Is there anything residents can do to take legal action against the HOA over our community? We are still a new community that developer still runs everything dealing with community as they are in phase 2 of 5, so we have no community members on board yet. We have zero communication back from the HOA regarding issues and concerns. The biggest issue being that our one amenity a splash pad has been in operable the entire summer. Multiple residents email in and we get no response for sometimes weeks if not months. Yet however in true HOA fashion people get citation notices consistently for trash cans/gras/yada yada yada. Is there any recourse for us reaidenta? TIA

I would think you're SOL since the developer still runs the HOA.

If there were legal liability/safety issues, you would have some avenues, but I don't think a dormant splashpad will qualify.

Probably not what you to hear, but this should be the "honeymoon phase" where the developer is wanting to make the community look as enticing as possible, so they can sell out. If they're not willing/able to run all of the amenities they built, it sound like they're going broke (or just moved on to the next project).

is it a large developer? You can always raise hell on social media and hope that gets their attention.

Not a large developer that I'm aware of. The developer has finally sold the rest of phases and 3 builders are currently building but yes he's run into a ton of monetary issues and fines by trying to cut corners and do stuff as cheap as possible.

NoahAg said:

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If the developer has sold the remaining land then why is he still involved? If he doesn't have any lots left to sell or any land left to develop then HOA control would transfer to a new declarant; I would assume the homebuilders you mentioned.

Look up the HOA by-laws and deed restrictions to see what triggers the addition of a resident to the HOA board.

Either way, you are likely out of luck with the splash pad. Other than bad PR, there's nothing to make the developer fix it.

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Bolded part - look here first for any cause or avenue for recourse. If none, take it to your attorney. If you don't have an attorney, get one.

Legal action probably isn't worth it. Assume the developer still controls the HOA board. If the neighborhood is still being built out (i.e., homes are still being built, and new HOA members are moving in), then the developer is likely subsidizing the HOA budget. There aren't enough residents to cover all HOA expenses.

The developer may have miscalculated on the HOA budget and either can't or doesn't want to cover the high cost of getting the splash pad running. *side question* Was the splash pad working in the past or has it never been in operation?

If OP and his neighbors sue the HOA, well, they'd just be suing themselves since the HOA legal fees must come from the HOA's bank account which is funded by its member, i.e., residents.

If they sue the developer I'm not sure how strong their case is. Did the developer make any guarantees about the splash pad or other amenities? Still, you'd have to incur legal fees and probably won't get anything in return. Especially if the developer really does have money trouble.

Your best scenario is that the homebuilders are successful in selling high quality homes that will lead to a high quality neighborhood and more people paying into the HOA.

Splash pad has worked intermittently in the previous years. Last year it was only down for about 2 of the usable months. Prior years it was down due to "Covid" crap. And developer has purposefully withheld from selling all lots in order to maintain control of HOA. There are still some lots he didn't sell to builders. The vast majority of the lots have been sold for development. When we first moved in our HOA rep was amazing. Very communicative and had monthly meetings with an appointed neighbor to address questions/concerns. Well she got promoted and it's been nothing but s***show since. I even emailed them in February and said he why don't y'all go ahead and be proactive and get everything tested and cleaned and ready for summer. Got crickets until I finally got an email of a manager in late April and since then they've been "working@ with contractors to get things rolling. It's one excuse after another. We have seen people working on it here and there but no sense of urgency whatsoever. I don't want to be complete a-hole to our community manager as there's possibility of her retaliating with not picky citations but it's out of control at this point.

I can't remember what it is, but state law says once the developer sells a certain percent of planned lots then a resident has to be appointed to the HOA board. Something is missing. It doesn't make sense for a developer to refrain from selling lots just to control the HOA. That just costs him money.

Who is the management company?

Inframark

My contact info is in my profile. Give me a call, we pushed a big national builder/developer out about 6 years ago.
Not a lawyer, but can run you through the traps and pitfalls if you are interested.
Eff those guys(declarants)!!!

Diggity said:

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I would think you're SOL since the developer still runs the HOA.

If there were legal liability/safety issues, you would have some avenues, but I don't think a dormant splashpad will qualify.

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this right here.....