Comments (41) | Add a comment
Sun City Anthem resident battles HOA
-
Photo by Craig L. Moran.
Norman McCullough holds photos of damage to his friends' homes on Peoria Avenue in the High Mesa subdivision in Henderson. He is flanked by Hazel Jones, left, and her mother, Elizabeth Swann. » Buy this photo
Tools
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Apr. 10, 2012 | 9:41 a.m.
Norman McCullough has become a 76-year-old pain that won't go away for Sun City Anthem's homeowner association board members.
He's been feuding with them for years about cracks in the concrete foundation and stucco walls of his 8-year-old, Del Webb-built villa home, cracks that have been identified as construction defects by two law firms.
"Yes, we have construction defect issues, and yes, we are upset and mad about it," McCullough said as he pointed out stress cracks and crumbling exteriors on homes in his neighborhood. "But the real story here is not about the defects in our homes. It's about a board of directors who are more sympathetic to Del Webb's financial well-being than they are for the Sun City Anthem residents."
The association hired a contractor to fill in the cracks and paint over them, but not before McCullough took 44 photographs of damaged villa homes on Peoria Avenue, where he lives, and around the block on Harrisburg Avenue.
The HOA is forcing homeowners to pay for those repairs with reserve funds that are intended solely for maintenance of the community, McCullough said.
He pays about $940 a year in association dues for upkeep of common amenities such as the swimming pool and recreation center. Another $1,040 in neighborhood fees goes toward water bills, garbage collection and landscape maintenance.
"But there's no money in there to pay for Del Webb construction defects," McCullough said. "They had no business using our money to repair those. The association disavowed responsibility for the foundation and slab. What are they doing spending my money putting paint and putty on the foundation?"
Pulte Homes, which acquired Del Webb in 2006, has denied that any problems exist. Calls to the community manager and the president of Sun City Anthem for comment were not returned.
The codes, covenants and restrictions, or CCRs, at Sun City Anthem cover only the outside part of the home, yet McCullough said he still had to pay $500 to replace defective plumbing that ran from an outside valve to a water pipe in the wall.
Bob Frank, a former HOA board member at Sun City Anthem, agreed with McCullough and left the board after a rift developed over philosophical differences with other members.
"It's not about the cracks. It's about arbitrarily deciding to cover them up," Frank said. "You should not cover up the evidence unless you ask each homeowner. They have the right to say paint it or not. That was my big argument. Even when people were yelling about it, they did it anyway. So the attitude of the board members is, 'I don't care about you.' "
Frank said the HOA unfairly raised assessments by $500 a year and accumulated a surplus of nearly $5 million. A large portion of that money should be refunded to residents, he said.
"We are not just a bunch of old troublemakers," McCullough said. "We are seniors who are being abused by the system. What our board of directors has done to us is called retaliation because we dared to question their decisions regarding our dues and our rights. We have had enough and we want the world to know it."
Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.
Comments
Terms & Conditions
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The Review-Journal does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please use the Report Abuse button.
Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 24 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Why is it? Soooooo many times when you see the word: "HOA" anywhere in print either in Newspapers, Magazines or on the Internet? The words: "SCHEME" -- "FRAUD" - "CORRUPTION" - "CRIMINAL" - "SUED" follow it? America! It is time to "Have A Say In Your HOA"! Stop these crooks who are in the HOA Industry! Make your HOA show complete TRANSPARENCY! Check out our several Grassroots websites: HOA1234 Dot Com ! All dedicated to making Nevada’s NRS116 Laws more: “Homeowner-Friendly”! Sam in Henderson
Finally – a word from Mr. Norman McCullough himself!
Since the article was published on October 25, 2009 I have had about 95 % “High Fives” from my neighbors and friends and only a small number of people who did not like “putting their dirty wash out for public view”.
Also I see by the many comments on this BLOG site that there are a great many concerned citizens here in Las Vegas who also have faced similar problems with their Board of Directors.
After reading the last comment by “troutcatcher”, I decided now is the time I should make one more statement regarding the article that Hubble Smith was kind enough to feature on the business page of the Review Journal. So – here it is.
Mr. troutcatcher I agree with you 100%. There is a moral compass missing when it comes to many Home Owner Association’s Board’s of Directors. I happen to live in one of them. I also agree that “the Real Estate Division is more incompetent than corrupt.”
I also agree that;
“There are too many CAI attorneys representing HOAs that put the wishes of the HOA's executive board above the law, common sense, and definitely the interest of the homeowners.”
AND I also agree with your last statement;
“The boards hire HOA attorneys that enable their unethical conduct.”
These are common problems that strip us of our rights as citizens and hinder our freedom. What my Board of Directors did to me and the other Villa owners by using our money to cover up and conceal potential construction defects is wrong, and I’m glad Mr. Hubble Smith shined a light in this dark corner of wrongdoing by our Board of Directors. Hopefully it may be noticed (and responded to), by some political or law officials.
Finally – a word from Mr. Norman McCullough himself!
Since the article was published on October 25, 2009 I have had about 95 % “High Fives” from my neighbors and friends and only a small number of people who did not like “putting their dirty wash out for public view”.
Also I see by the many comments on this BLOG site that there are a great many concerned citizens here in Las Vegas who also have faced similar problems with their Board of Directors.
After reading the last comment by “troutcatcher”, I decided now is the time I should make one more statement regarding the article that Hubble Smith was kind enough to feature on the business page of the Review Journal. So – here it is.
Mr. troutcatcher I agree with you 100%. There is a moral compass missing when it comes to many Home Owner Association’s Board’s of Directors. I happen to live in one of them. I also agree that “the Real Estate Division is more incompetent than corrupt.”
I also agree that;
“There are too many CAI attorneys representing HOAs that put the wishes of the HOA's executive board above the law, common sense, and definitely the interest of the homeowners.”
AND I also agree with your last statement;
“The boards hire HOA attorneys that enable their unethical conduct.”
These are common problems that strip us of our rights as citizens and hinder our freedom. What my Board of Directors did to me and the other Villa owners by using our money to cover up and conceal potential construction defects is wrong, and I’m glad Mr. Hubble Smith shined a light in this dark corner of wrongdoing by our Board of Directors. Hopefully it may be noticed (and responded to), by some political or law officials.
Members of HOAs all over Las Vegas are concerned about the abuses of HOA boards. Out of control executive boards are enabled by the Nevada State Real Estate Division and some unethical Community Association Institute (CAI)attorneys. A moral compass is missing. My sense is that the Real Estate Division is more incompetent than corrupt. The Commission for Common-interest Communities that governs the Real Estate Division is made up almost exclusively of CAI members. CAI opposed AB 350 and SB 182 and 183, in other words, legislative attempts to reform a broken system and increase transparency. There are too many CAI attorneys representing HOAs that put the wishes of the HOA's executive board above the law, common sense, and definitely the interest of the homeowners. A relationship void of conscience or integrity based solely on who signs their paycheck? Bob Franks through his website has done a fantastic job of exposing these problems. He has exposed the Sun City Anthem HOA board and to some extent their attorney. The Intervention Affidavit filed with the Real Estate Division by his board against him was a complete joke. He posted it, I read it, and why a CAI attorney would help prepare it and the Real Estate Division would even consider such a frivolous claim is beyond me. Their claim can be summarized as, "he wouldn't cooperate and vote with the majority". Certainly this type of thinking resulted in the execution of many honest people in "Hitler's Germany".
The solution is political. The Governor appoints the Commission for Common-interest Communities. Uninformed HOA members vote in board members that don't represent their interests. The boards hire HOA attorneys that enable their unethical conduct.
Norman McCullough just keep doing it! Del Webb, has denied that any problems exist, of course not? Yea right. Putting the Ho in HOA. And the Ass in Association.