• May 2010 Newsletter

  Filed under Newsletters
  May 4

  Ever notice how fast the months just go flying by? It just seems like yesterday I was sitting here pondering the happenings of our neighborhood and wondering about what of these events was noteworthy. This month is a little bit easier. Once again your Council has put together a great program. We invited speakers to come in and present a training program for board members of homeowners’ associations.

  No, this was not a public event, but it was an important event. By bringing together HOA board members with members of the management companies with which the HOA’s contract we are doing important networking. We are getting our name out in the professional community and we are gaining recognition. And recognition by decision makers is going to be critical as the GMBAC moves forward with its mission to improve the quality of life in our service area. We cannot accomplish this mission entirely by ourselves. It was interesting that we had people from Tomball attend our training session. We have already worked with leaders in Copperfield. This is important because collectively the communities of the unincorporated areas will have to join forces to fight the blight of urban decay which stands just outside our borders. We will most likely have to join forces with these other communities as we approach the state legislature with proposals we want put into law to allow us to address many problems for which there is no legal solution at this time.

  What are these problems? As they say, they are legion. Just look around your neighborhood and note any issues which you think are not being addressed, from the tidal wave of rental property to blatant disregard for deed restrictions. Your HOA stands between you and the chaos which would wash over your community if left unchallenged.

  This brings up our ongoing concern. As we noted in last month’s newsletter during the last legislative session over 100 bills were introduced which were designed to basically wipe out the HOAs in this state. Now think about that for a moment. Maybe you don’t like paying those HOA assessments. And maybe you don’t like having to go before an architectural control committee to repaint your house. Then you are just like most of us. Most homeowners don’t particularly like either of these aspects of HOA control in our community. BUT, now pay attention here, what do you think would happen if there were no HOA to protect your investment? What if the guy next door sells his house to an “investor” who lives out of state and whose only concern is “cash flow” as all the real estate commercials state? “Cash flow”. Has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?

  Well it does until the new renter does like a guy on Winkleman (across from Petrosky Elementary School) did. He is gone now, thanks largely to the intervention of the evil HOA.  This budding entrepreneur asserted his right to use his rented property any way he chose. So he opened up an auto repair shop. You get that? This guy rented a lovely little home which formerly was owned by residents who raised their family in Mission Bend and moved out once the children were grown. And not caring two cents for any of his new neighbors who continue to live in their homes, he opened an auto repair shop in an exclusively residential neighborhood right on Winkleman across the street from Petrosky Elementary School. Next thing you know there are cars parked all up and down the street awaiting for his attention. Auto parts, hoods, door panels, etc., were leaning up against his fence and cars were in his driveway in various stages of disassembly. Get the picture?

  All that stood between the neighbors’ property values and this guy’s ambition to run an auto repair shop was – you guessed it – the HOA. The same big bad HOA which is being attacked by forces in the State Legislature as being heavy handed, un-American and several other non-too-pleasant terms. You see, in our current political climate, the rights of this one individual outweigh any concerns for the interests of the community.

  It seems as though every legislator is jumping on this Populist bandwagon. Our own State Representative, Mr. Hubert Vo, isn’t just jumping on the bandwagon. He’s leading the charge, having offered one of the first pieces of legislation to gut the HOA’s of their power to maintain control of the community by the homeowners in the community. Did you catch that phrase, “by the homeowners in the community”? The HOA isn’t “them”. It is you and it is I. We are the HOA. The HOA is there to represent “us” and to protect “us” from “them”, those who want to destroy our communities. And to this date, Mr. Hubert Vo has become a voice for “them”.

  Now some of you might think I am just grinding a political ax here. That is not the case. Mr. Vo and I may support different political parties, but he stood with our community in its fight with TxDOT and we were pleased to have him as our representative in the State Legislature. We thought of Mr. Vo as our champion. Now imagine our shock when his bill was introduced which would effectively destroy the one agency which stands between the homeowner and total urban blight. We attempted to have a meeting with Mr. Vo but he has avoided this for the past year. Now one year is a very long time for our elected state representative to be too busy to meet with us. But that is the fact of the matter. Now that elections are upon us we can only wonder if Mr. Vo will finally take time from his busy schedule to address our concerns. We don’t have much hope.

  In the meanwhile, the 100 bills which would allow urban blight to sweep over your community like that tidal wave are poised and waiting for the next legislative session to open. We are working feverishly to prepare to speak on behalf of the homeowners of Texas, but do not take for granted that we will prevail. Stay tuned.

  Michael Martin

  President, Greater Mission Bend Area Council                                      mmartin@GMBAC.com

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