Former Lake of the Woods Association financial manager Roy C. Mayberry remains in jail as he awaits a weeklong jury trial set for October. Last Friday, Mayberry pleaded not guilty to 15 charges—including money laundering and embezzlement—after officials said he stole more than $450,000 during his tenure with the east Orange County homeowners association. Read […]
WMATA Files Eminent Domain Suit Against Potomac Green HOA for Potomac Yard Metro (VA)
In an effort to keep the Potomac Yard Metro station project on track, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is using eminent domain to purchase Alexandria land from the Potomac Green Homeowners Association. WMATA reportedly filed a civil suit in Alexandria after two years of failed negotiations and requested $50,000 as fair value for the […]
Virginia passes bill for homeowners to make HOA fees more transparent
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill this week that would give homeowners more transparency regarding different fees. The bill requires Homeowners’ Associations boards to make annual budgets available to homeowners prior to the new fiscal year. Read the article…………………….
Timber Lake residents pass watershed improvement district (VA)
A ballot measure to create a watershed improvement district for Campbell County’s Timber Lake residents — and the taxing authority that comes with it — passed in Tuesday’s special election. Of the roughly 250 residents eligible to vote, 132 cast their ballots, with 119 — 90.15 percent — voting in favor of creating the Timberlake […]
Appreciation: Benny L. Kass made buying and owning a home less scary for a generation of readers
On Oct. 7, 1972, a column debuted in The Washington Post’s Real Estate section aimed at transforming one of the most perplexing transactions for many people — buying a house — into a process they could understand and manage. At first, the column by Benny L. Kass was called Counsel to Home Buyer and Owner. […]
Virginia passes bill for homeowners to make HOA fees more transparent
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill this week that would give homeowners more transparency regarding different fees. The bill requires Homeowners’ Associations boards to make annual budgets available to homeowners prior to the new fiscal year. Read the article……………………..
After decades of trying, Vietnam veteran allowed to put American flag up outside Henrico home (VA)
The story sparked national attention: Vietnam veteran ordered to take down the flagpole in his yard. In 1999, the Wyndham Homeowners Association told Richard Oulton the pole with an Ameican flag on it violated neighborhood by-laws. When the case went to court, Oulton lost. Read the article…………………..
Opal subdivision getting water fix (VA)
Mindy Gray of Clarkes Meadow Road found pink water coming out of a water faucet in her Green Meadows subdivision home last week. Residents of the community off Clarkes Road are being supplied by water trucked in from Bealeton while the Fauquier Water and Sanitation Authority works to replace equipment in a wellhouse that malfunctioned. […]
Former security guard found guilty of murder in Chesapeake ‘Pokemon Go’ trial (VA)
A jury has found a former security guard guilty of second-degree murder in a 2017 fatal shooting in Chesapeake. 60-year-old Jiansheng Chen was inside a minivan in Chesapeake’s River Walk community when he was shot by Johnathan Cromwell, a security guard employed by CityWide Protection Service at the time. Cromwell was also found guilty of […]
What’s with the water? Opal subdivision sees rainbow of colors coming from tap (VA)
Pink, green and brown. The water from the taps in Mindy Gray’s Opal house was all of those colors at different times last week. She wasn’t alone. Her neighbors in the Green Meadows subdivision were seeing colored rather than clear water. Off-putting for sure, though safe to use and drink, according to the Fauquier Water […]
Leesburg Settles Exeter Dam Lawsuit for $396K (VA)
After five years of talks and just days before the start of a Circuit Court trial, the Leesburg Town Council on Tuesday agreed to a settlement on the disputed maintenance responsibility of the dam in the Exeter neighborhood. Located on Exeter Homeowners Association property along the Leesburg Bypass, the dam and stormwater management pond was […]
County gives Allenbrook paving money (VA)
A problem with roads in Lenoir City’s Allenbrook subdivision appears settled after Loudon County Commission voted Monday to share the cost of paving. Commissioners Matthew Tinker and Julia Hurley motioned and seconded, respectively, to contribute $55,000 to Lenoir City to help complete paving of three unfinished roads — Flora Drive, Tristan Court and part of […]
Family sues security guard accused of murdering man in Chesapeake (VA)
The family of a man shot and killed in 2017 has filed a lawsuit against the security guard accused of his murder — as well as his employer and a community association. Chesapeake police said Johnathan Cromwell, an employee of Citywide Protection Services at the time, was patrolling the River Walk neighborhood in Chesapeake when […]
Timber Lake residents get set for key vote on watershed improvement district (VA)
Property owners and people living around Timber Lake will receive some special ballots this year asking them whether they believe a watershed improvement district — and the taxing authority that comes with it — should be formed for the lake. It would take a simple majority of approval votes from two elections — one March […]
Association’s treasurer accused of embezzlement (VA)
Elizabeth Joan Boyd, 48, was recently charged on six felony counts of embezzlement stemming from her time as the Lake Front Royal Property Owner’s Association’s treasurer. Warren County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Daniel Maxfield said over the phone that the office began an investigation into the matter after receiving a complaint from the association’s board regarding […]
Suspected embezzlement at Orange homeowners association rises to $400K (VA)
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office says nearly a half-million dollars may have been embezzled from the Lake of the Woods Association. Sheriff Mark Amos said the total funds suspected to have been embezzled now appears to be more than $400,000, up from the $94,000 estimated in August. Read the article………………….
How to have influence on your condo board
Q: I own a small condominium in a midsize building in Chicago. I pay around $500 per month in assessments, and the building has more than $600,000 in reserves. The association hired a consultant to deliver a reserve study to the board, but it has not been posted to the condo building website. Read the […]
Timberlake homeowners association working to create watershed improvement project (VA)
The Timberlake Homeowners Association is working to improve the conditions on Timber Lake. Neighbors say they’ve had constant issues with sediment on the lake bed since the August floods and it needs to be dredged. The homeowners say without the healthy return of the lake, each home is at risk of losing 2/3 of its […]
Orange Sheriff’s Office investigating reported $400K embezzlement from Lake of the Woods Association (VA)
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the reported embezzlement of more $400,000 from the Lake of the Woods Association by a former employee, according to a news release. No arrests had been made as of Tuesday in the financial crime alleged to have occurred over a period of four years. The Sheriff’s Office learned […]
Stafford leaders tighten rules on septic fields (VA)
Stafford County residents have experienced problems when using community septic systems which are located in common open space such as a neighborhood. They are usually maintained by a homeowners association. Many of these failed systems were developed decades ago. Read the article……………..
Local man says Heritage condominium problems pile up every time it pours (VA)
When it rains it pours. One local man, Mike Johnson, said the problems in his home pour down every time it rains. He said it’s a blame game over who should be fixing it. Johnson has spent thousands of dollars of his own money trying to fix the leak. He is trying to install new […]
Twin Lakes to fix failed dam (VA)
It’s been almost six years since the dam on Twin Lakes’ Lake Shenandoah failed and the water had to be drained for the safety of the neighborhood. It may have been a long, and sometimes difficult to navigate, road but construction to repair the neighborhood’s third lake is about to get under way. Read the […]
EDITORIAL: Sinkhole runaround is absolutely ridiculous (VA)
YOU’VE BEEN shopping around for a home for your family and spotted a good candidate in Kingswood. It’s in an established Spotsylvania County neighborhood located off Harrison Road with nice four-bedroom colonials on quarter- to half-acre lots—plenty of space for the kids to play. Read the editorial………………..Today’s the day you’ve arranged to go have a […]
Berryville: Neighborhood’s safety concerns being examined (VA)
Town officials, police and a homeowners association (HOA) are striving to make the Battletown development seem more safe as residents tend to not stay as long as they once did……..Battletown has a mix of single-family houses and town homes. McDonald said that while some of the town homes are owner-occupied, more than 50 percent are […]
Spotsylvania sinkhole keeps growing (VA)
A depressing saga drags on for a Spotsylvania County family as a sinkhole continues to gobble up their front yard. Their driveway in its path, and a solution to the problem remains elusive. “I’ve talked to everyone I can talk to,” Doug Woods said this week. “My sinkhole’s still there, except it’s getting bigger.” […]
Three new headaches for homeowner associations
What do drones, copyrights and mold have in common? According to USI Insurance Services, a national insurer with more than 50 offices throughout the country, these are some of the emerging trends that homeowner associations are — or will be — facing in the coming years. They all affect the financial well-being and the investments […]
Ask Eli: Find Savings In Your 2019 Condo/HOA Budget (VA)
Question: I’m the Treasurer for my condo association and we’re working on the 2019 budget. What’s a good way for us to save money in the budget without compromising the health and maintenance of the building? Read the Q&A……………
Leesburg chooses witnesses for Exeter lawsuit (VA)
A lawsuit filed by the Exeter HOA has a trial date and deposition witnesses after Leesburg Town Council refused several settlement deals. The property in contention is the Exeter Stormwater Management Pond, a dam located between Ball’s Bluff and Leesburg Elementary School. In 2014, a revision to Virginia law required Exeter to make expensive structural modifications […]
Sewage ‘detectives’ will search for Fairview Beach’s waste problems (VA)
After years of trying to determine the source of human and animal waste polluting the Potomac River at Fairview Beach, King George County officials are calling in an agency whose workers have been likened to crime-scene investigators. That’s the Hampton Roads Sanitary District, which in 2015 invested more than $400,000 in a microbial source-tracking program, […]
Timber Lake owners make dam preparations in advance of Hurricane Florence (VA)
Residents of the Timber Lake neighborhood said flooding caused by heavy rainfall in August was “a dress rehearsal” as the community prepares for potential flooding at the 57-acre lake this weekend. “We are in full Hurricane Florence mode,” DD Gillett, president of the Timberlake Homeowners Association, said Tuesday. “We have an emergency plan that we […]
Homebuilder HHHunt appeals to state Supreme Court in legal battle with Henrico (VA)
Months after a local court dashed its hopes of connecting a Henrico County neighborhood to one proposed in Hanover County, a homebuilder is asking the state’s highest court to intervene. HHHunt Communities on Monday filed a petition for appeal with the Supreme Court of Virginia challenging a decision by the Henrico Circuit Court in a […]
Opinion: Editorial: Will Reston Accept Local Partisan Politics? (VA)
The Reston Association election is upon us. Voting is underway and continues through April 2. Over the past few election cycles, Restonians have increasingly been asked to vote for slates of candidates. This should disturb you. In last week’s Connection you were urged to vote for a partisan slate of candidates (“Ganesan, Johnson, Bowman and […]
Why your development could be in big trouble if your HOA documents aren’t set up properly
Q: My husband inherited a private development that his father owned in West Virginia. How does one go about starting a homeowners association (HOA) for something like that? The lots were sold without any agreement about an HOA. All the extra costs like roads and sewer and snow removal have been covered privately, thus making […]
Dispute pitting neighbors against power company and Amazon in Prince William Co.
Penn, and the SCC say their preferred location would have been along a Norfolk-Southern Rail Line, known as the ‘rail route’. “It was clear that the railroad route was the very best route that had the least amount of impact, that there was no resident within 200 feet of the center line of the right-of-way,” […]
Debating Future of Airbnb in Fairfax County Supervisors are considering updating its zoning ordinance to allow short-term rentals (VA)
Right now, there are more than 300 rentals available in Fairfax County through Airbnb — all illegal. Airbnb, which is a lodging reservation website, is just one company that gives its users the ability to list spare rooms, apartments or entire homes for strangers to book for an amount of time and fee of their […]
Tiber contractor gains an edge in condo bankruptcy case (VA)
The original contractor of a long-delayed West End condo development may soon gain control of the project he claims he was fired from last year. The trustee overseeing the bankruptcy case of The Tiber, a 15-unit condo building sitting in limbo at the corner of Libbie and Guthrie avenues, said last week he intends to […]
Virginia Residents Sue County Over Plan to Move Homeless Shelter to Their Neighborhood
“We hope the county will realize they need to slow down, they need to find a permanent answer for this shelter,” Stonegate Homeowners Association President Debbie Fraser said. Fraser filed suit against the county in circuit court Tuesday. “We have a right, too, and that’s what we’re pursuing,” she said. Read the article………….
City lawyer: Condemnation of Water Street (condo) Garage has begun (VA)
How many lawyers does it take to schedule a hearing? Well, if it has anything to do with the highly contentious battle between the city and Mark Brown’s Charlottesville Parking Center, that would be five attorneys in Charlottesville Circuit Court today to set a date for CPC’s petition for the appointment of an emergency receiver. […]
Idlewild HOA wants Fredericksburg (VA) to build pocket park in subdivision
Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Police Chief David Nye and Parks, Recreation and Public Facilities Director Jane Shelhorse have been invited to discuss a number of issues, including the possibility of building a pocket park on one of the vacant city-owned lots in the subdivision. Read the article…………
Lake of the Woods Association named ‘Community Association of the Year’ during ceremony
Lake of the Woods Association was selected as “Community Association of the Year” in its membership category at the Central Virginia Chapter of Community Association Institute. The award was presented at a luncheon ceremony in Richmond Read the article………..
Condo owner distraught over deteriorating conditions: ‘It’s just nasty and dirty’ (VA)
Rusted railings, chipped paint and exterior mold and mildew have condo owners asking the CBS 6 Problem Solvers to take action. “It’s just nasty and dirty,” Richard Hykes said, who has lived at the Stonewall Manor Condominiums in Henrico for 20 years. Read the article…………
In Chesterfield, a decaying golf course troubles a neighborhood
Ronnie Kelley’s golf course is crumbling around him. The electricity has been shut off at River’s Bend Golf Club in Chester for weeks. As a result, Kelley, the owner, has been unable to pump water through the course’s irrigation system, and the putting greens have turned brown and started cracking and curling. Read the article…………
New Laws for Virginia Community Associations Effective July 1, 2015
The Virginia General Assembly and the Governor have agreed on several changes to the Condominium Act and the Property Owners Association Act (POAA). As a member of the CAI Virginia Legislative Action Committee I want to let you know about these changes of which you should be aware: Read the article………..
Petersen’s Homeowners Bill of Rights passes General Assembly
Sen. Chap Petersen’s Homeowners Bill of Rights passed the House of Delegates unanimously today, the bill now moves to the Governor’s desk. Read more……….
Homeowners Bill of Rights legislation unanimously passes Virginia house
Legislation protecting property owners from overzealous homeowners associations passed the Virginia House of Delegates unanimously Thursday, action that sends it to Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s (D) desk for approval. Read more……..
Sen. Chap Petersen’s (VA) Homeowners’ Bill of Rights passes Senate
Sen. Chap Petersen’s Homeowners’ Bill of Rights is one step closer to becoming law. Today the bill passed the Senate unanimously. The bill, SB 1008, codifies a series of protections for homeowners that live in a home owners’ association (HOA) or condominium associations. Read more……..
Suit to get second look (VA)
A Suffolk homeowners’ association has filed a motion to reconsider after a lawsuit it filed against the city was dismissed on Jan. 9. The Saddlebrook Estates Community Association does not believe Judge Carl Eason’s decision was in accordance with state law, attorney Barry Koch said. Read more……….
House Bill 1285 receives preliminary approval (VA)
The first full week of the 2015 General Assembly session is complete, the work of committees is underway, and we are seeing some measures reach the floor of the House of Delegates. I am pleased to report that my House Bill 1285 received unanimous preliminary approval from the House on Friday. This measure, which was […]
Fight over Virginia homeowner associations continues in 2015 session
As more and more Americans live in close neighborhood quarters, there’s a new sheriff in town — your local homeowner association. And there’s an ongoing battle in Virginia to determine just how much power that sheriff will be able to wield. Read more……….
Petersen’s Homeowners Bill of Rights to be heard in Senate (VA) committee Jan. 26
Senator Chap Petersen’s (D-Fairfax) bill to establish the Virginia Homeowners Bill of Rights (SB1008) will be heard in Senate General Laws Committee on Monday, January 26th. Read more………