Two neighboring Dallas residents are living without walls.
That’s not hyperbole. The exterior walls of their condos have been removed and replaced with a large tarp. It’s been like that for a year.
No walls, only a tarp.
The homeowners association ordered the wall removal, citing mold and other problems. But the units also suffer from serious foundation issues.
Watchdog Alert
Residents say they’ve endured this open-air existence because they believe they have no choice.
Where are they going to go? Who will buy their money pits with all these problems?
Carol Sullivan considers herself the fortunate one — at least she still has her interior walls. Her neighbor, Kate Phelan, isn’t so lucky. She’s missing both exterior and interior walls.
Both women blame the HOA, which authorized the wall removal and promised to rebuild. They say that promise has since vanished.
HOA Follies
In today’s episode of The Watchdog Presents HOA Follies, we go to the Lake Highlands neighborhood of Dallas, specifically to the 72-unit Oak Hollow Condominiums off Skillman Street.
The competition to be spotlighted on HOA Follies is fierce. HOA battles are constant, and that includes battling outside management companies hired to run things.
In these squabbles, lies are told, stories are made up and the mantra that there are two sides to everything is proven false. In HOA disputes, there are often eight sides to every saga.
I cannot tell you the HOA side because the management group, Veracity of Plano, declined to speak to me. Veracity also declined to allow me to speak to HOA board members.
The word veracity, by the way, is defined as a devotion to the truth.
Bugs and rain
Sullivan says one holdup is the condo bosses demanding that doors and windows be removed during repairs.
“I’m terrified,” Sullivan says, fearing that once they are removed, they too won’t get put back.
Phelan describes constant dirt filtering in — weeds, grass and bugs. She’ll clean a room, then five minutes later, it’s all back. Especially the bugs.
“It’s like National Geographic in there,” she says.
How does she deal with it? Sometimes, she explodes.
In a draft she sent to Google reviews, she called the condo bosses “evil, sadistic, harassing, bullying, delusional, incompetent.”
“I don’t know what else to do, Phelan said.
Mold
Both women complain of sickness that they attribute to mold.
Health-wise, they shouldn’t be living there.
Phelan says her insurance company told her the responsibility is with the HOA. Her insurance will not fix interior issues until the outer walls are replaced.
Under Texas law, an HOA is responsible for the exterior common areas, while a condo owner is responsible for the inside.
Because the HOA removed the entire rear wall, they may be responsible for the follow-through, Phelan argues.
Solutions
What do you do in a situation like this?
Unfortunately, get a lawyer. Both women have hired a lawyer to help them. Several other owners have jumped in.
Phelan admits she was out of her league when house shopping. She didn’t know what to look for. She felt rushed. She saw problems before buying but didn’t think they were this bad. She paid $143,000.
Both women still pay $475 in monthly maintenance fees.
They neglected to file a formal complaint with Dallas’ code compliance department. An inspector might come out and write up violations.
Under city code for substandard structures, property owners are required to keep structures in good repair. Violations can be written for peeling paint, leaking roof, electrical and plumbing problems, holes in the wall, floor and ceiling, and decayed wood.
In some HOA’s, residents vote out existing HOA members and then fire the management company. I’ve seen it happen, but it’s rare.
Mostly, what’s needed is for condo bosses to live up to their promises. They need to display a devotion to the truth.
Without walls, condo owners use cardboard to provide safety from the elements.
Courtesy of Kate Phelan