A failing bulkhead at Hilshire Lakes has fueled years of repairs, $35,000 assessments and an ongoing legal fight between lakefront homeowners and their HOA.
Jennifer Cunnigham
A yearslong dispute over a failing retaining wall in a northwest Houston neighborhood has grown from a costly infrastructure problem into a broader fight over accountability, transparency and who should pay.
Lakefront homeowners at Hilshire Lakes—a community in the heart of Houston’s Spring Branch neighborhood—say they were hit with a $35,000 assessment fee for bulkhead repairs in October. Residents allege they faced threats of liens and delinquency if they didn’t pay the hefty fee within roughly two months.
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The bulkhead surrounds a 10-acre lake at the center of the community. The HOA initially told homeowners that the vinyl sheets used to build the original bulkhead to separate the lake from homeowners’ yards had not been installed deeply enough, contributing to its erosion.
“I heard a lot of people say, ‘Yeah, we were sitting around the kitchen table trying to figure out our finances,'” Cheryl Randolph, a lakefront homeowner, told Chron. “These people don’t have that kind of cash, you know, retirees, people with families, young people.”
But the challenges run deeper than a major hit to the wallet. Residents say repeated repairs raised questions about whether the work was handled properly, while poor communication from the HOA board deepened frustration and distrust.
“The lake-lot homeowners…they’re furious,” Jennifer Cunnigham, another lakefront homeowner in the community, told Chron. “We’re all furious, especially because of the lack of transparency.”
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Terrance Stephens, community manager with Principal Management Group Associa, declined to comment to Chron on behalf of the Hilshire Lakes Board of Directors, citing ongoing litigation. The case, filed in 2023, centers on homeowners’ objections to the HOA’s handling and financing of repairs to the neighborhood’s failing lake bulkheads
A failing bulkhead at Hilshire Lakes has fueled years of repairs, $35,000 assessments and an ongoing legal fight between lakefront homeowners and their HOA.
Jennifer Cunnigham
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‘We’ve paid for it over and over’
Residents say they first noticed problems with the bulkhead more than a decade ago, followed by years of repairs and repeated failures.
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“They ignored it from that point forward, and subsequent boards just put the Band-Aids on the shotgun wound,” Randolph said. “They’ve been patching it up for 15 years.”
Randolph said the bulkhead behind her home is now undergoing its fourth repair since she moved into the community.
“We’ve paid for it over and over,” Randolph said. “It’s been very frustrating to say the least.”
After lake-lot owners reported significant failure in 2020, a larger round of repairs began in 2022.
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Residents say they received little warning before crews entered easements on their private property. Cunningham said she received just one day’s notice.
“The next thing we know, we awoke to chainsaws destroying our decks,” Cunningham said.
By January 2024—roughly 18 months later—homeowners reported that portions of the newly repaired bulkhead were failing yet again.
“All of us were really horrified when…the bulkhead was starting to fail,” Cunningham said. “We have no idea how long this is going to take. We have no idea of when our decks are going to be destroyed again because a lot of us, again, trusted the board and when they said that the bulkhead was repaired.”
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Cunningham said rebuilding her demolished deck cost roughly $30,000—a fee she expects to incur again after the latest round of repairs.
A portion of the Hilshire Lakes bulkhead pictured on Jan. 30, 2024. The issue has fueled years of repairs, $35,000 assessments and an ongoing legal fight between lakefront homeowners and their HOA.
Jennifer Cunnigham
‘A complete distrust of the board’
In addition to the costly repairs, homeowners say they’ve dealt with a lack of transparency and accountability from the board.
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“When they announced that in October that we would be assessed $35,000, they did say, ‘We will have a town hall in November so that you guys can ask questions,'” Cunningham said. “Then, literally days before the town hall was supposed to happen, they canceled it and they haven’t talked about it since.”
Cunningham said she has received little to no information about the project’s cost or timeline and that board members have declined to answer residents’ questions at community meetings. Randolph echoed her concerns.
“They never communicate with us,” Randolph added, noting that even with current repairs underway, nothing has changed. “It’s gotten worse, if it’s possible, it’s actually gotten worse.”
Cunningham said the HOA sent her a cease-and-desist letter accusing her of “weaponizing private communication,” “social media slander,” “board member intimidation tactics” and several other alleged violations after contacting HOA board members, starting a community petition and posting to social media about her concerns.
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“I now have a complete distrust of the board,” Cunnigham said.
A portion of the Hilshire Lakes bulkhead pictured on June 6, 2024. The issue has fueled years of repairs, $35,000 assessments and an ongoing legal fight between lakefront homeowners and their HOA.
Jennifer Cunnigham
‘I’ll never get back what they’ve cost me’
The dispute has cost homeowners more than money and trust. Some say it has also cost them their sense of community.
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“I think the sad part of it is that neighbors used to be neighborly, but…the board has very carefully crafted a division,” Randolph said.
For Randolph, the conflict contributed directly to her decision to leave Hilshire Lakes. She bought another home and largely moved out in December, but said she remains unable to list her former residence while the latest bulkhead work continues.
“I paid cash for this house, and I paid cash for another house to get out of here,” Randolph said. “That’s how badly I wanted out.”
Randolph said she could have sold the property two years ago, but a large hole remained near the failing bulkhead along her property line. While she waits for the repairs to be completed, she continues paying property taxes, insurance, electricity and HOA fees on the home.
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“I can’t put my house on the market until the bulkhead’s done, because who’s going to buy it with a failing bulkhead?” she said.
She believes other residents who want to leave have found themselves similarly tied to properties they cannot realistically sell.
“It’s been years for people who’ve wanted to move. We’ve had to stay because you can’t sell it,” Randolph said. “I’ll never get back what they’ve cost me.”
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