Newbury Homeowners Association

HOA’s have a place in the community but most are unfriendly and generally unhelpful. This is one of them. I purchased a rental property in Las Vegas «managed» by this HOA. I put in a request to install a cement patio in the back yard to make the property more rentable. I submitted my architecture request on 10 Sept. 2014 and it was approved on 29 January four months later! Meanwhile I had to lower the asking rent in part due to the condition of the back yard and missing patio — so this HOA actually cost me money. Another property I purchased at the same time approved a similar request in one week! Also since I bought the property I am getting an average of one violation per week. I put over $ 10K into this property to improve it after my purchase so I take care of my properties. I also noted that the previous owner paid $ 3K out of escrow in fines and fees to this HOA. I have no idea how he ran up a bill like that! So avoid this HOA if possible. Oh, one other issue. You have to sign up for autopay via snail mail. There is no way to do it on line. They did do one useful thing. One of the violations was to clean oil off the driveway left over from the previous owner/​tenants and they actually told me to go to Ace Hardware and buy «Pour and Restore» to remedy to problem. It’s $ 40 a gallon but it works. Most HOA’s would never offer useful tips like this. Terror Worst (Terra West) would never help out a homeowner in this fashion for instance. While you’re reading about HOA’s — also avoid FirstService HOA. They changed their name from RMI after being sued by Wells Fargo and BofA for excessive fees. RMI owns a collection agency called Red Rock Financial (sic) and they messed up my credit rating by sending HOA bills to my tenants rather than me and put a lien on the property without notifying me until AFTER they put the lien on the property. Good way to make money for their collection agency! Thanks for listening and good luck! I hate to admit it but HOA’s do keep neighborhoods looking good unless they just take care of landscaping.