintenance of roads, storm water management infrastructure, recreational amenities, and other shared features of the community. Because special districts are bonafide units of local government, they are eligible for FEMA Public Assistance (cash assistance). So, although it may appear that FEMA is helping some HOAs, but not others, in reality, FEMA is assisting limited purpose local governments, not private Property Owners Associations.
 
Lol.

It will be a cold day in hell before I buy property I can't unilaterally manage. It's bad enough to deal with city/county restrictions and permitting stuff. I certainly don't need a neighbor sending me a letter saying "bruh, your grass isn't green enough, you can't work on your truck in your driveway, and we don't like your Christmas lights."

Then again, I have no plans of buying a house that's visible from the street either, so there's that.
 
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