Condominium Unit Owners Association

[gaga4]

Do you live in a condominium that is is still managed by the developer or has the management been turned over to a Condominium Unit Owners Association?

[GeoffH]

We live in a house but the condo we have is managed by the developer (maybe because tower 3 of the complex isn't finished yet?).

[Dave Hounddriver]

7 hours ago, GeoffH said:

We live in a house but the condo we have is managed by the developer

The subdivision I live in is still managed by the developers.  I am not sure of the legalities but I do know the developers had a meeting of residents to "Install" a Homeowner's Association" to take responsibility.  One of the residents stood up and said it is not legal for them to do that.  He said the residents must be the ones to form a Homeowner's Association and the developers cannot do that for them.

Gossip after the meeting turned up the fact that the developer has much deeper pockets than any Homeowner's Association would have so we did not want one until and unless the developers pulled out and stopped taking care of things.  HOA's are the smart resident's second choice when the developer runs out of money or abandons the project, IMHO.

[gaga4]

Dave, am not quite sure what you are saying. But there is nothing wrong with a developer wanting to turn over the management of the development to the HOA. In fact it is expected for the developer to do so. The HOA will be comprised of home owners. no one from the outside should be allowed to participate.

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 hours ago, gaga4 said:

But there is nothing wrong with a developer wanting to turn over the management of the development to the HOA. In fact it is expected for the developer to do so. The HOA will be comprised of home owners. no one from the outside should be allowed to participate.

You are free to tell of your experience.

  I can only tell of the ceremony at my subdivision that was attended by the mayor, barangay captain, many lawyers for the developers and the head of the company who is also a lawyer.  The developers wanted to turn over the maintenance of the subdivision to a HOA they had "arranged" and one guy in the audience, who was a resident and knew his rights, said, in English:  "The HOA you are forming has no legal standing as it must be formed democratically by the homeowners and until they do so it is the responsibility of the developers or the barangay to take care of the subdivision."  Or words to that effect.  The lawyers all backed down so he must have been right.  But that was just my experience.  Everyone's experience is different in the Philippines.

To this day, 3 years later, the developers are looking after maintenance and security etc and it costs them much more than they want to pay and much more than they are allowed to collect in HOA fees.  So it is what it is.  I like it.  The place is actually taken care of, unlike some places that got fobbed off onto a HOA.

[hk blues]

My community has 3 different HOA's to look after the various phases.  The HOA's are businesses and seem to be directly linked to the developer.  They are more what I would call a Facilities Management company than an HOA.  The HOA is elected but seem to do nothing other than sign on official communications.  Everything works reasonable well so I'm not inclined to criticise but an HOA in the real meaning of the word it is not.

[earthdome]

Where I live in the US we have a HOA that is administed by the elected officers of the HOA. But there are only 22 units so this works for us and helps keep the HOA costs down. Larger HOA's my need to hire a facilities management company. Those still with active development of additional properties generally are administered by the developer.

Edited December 5, 2018 by earthdome