BiggerPockets

My brother has been a part of organizing this deal for a little while now. His neighborhood is in Houston and the upkeep is really starting to get costly, so all the residents got together and decided to try and sell the whole place. This is where he lives now with his family. It's been their primary residence for a few years, so it's not an REI deal in the traditional sense. Up to this point, the whole deal was going pretty well. I don't know if someone is trying to pull a fast one, but I can't see how something like this can occur in such a manner. Here's the e-mail I got from him. What do you think?

EDIT - I think my brother's wife actually wrote it - this sounds too needy for his writing.

"This e-mail is regarding a group of middle class citizens who live in a community we could no longer upkeep the maintenance on, so we decided to gather the required percentage and sell. Our community is currently on the market but the city wants us out on the streets, possibility forcing us into foreclosure. We 108 middle class, hard working, law abiding citizens need help.

The city had a meeting for the homeowners of Park Memorial this past Monday night. The city is forcing us out of our homes. They say it is not up to code; it is not safe. WE the residents of Park Memorial will be asked to move from our homes (which we have mortgages on). As soon as they look over the final report, in a week, he will let us know how long we have to get out of our homes.

When asked, "Where will we go?" - no answer.
"Will we have to continue to pay our mortgage and our maintenance fees? We can't pay rent on top of that. What will be do?" - no answer.
"So because we are middle class citizens with our community for sale due to realizing we have a problem, you are forcing us out of our homes, possibly to foreclosure, when we will be out in a few months anyway?" - no answer.
"The city can't do this." - Yes, we can.
"The city can't just kick me out of my home. I have a mortgage. I pay taxes" - Yes, we can.
"Do we have to continue paying our taxes, when we will not be living there?" - Yes
"You can't do this." - Yes we can, we will shut off the power

Something is seriously wrong with this situation. I have never felt unsafe in my home, but someone can walk in from the city and force me out. Is there nothing I can do?

July 30th, Park Memorial was included in a front page article of the Houston Chronicle. Now that the city is involved, Park Memorial is at the hands of the Mayor's office and his inititiatives, including the quotas: http://www.houstontx.gov/mayor/press/20070519.html.

Now, a great percentage of the Park Memorial homeowners have "Extreme Hazard" stickers on their door, their parking garages are "unsafe".

In the end, our broker gets a sale, the City of Houston adds another property to its "Demolition Day" quota, and a developer gets away with a steal of a deal. What happens to the homeowners?

What did we do wrong? In the three short years we have owned our condo, like good homeowners, we have paid all of our monthly maintenance fees and every one of our mortgage payments along with our taxes, and we are being forced out of our homes.

Respectfully,
Andrea & Dan Seluk
5292 Memorial F-15
Houston, Texas 77007"

Here's an update/plot twist.

"John Carona: Slumlord Senator Gets Caught

August 14, 2008 Dallas - State Senator John Carona's carefully sanitized media image was shattered yesterday when Houston TV station KHOU, Channel 11, identified him as CEO of the property management company responsible for "condos in danger of collapse" in spite of having collected management fees for years. The city says the structure may simply fall apart, taking dozens of homes down.

"'There's a big question. Where have all our maintenance fees gone. Where have they gone?' said Dan Seluk," an owner of one of the units in the crumbling Park Memorial Condominiums. Tuesday, KHOU reported Mr. Seluk explaining that "the residents will have to continue paying maintenance fees even though they can't live in their units. If they don't pay, a lien will be put on their home." He said it will be a struggle for many of them to pay rent on top of what they are already paying.

Carona, a long-time, deeply-entrenched Republican incumbent, is CEO of Associa Principal Management Group, "one of the largest property management companies in the nation," according to KHOU. The station went on to report, ".he also wrote the Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act."

"Carona is using his powerful public office to benefit his personal interests," concluded Rain Minns, the Democrat challenging him for the State Senate, District 16, in the November 4th general election.

"To think that someone in public office is running these companies and is perhaps making a lot of money. And the service of these companies is so terrible and the homeowner's hands are tied." said Seluk.

These revelations followed closely on the heels of an Associated Press story reported on August 4th by the Austin American Statesman disclosing Carona's fiscal improprieties. "[Carona] has reimbursed from campaign funds nearly $600,000 to two of his companies for various services, including rent, in recent years," despite the fact that, "it has been almost a year since the Texas Legislature made it illegal for lawmakers to use political funds to rent property from themselves or their spouses."

The AP continued, "he does not pay rent anymore but still advertises the address and a phone number at his Dallas management company, Associa, as his campaign contact information, records indicate." They concluded with the observation that Carona failed to report "a donation of office space on [his] recent campaign reports."

"These news stories are only tip of the iceberg in terms of Carona's exploitation of his office for his own personal gain," said Minns. The senator's success in his district has been based on deceiving his supporters, she said. "He's made a lot of promises that his voting record does not bear out."

"Finally, someone has begun to connect the dots," emphasized Rain Minns. "This is independent journalism, not campaign material. At last, the voters can hold Senator Carona accountable." "


And I just got word tonight that my brother has till Sept. 15th to move out. So all those things mentioned, having to pay the mortgage AND the maintenance fees on a place he can't even live in, have come true.

Link to a local news station with video...

http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou080812_mp_bad_condos.3e3ad4f8.html