Barony Place I/Barony Place II

Be sure to read the President's Report on Page 1 of the February 2025 Summit Scoop. Read it online at www.summithomeowners.com The President's Report led off with "Cams [ sic ] failed to send a copy of the approved budget for 2025. You should be receiving the 2025 budget soon, at no extra cost to the association." There must be more to the story. When was that President's Report written? Weren't many (all?) of that second mailing delivered about January 22nd? The CAMS contract reads (Art. IV, §A, ¶4),  "4. Preparation of an annual letter to members of the ASSOCIATION enclosing the adopted budget and outlining the assessment for each Lot/Unit as computed by reference to the appropriate section of the Association Documents." Why wasn't there coordination between one of more officers of the HOA, the property manager, and the CAMS home office before the assessment letter was mailed?  Didn't any of the officers proofread and approve the letter tha...

The South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs (SCDCA) will hold a virtual meeting tomorrow morning, Wednesday, February 5, 2025, at 10:30AM about its 2024 Homeowners Complaint Report. Register here . You will receive an auto-reply with a discreet link for your personal use. If you register, show up. The full Report can be viewed here . Look for the 2024 Report. It is sortable, after you click to enable editing. Scroll down to Summit Community Association. The following is copied from today's 9:10AM email from the SCDCA. The highlighting is not in the original. The 2025 report contains information from  434 complaints  filed against  325 HOAs/Management Companies  during calendar year 2024. This was a nineteen percent increase  in the total number of complaints included in the HOA Report as compared to 2023.  The complaints raised  846 concerns  with multiple included in a single complaint. This is an increase of fourteen pe...

The December 31, 2024 Financial Overview Report has now been posted on the HOA's website. The first thing to look at is the Variances. These are the categories which were over-spent in 2024. The Variances are listed on Page 2 of the Report. There are 11 categories listed. Look at the Year-to Date (YTD) results. The "YTD Variance" column is the dollar amount which was over-spent for the year. The "YTD %" column is the percentage by which the budget for that Line Item was over-spent. Note the omission  of one important Line Item. Line 6500 is Legal / Professional Fees. That Variance (over-spending) is not reported ! And it hasn't been reported all year. Why not? The 2024 Budget for Legal Fees (Line Item 6500) was $15,000. The Report for December indicates that $23,356.81 was spent in 2024, including only $490.00 paid in December. The YTD Variance (over-spending) for Legal is $8,356.81, which is 55.7%. The HOA over-spent the Legal Budget by 55.7%! The cost of t...

Should you speak up?  Who was Martin Niemöller? Niemöller (1892-1984) was a Lutheran pastor who lived during (and after) Nazi Germany. Take a few minutes and read about him through the link below.  Among his writings was: "First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.   "Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.   "Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.     "Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me." I don't recall just when I first heard these words, but it was many years ago.  His words have stayed with me through the years. Source:  https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists

How should the bills of the HOA be paid each month? When the invoices arrive, they should go in a pile. At least once a month, probably twice, at least two members of the Finance Committee should review and preliminarily approve them. A list of Payees and Amounts should be created.  Then the Finance Committee should review the list and approve it. Questions about any particular invoice should not delay on-time payment of the rest of the accounts. The list should be presented at the monthly BOD meeting and approved for payment by the Board. Then the Property Manager arranges for prompt payment. Timing can be a problem, if an invoice arrives that is 30 Days Net. It's going to get paid late, likely involving Late Fees. The HOA should be paying all bills on time. It should not be paying any Late Payment Fees. In the past there have been some payment problems, and the HOA was being charged Late Fees. I think that got resolved, but did you ever hear any discussion at a monthly board meet...

The  Summit's HOA has filed serious legal action against me.  The Affidavit of Danny Trapp, President of the HOA, is public record, because it has been filed with the Richland County Court of Common Pleas. Of course, it's hard for the public to get at it without electronic access to court records. But you can always drive downtown and read it in person. Or maybe I can figure out how to publish a readable version here on this blog. I'll try.  What is your guess of my legal expense to defend myself against this action by your HOA? $10,000? $20,000? $30,000? $40,000? $50,000? And your guess of the HOA's cost for the Cease and Desist Letter in August? The Summons & Complaint in December? The Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order? You can watch the mounting cost to the HOA by examining the monthly Financial Operating Results report. Look for Line 6500 (Legal / Professional Fees) in the Statement of Revenues and Expenses. To find those reports, go the HOA's website...

Last week I received a Notice of Hearing from the lawyers for The Summit's HOA. The Hearing is for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) or Preliminary Injunction. There was only a single piece of paper in the envelope, and it wasn't even sent by Certified Mail. I considered throwing it away, since there was no Proof of Delivery for it. It's a good thing I didn't. Instead, I emailed the lawyers for the Exhibits that were mentioned in the Summons & Complaint that had been served on me, but which had been omitted in the documents served on me. When the lawyer replied, she wrote, "My apologies for any confusion..." (What "confusion"?) The lawyer sent not only the Exhibits I requested, but also a Motion, Affidavit, and Exhibits that I suspect should have sent to me with the Notice of Hearing. What if I hadn't requested the Exhibits that were missing from the Summons and Complaint? I would have been blind-sided by the testimony presented in Court by...