For voluntary groups, a few warnings
-- and a source of help
ALLEN NORWOOD
Nancy Ridenhour of Huntersville said our July 17 story on voluntary
neighborhood associations needed a few extra chapters. Readers should hear
about some lessons she learned the hard way, she said, including a stern
warning.
"(Our association) is not incorporated, so we can't own
property," she said. "However, we do have liabilities."
The story, for those who missed it, focused on a voluntary association
in Matthews. Neighborhood organizers had trouble collecting fees to pay
such things as the entrance sign light bill. Some folks balked -- even
though the tab was a minuscule $10 a year.
Most newer neighborhoods have official associations with legal
authority to handle neighborhood business and collect mandatory fees, but
the story touched on some options for those that lack such clout.
First, Ridenhour said, leaders in voluntary associations should assume
they'll collect from only half the homeowners. "That's the first rule
for making up your budget."
Ridenhour lives in Shepherds Vineyard, which was developed by Ralph
Squires. In 1987 she bought the seventh lot in the neighborhood off
Stumptown Road. The association there has an off-again, on-again history,
she said, and she resurrected it two years ago when others decided they'd
done their duty.
There are official neighborhood bills: The entrance is served by water
and electricity.
But there's no official way to handle them. "Our CC&Rs
(conditions, covenants and restrictions) don't mention an association, so
I think that means it's entirely voluntary," she said. "As far
as I know, we've never had an election.
"I've called the utilities and they know to mail the bills to
me."
There are 223 homes in the neighborhood, she said, and the fee right
now is $30 a year per home. So far this year she has collected from 91
homes.
The $30 covers more than the tiny utility bills. It also pays for a
professional landscaper to handle the entrance plantings, which brings us
to her warning.
A lawyer and an insurance agent confirmed to Ridenhour that volunteers
working on the entrance wouldn't be properly covered, she said. If someone
were injured, there even could be potential legal liabilities. The
solution was to hire a pro -- and make sure he was insured.
Ridenhour said she learned how to choose and hire a landscaper by
attending the ABC's course -- A Basic Course -- hosted by the state
chapter of the Community Associations Institute.
"The CAI has been a blessing," she said.
The daylong course, held regularly in Charlotte, covers such things as
association law, as well as organization, financing and maintenance. I've
taken the course, too, and Ridenhour is correct: It provides terrific
background for neighborhood leaders. For information, including a calendar
of upcoming CAI events, visit
