City Cutting off my Water (HOA Broke)

The financial health of our nation must be getting worse. I live in a townhouse community with an HOA. I take my dog out for a walk each night and see more and more empty units each week. I swear, half of the units are empty. Either for sale, for rent, or simply abandoned. I have been paying my mortgage and my HOA dues as required every month. However, I have been receiving notices of discontinuation of certain services because the HOA has not been paying the bills. The blacktop/drive way and parking area is almost a dirt road now from disrepair. What is worst of all, I received a notice from the city that my water is going to be cut off in October because the HOA has not paid the bill. Not just the outside water, but my inside house water. What the heck am I going to do? The water comes off a main which leads to multiple units so I can’t just make arrangements with the city for my self. I am on the verge of walking away and saying the heck with it. I certainly can’t live here without water.

You will need to sue the HOA and get a court to order them to pay the bill. That does not help you in the short term, so I would file a complaint with your police department. Denial of service is a breach of contract.

I'm 99% sure that is illegal.

Find a lawyer around you that gives free advise, MANY do.

You can take care of this, start now so you can hopefully have it taken care of BEFORE they cut your water off!

reply to post by SailorinAZ


That sucks! Talk to the HOA and see what you can do, if you haven't already.

What does your initial contract state?

Good luck!

Yup, its supposed to be illegal.. they cannot turn off yuor heat or water. Thats how its supposed to be. They can evict yuo for not paying, yes, but they cannot turn off your necessitys so you dont die. Same thing used to apply to apartments..the owner of an apartment is responsable for maintenance. But, it sjsut seems over the past decae and a half, they let things slip, and get a simple fine or slap on the hand. NOt really fair at all, to the peolpe living thier, who aare paying through the roof rent, by todays standards. By law, rent is supposed to be affordable. Apparently that law was also neglected. Where i live, the cheapest rent i saw was $700 a month, in an attic room, NO smoking NO pets, and u must be squeeky clean, and MUST share bathroom and kitchen. Normal rates are about $1,000 and up a month, and thats just for a small room. Its all blamed on, the cost of living. Personally, i think its like price gouging and greed.

Thank god for ATS members that have knowledge in this matter, I was reading earlier and I didn't know what to say and i felt saddened by your situation. I wouldn't have known what to do in that case either.

I hope the suggestions from this thread help, good luck friend.

I'm sorry to hear that you're going through that seeing how it's not your fault. I would seek legal advice ASAP then follow through. Hearing about things like this makes me glad I live in the middle of nowhere at least, even if I have to deal with no TV and satellite internet.

If I were in your shoes I would not only file a lawsuit but make a public statement... something like buying a crapload of waterhoses and connecting them to a friend's supply or simply running it to nowhere, if possible. Call up the local news station and tell them you've had to do that just because the HOA defaulted on the contract. If you can't find a source to really supply it, tell the news you're looking for someone around you that can help.

It might sound silly but sometimes things like that get people on the roll, word gets out and your silly act turns into something good.

IF you have been paying yuor dues and bills, in this case, and thier gunna shut it off..that is murder then. Their was an old man a year or 2 ago, in chicago i think, they turned off his heat in january. he was a WWII vet to top it off. found him next morning, he died overnight from loss of body heat. All over money,...MURDER

This is why HOA organizations around the country must be disbanded. I can't even believe someone thought this to be a good idea. I won't live in HOA neighborhoods because of things like this. You are not the only one going through this. Las Vegas has been suffering from HOA neglect and theft for a while now too..You ever notice that no matter how many services are cut off that the HOA will still take the same amount in dues or higher? Reno has the same problem in many neighborhoods.

Screw the HOA. You could see what legal options you have. I'm willing to bet that taking your money and not doing what is required of them is a breach of contract

[edit on 14-9-2009 by projectvxn]

and its always the little guy who suffers........
maybe try this , its worked for me on more than one occasion.
take a sleeping bag down to city hall and move in.tell everyone
behind the counter what you are doing,and they should fix your problem
immediately.they won't want you hanging around,camping in cupboards.

go buy a few water filters and collect it yourself...it sucks but its the only thing I would be thinking about right now.
Clean water and lots of it.
Good luck man.
Screw whats legal...worry about yourself and try to just do it yourself.

[edit on 14-9-2009 by DrumsRfun]

I'm not familiar with the workings of HOA's, but I got a question. If the city owns the water and the pipes leading to your house and the city bills you (not the HOA) each month for water usage, then how in the world does the HOA's actions reflect upon you? Like many other have already said, that is illegal.

You may need to send a certified letter to the HOA stating why you will not be paying your dues until the problem is resolved. Otherwise, they will get you for arrears.

Keep copies of everything.

Local news channel as mentioned above is very good. Newspaper, too.
Expose the HOA board---name names.

You need to move on this. A lawsuit takes time and you will get kicked out by code enforcement before a lawsuit can ever go through.

If you don't have water and sewage, then you and your home becomes a "health hazard". And if you have children...well...social services could step in.

Sorry for the bad news. But I feel this is an agenda unto itself. Every way you turn they are trying to kick people out of their homes. I think this could be part of the plan to make people dependent on "certain organizations."

The inter-faith groups appear to be taking over the government social programs. This is not a good move. It is a Christian Dominionist move for Kingdom Now.

Yup I posted a thread about an apt complex where I use to live in FL that has had their water cut off because the owners havent paid the bill. Now the tenants are without water and have been for a couple weeks. It is ridiculous. You paid your part so why should you suffer because they cant put the money where its supposed to go.

Originally posted by projectvxn
This is why HOA organizations around the country must be disbanded. I can't even believe someone thought this to be a good idea. I won't live in HOA neighborhoods because of things like this. You are not the only one going through this. Las Vegas has been suffering from HOA neglect and theft for a while now too..You ever notice that no matter how many services are cut off that the HOA will still take the same amount in dues or higher? Reno has the same problem in many neighborhoods.

Screw the HOA. You could see what legal options you have. I'm willing to bet that taking your money and not doing what is required of them is a breach of contract

[edit on 14-9-2009 by projectvxn]

[edit on September 14th 2009 by greeneyedleo]

Find a friend who is a plumber and turn the water back on, or even do it yourself. You have the right to.
Dont let bullies ruin your day.

If you are accused of theft or some # like that, just ask them who the injured party is. They cant prove no claim against you.
Case closed

reply to post by greeneyedleo


I think that's just a matter of experience.
Nevada is full of HOA neighborhoods and many of them are authoritarian crap. It isn't just about a car being up on blocks, or communal trash pickup.

Wow there is so much in this thread that just blows my mind.

That is a messed up HOA. I have never heard of such a thing. I would move asap. I would not get into a situation where I was responsible for just putting $ into a pot to cover bills of any sort. Someone is going to say eh I'd rather not pay, then the others will say well if he's not paying then I shouldnt either, and then someone else will say no one should ever have to pay it should be free, THEN your left holding the bag. I would move personally. The rules were set to begin with, just because it didnt work out as planned does not mean they will change the rules. If you just really want to stay, then looks like you better pay the whole bill. Im sure people will get really bent out of shape if you don't. They want their water too you know. geez sarcasm of course

as for some of the others...Just because you need it to survive does not mean that it is entitled to you for free. HELLO

It does not just show up out of thin air. There are no fairies who bring it to your house while you sleep. People have these things called jobs where they work their arses off day in and day out so that you can have clean drinking water. They do this for something called a paycheck. When people pay their bills for the utilities and water used it goes toward those paychecks. Paychecks dont just appear out of thin air either. There has to be actual money involved. If no one pays their bills because they think it should be free then there will be no jobs because there will be no paychecks to give the people for working their arses off. Think of how many people would be unemployed. Then what? They would all have to rely on the government to live, but who is going to give the money to the government to give to them since the money does not in fact come from money fairies? AW CRAP!

There are NO money fairies. There are no water fairies. There are no oil, electric, or natural gas fairies either. Im sorry to break it to you.


[edit on 14-9-2009 by mrsdudara]

reply to post by SailorinAZ


I agree with Esthararik and others, SailorinAZ..... I think the local media should be alerted. It's shocking news as far as local news goes, and there's a good possibility of action getting fast-tracked with the public eye on the problem.

I would, in your shoes, think about getting a Big Berkey water filter. I live in the Caribbean, and with filters, delivered was about USD $300. It will filter out all the impurities you might pick up by recovering rainwater. I realize that doesn't put water into your system -- shower, toilet, sinks, refrigerator (ice maker) etc.

What if this is a beneficial kick-start for you? You mention that the place is looking less occupied. What if that makes it a good place to ride out the storm? (if the is a SHTF storm.) You would have to buy water for basic needs until it was restored, and you should keep receipts, as that represents water that you've already paid for via your dues to the strata company.

This is a good time to find out how easily your water can be disrupted, perhaps. Maybe better to find out while the situation is still workable. In the meantime, maybe consider buying some water-holding/catchment vessels. You can start small with 55-gallon plastic drums. I will help you, if you want. I can advise about how to treat, purify and process water. You could even shift into a DC-powered system, hooked up to your own water input that pressurized the whole home. Your home.

U2U me if I can help. I've been catching, filtering and using rainwater for 15 years.

All best, friend

edit to add -- whoops! 55 gallon drums!




[edit on 14/9/09 by argentus]