726 Waterfall Way

Yes we all feel deeply bad for this family that suffered a fire last week. This was a rental unfortunately the owner has no homeowners insurance to rebuild and likewise the tenants had no renters insurance to replace their valuables that were lost.

Today 10/23 they have been there cleaning up and salvaging what they can and dumping what they can't salvage on the ground around the dumpsters. This is clearly marked that they cannot do this. When asked nicely by another homeowner to remove the garbage they dumped on the ground including a mattress and chair they became irate, they claim they have permission from the HOA to do this. We checked and were told they called Kuester and asked for permission to leave their unneeded furniture outside the dumpster and were told no. A few miles down the road is a County drop off site where they could easily take all this unwanted stuff and drop it off with no problem.

This case we fell is egregious they called for permission and were told no, they moved all these items during a weekday when the county site was open, they had vehicles large enough to carry these items to the county site, and than were asked to correct this, but instead of being good neighbors got ugly about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR_ndtcHbvw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m2RieO2JTs

And in case you missed it here is a link to the Lake Wylie Pilot article about the fire.

We know the fire was started by a female cooking on a grill to close to the house

After a search of York County Court Records reveals the female living at 726 Waterfall Way Christie Filomena Johnson has several pending criminal charges against her all filed earlier this month including LITTERING, Driving with a suspended license, her license is suspended due to a DUI,  and she also has a pending charge of Criminal Domestic Violence. 

In the last 3 years she has been charged with 3 separate DUI's a Disorderly Conduct, and habitual traffic offender. 

This leads to some interesting questions 1) Was alcohol abuse possibly a contributing factor to the fire. and 2) Was Ms. Johnson even legally allowed to be at the residence of the time of the fire. Normally when you are arrested for Criminal Domestic Violence upon arrest the court issues a restraining order to ban you from returning to your residence with the victim in the case, and from being around the victim or having contact with them in any way. Was Ms. Johnson violating this court order at the time of the fire? 

Dumpster Area

1) Last week a couch was dumped along with a dresser draws, both were infested with bed bugs, they were left in front of one of the dumpsters, which meant Waste Management could not empty the dumpster.

2) A witness came forward this morning and reported the homeowner at 2066 Shady Pond Dr was the culprit. 

3) Another homeowner notified the Sheriffs Department about people leaving trash outside of the dumpsters, they would increase patrols of the neighborhood, and ticket anyone leaving trash on the ground.  

For those that do not know the dumpster is for PHASE 1 homeowners only PHASE 2 homeowners are not allowed to use the dumpster as the HOA pays for private trash pickup for PHASE 2 residents.

Here is the law in SC, which includes leaving garbage on the ground outside of a dumpster, and even includes blocking the dumpster from being accessed just like the couch.

But the highlights are:

leaving trash on the ground of less than 15 pounds is a misdemeanor punishable by a $200 fine plus court costs, 5 hours minimum of litter gathering labor, and up to 30 days in jail.

leaving a couch or any other garbage totaling more than 15 pounds is punishable of up to a 90 days in jail. 

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                                                 SC Littering Laws

SECTION 16-11-700. Dumping litter on private or public property prohibited; exceptions; responsibility for removal; penalties.

(A) No person may dump, throw, drop, deposit, discard, or otherwise dispose of litter or other solid waste as defined by Section 44-96-40(46) upon any public or private property or waters in the State whether from a vehicle or otherwise, including, but not limited to, a public highway, public park, beach, campground, forest land, recreational area, trailer park, highway, road, street, or alley except:

(1) when the property is designated by the State for the disposal of litter and other solid waste and the person is authorized to use the property for that purpose;

(2) into a litter receptacle in a manner that the litter is prevented from being carried away or deposited by the elements upon a part of the private or public property or waters.

(B) Responsibility for the removal of litter from property or receptacles is upon the person convicted under this section of littering the property or receptacles. However, if there is no conviction, the responsibility is upon the owner of the property or upon the owner of the property where the receptacle is located.

(C)(1) A person who violates the provisions of this section in an amount less than fifteen pounds in weight or twenty-seven cubic feet in volume is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than two hundred dollars nor more than three hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days for each offense. In addition to a fine and for each offense under the provisions of this item, the court shall also impose a minimum of five hours of litter-gathering labor or other form of public service as the court may order because of physical or other incapacities, and which is under the supervision of the court. One hundred dollars of the fine imposed by this item must be deposited in the state's general fund and used by the Office of the Governor to fund a litter control campaign.

(2) The fine for a deposit of a collection of litter or garbage in an area or facility not intended for public deposit of litter or garbage is one thousand dollars. The provisions of this item apply to a deposit of litter or garbage, as defined in Section 44-67-30(4), in an area or facility not intended for public deposit of litter or garbage, but this does not prohibit a private property owner from depositing litter or garbage as a property enhancement if the depositing does not violate applicable local or state health and safety regulations. In addition to a fine and for each offense under the provisions of this item the court shall also impose a minimum of five hours of litter-gathering labor or other form of public service as the court may order because of physical or other incapacities, and which is under the supervision of the court. Eight hundred dollars of the fine imposed by this item must be deposited in the states general fund and used by the Office of the Governor to fund a litter control campaign.

(3) The court, in lieu of payment of the monetary fine imposed for a violation of this section, may direct the substitution of additional litter-gathering labor or other form of public service as it may order because of physical or other incapacities, under the supervision of the court, not to exceed one hour for each five dollars of fine imposed.

(4) For a second and subsequent convictions under the provisions of items (1) or (2) of this subsection, a minimum of twenty hours of community service must be imposed in addition to a fine.

(5) In addition to any other punishment authorized by this section, in the discretion of the court in which conviction is obtained, the person may be directed by the judge to pick up and remove from any public place or any private property, with prior permission of the legal owner upon which it is established by competent evidence that the person has deposited litter, all litter deposited on the place or property by anyone before the date of execution of sentence.

(6) Magistrates and municipal courts have jurisdiction to try violations of subsections (A), (B), (C), and (D) of this section.

(D) Any person who violates the provisions of this section in an amount exceeding fifteen pounds in weight or twenty-seven cubic feet in volume, but not exceeding five hundred pounds or one hundred cubic feet, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than two hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than ninety days. In addition, the court shall require the violator to pick up litter or perform other community service commensurate with the offense committed.

(E)(1) Any person who violates the provisions of this section in an amount exceeding five hundred pounds in weight or one hundred cubic feet in volume is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. In addition, the court may order the violator to:

(a) remove or render harmless the litter that he dumped in violation of this subsection;

(b) repair or restore property damaged by, or pay damages for damage arising out of, his dumping litter in violation of this subsection; or

(c) perform community public service relating to the removal of litter dumped in violation of this subsection or relating to the restoration of an area polluted by litter dumped in violation of this subsection.

(2) A court may enjoin a violation of this subsection.

(3) A motor vehicle, vessel, aircraft, container, crane, winch, or machine involved in the disposal of more than five hundred pounds in weight or more than one hundred cubic feet in volume of litter in violation of this subsection is declared contraband and is subject to seizure and summary forfeiture to the State.

(4) If a person sustains damages arising out of a violation of this subsection that is punishable as a felony, a court, in a civil action for such damages, shall order the person to pay the injured party threefold the actual damages or two hundred dollars, whichever amount is greater. In addition, the court shall order the person to pay the injured party's court costs and attorney's fees.

(5) No part of a fine imposed pursuant to this section may be suspended.

(6) [Repealed]

(F) For purposes of the offenses established by this section, litter includes cigarettes and cigarette filters.

SECTION 16-11-710. Acceptance of cash bond in lieu of immediate court appearance in litter control prosecutions.

When any person is charged with a violation of 16-11-700 or any county ordinance relating to litter control, any officer authorized to enforce such law or ordinance may accept a cash bond in lieu of requiring an immediate court appearance. Such bond shall not exceed the maximum fine provided for a conviction of the offense charged and may be forfeited to the court by the enforcement officer if the person charged fails to appear in court.

SECTION 16-11-720. Dumping trash in or along shoreline of Lake Greenwood; penalties.

It shall be unlawful for any person to dump, leave or throw any rubbish, trash, garbage, cans, bottles, containers, paper, oil, grease or other similar substances or dead animals into the waters or along the shoreline of Lake Greenwood.

(2) Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not more than thirty days.

Phase One Plumbing

A homeowner had a pipe burst last night, luckily he was able to get a Plummer right away, the pipe coming out of the hot water heater had a pin hole leak in it, enough to cause a leak all the way to the first floor damaging insulation and sheetrock. Two years ago a section of pipe a foot from this section on the other side of an elbow joint split in half causing significant damage to the same home.

This time however the Plummer had informed the homeowner that all of the pipe in is home is defective, yes defective there has been several law suits including at least one class action suit and there may be another one, basically if you have the terracotta colored DURA PEX pipe and connectors in your phase one home you have the defective pipe.

After doing a lot of research on the internet it seems to be a lot of people in the Charlotte area that have the most problems with this pipe, it is susceptible to getting pin hole leaks, cracking in half, and the connectors are known to completely fail.

The experts say its not a matter of if it will fail but when, most failures seem, to happen on the hot water side coming out of the hot water heater first but can occur anywhere in the line. The only real fix is to completely replace all of the pipes in your entire home.

Many homeowners have had this problem in our community before some have had 3 or 4 leaks like this, but we are only now learning that the pipe is considered completely defective.

My first suggestion is get a plumber to replace the first several feet of the old pipe coming out of the hot water heater as this has been the most common first point of failure, this should be relatively inexpensive, and could save you from a big headache later on.

Here are some links discussing this issue further:

http://audetlaw.com/investigations/nibco-pex-products-breach-warranty-investigation/

http://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/why-would-nibco-cpi-durapex-pex-split-lengthwise-and-leak.21075/

http://gotaclassaction.com/nibco-inc-named-in-class-action-lawsuit-over-cross-linked-polyethylene-plumbing-tubes/

http://www.nachi.org/forum/f54/dura-cross-linked-polyethylene-nibco-problems-38109/

Spring Time Reminders

This is just a reminder, now that spring is here were doing spring cleaning and going outdoors more, there has been an increase of people leaving garbage outside the dumpsters, it is a $100 fine if you leave garbage outside the dumpsters, if you have something to big to fit you are responsible to bring it to the York County Garbage Collection and Recycling drop off center which is free to all residents.

York County Solid Waste Management

Collection Center Locations

Also remember the dumpsters are for phase 1 home owners only.

Also there has been an increase of people with dogs off their leash and homeowners not picking up after their dogs.

Remember not picking up after your dog and a dog not being leashed is both a violation of HOA rules and York County Ordinances and both actions are subject to a $470.00 fine and or 30 days in jail.

We can all help each other and kindly remind new homeowners and tenants about these rules.

A CALL TO ACTION!

Looks like we got rid of one bad builder just to be replaced by another one. BnA Homes, LLC wants to hijack our HOA, here is the scoop and what you can do about it:

They have sent homeowners a letter stating our HOA cannot function properly unless we vote on their proposal, this is simply not true, legally we should have a board made up of homeowners who control our HOA, the declarant was Mercedes Homes, Inc.,. which was dissolved back in 2011 legally at that point the HOA should have called a meeting and elected homeowners to the board to replace the declarant, but this did not happen the Buescher Family of Melbourne Florida, who owned Mercedes Homes kept control using Kuester Real Estate Management as their pawn, since they not us the homeowners hired Kuester in the first place, it did not matter that Mercedes Homes was a family owned business, because the declarant was Mercedes Homes, Inc a corporation that cease to exist when they filed bankruptcy and deregistered with the South Carolina Secretary of State.

The remaining unsold lots remained under the control of another Buescher family business named "Harpers Mill Community Developers, LLC" they have sold these lots to BnA Homes of Chicago Illinois.

Fast forward to today, BnA Homes hired a local attorney which is who is holding this vote next week they have not been very forthcoming with our current advisory board our insiders have told us, in fact they have pretty much pushed them aside stating that they just don't need or want their input at this time.

What the change in the covenants is for is so that control of OUR HOA can be transferred from Mercedes Homes to BnA Homes, and that they KEEP CONTROL until every last house is built and sold, meaning if anything happens to BnA Homes, like they go bankrupt and do not finish the last house they would still retain control of the HOA.

This is all about MONEY Harpers Mill Community Developers, LLC aka the Buescher family can get more money for their unfinished lots by also turning over our HOA to the new builder, we also suspect Kuester which also owns a real estate business is in on the sale and making a percentage.

This change gives our new builder complete control of the HOA, including how much we pay every month in dues, violations, and community rules as examples.

I do not think there would be a large opposition to this at this point if their request was somewhat reasonable like retaining control until 85% with a drop dead date which is normal in a situation like this. To remind those that do not know we had a drop dead date back in 2007, the first homeowners moved in to Harpers Mill in 2003. when 2007 came Mercedes changed the covenants and removed the drop dead date, but no BnA Home, LLC wants control until 100% of the neighborhood is down and has no drop dead date.

At this point our concern is BnA Homes has now come in, has shunned our advisory board and is requesting control until they decide the neighborhood is 100% complete, they have not reached out to any homeowners to introduce them selves or tell us their plans, it has all been kept secret between them and our good friends at Kuester Real Estate, this is un-acceptable.

HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO:

There has been some talk that the vote does not matter, do not buy into this talk, if it truly did not matter they would not have a vote, however more than likely if just a few home owners vote yes it will probably give them enough votes to move forward, the only way to counter this, is for EVERY HOME OWNER TO VOTE ABSOLUELTY NO! either in person or by proxy!

VOTE NO ON OCTOBER 31st, 2013 at the office of Palmetto Law Associates, 1171 Market Street, Suite 2014 Fort Mill, SC 29708 or by proxy.

Breaking News: New Builder; BnA Homes

From Kuester: You will note the new builder signage at the entrance to the 2nd phase.  BnA Homes is currently under contract to purchase some or all of the lots from the Declarant.  It is our understandings the homes will closely miror our existing homes.  We will continue to bring you more information as this matter develops.

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Keep in mind any new builder who buys the unfinished lots from Mercedes Homes, will also take control of the HOA and our finances, we don't have an opinion yet of BnA Homes, but we hope for the best, but we need to keep up with what they are doing and how they are doing it, to ensure we do not get taken advantage of.

BnA homes appears to be a small company based out of Chicago, which fairly recently opened an office in Charlotte. A Google search reveals very little about them, although it does not appear they are a licensed business in SC at this time, we will investifgate further and keep you posted.

Phase 1 Tree Trimming

UPDATE: Tree Triming was delayed by one day, and should start tomorrow July 17th.

A-1 Tree Stump Grinding will begin trimming all of the trees in the 1st Phase on Tuesday July 16th, they will begin on Harpers Inlet, Waterfall Way and finish on Shady Pond.   You don't have to be home for this service but we ask that if you are home and note that they are working in your area that you temporarily move your vehicle from the work area.  They will knock on doors to alert owners as well.

If you have any questions please contact Kuester Mgmt. at support@kuester.com or by calling (803) 802-0004

Arrest Made in Harpers Mill

According to a York County Sheriff's Department report a 19 y/o female who was visiting Harpers Mill, met a 17 y/o black male who is stayimg with a relative on Water Fall Way for the summer, the female asked the teen boy if he knew where she could buy some marijuana, he told her to wait by the pool for him. A few minutes later he returned to her and said it was ok to come with him, he brought her to 1446 Harpers Inlet Dr while at the home she purchased marijuana from a white male at this residence.

After buying the marijuana she stayed at the residence and used the drugs with several subjects. One of which was a 16 year old male whom she and the others at the home pressured into trying the marijuana with them.

Later that evening the parent of the 16 y/o contacted the Sheriff's Department about the incident. The female was arrested and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, she is currently being held at the Moss Justice Center, the court denied her bond on the charge, she faces 3 years in prison and up to a $3, 000 fine, her next court date is in October.

The Sheriff's Department has an ongoing investigation into the matter and also into drug activity in the neighborhood.

If you see anything suspicous report it to the YCSO by calling 803-628-3059 and press 1 at the prompt.

Dog Poop Wars!

A homeowner on Shady Pond Dr WHO DOES NOT OWN A DOG, came out this afternoon to find a bag of dog poop on her car windshield, now first I will say if someone tried that on me, they better hope I do not catch them, that is an act of aggression and will be defended, cameras are on and recording and charges would be filed, in the mean time, if anyone knows who or even why this was done to this homeowner, please feel free to leave an anonymous comment below, or email us at harpersmillblogger@gmail.com we would like to catch the perpetrator and ensure this does not happen again.

All Dog owners be put on notice it is a $25.00 fine from the HOA for not picking up after your dogs, it is also a $470.00 fine from animal control or the sheriffs department and a court date for not picking up after your dog, or not having it on a leash, this incident will have everyone watching closely who is walking dogs and what they are doing. Leaving dog poop on someone else's property is an act of harassment, and you can be charged with a misdemeanor punishable up to 30 days in jail or a $1000 fine or both, you would probably also fine yourself slapped with a restraining order which if you violate it than becomes a felony.

Good Luck!

Homeowner Files Lawsuit Against HOA + Kuester

This morning a lawsuit seeking $195.00 was filed against the HOA, and Kuester Real Estate in York County Magistrate Court.

The homeowner, sent a payment for HOA fees about 6 months ago the payment was sent and received by Kuester on time, however Kuester changed the homeowners account number and sent the payment back, when the homeowner asked when did you change my account number, he was told 2 years ago, yet they accepted his payment every month for 2 years with the old account number without ever notifying him of the change. The homeowner resent the payment they sent back, but now it was a few days past the 15th so they charged him a $15.00 late fee.

The homeowner asked why did you charge me a late fee, and their answer was we never received your payment, when in fact they received it and than sent it back, he was than told because he had not had any other late fees in over a year, that this fee would be waived as a one time courtesy. The Homeowner was upset about it being a one time courtesy because he felt it was their fault not his they had the payment before the 15th, and they choose to send it back, and still never contacted him, but they were going to credit it back so no big deal.

Two months later he still saw the late fee on his account and called and again was told as a courtesy it would be credited back, and again two months later it was not, he called again and was told again the same thing it would be credited back as a courtesy. Eventually he emailed them and than was told it would not be credited back, unless he could prove his claim, the problem with that was he gave them all the bank information including payment confirmation numbers and everything showing the payment was sent on time, received by them and than sent back to him, because of the account number on his first phone call to them about the problem.

At this point the homeowner decided to file the civil suit, under South Carolina law if he prevails he is entitled to the original amount in question $15.00 which he did pay to the HOA, and legal fees, making the new amount of $195.00. We will update you as soon as we get any updates on the case.

The Mentality

I just do not understand how anyone could think it is ok to dump their couch on the side of the road. This is what someone did yesturday. A couch was left on the side of the road yes in front of the dumpster area, they were close but not close enough.

Large items like this are to be taken by the homeowner to the York County Covienance Center.

We encourage anyone that sees a home owner or anyone for that matter leaving their garbage on the side of the road to call the York County Sheriff's Department at 803-329-1110 leaving unwanted items on the side of the road even in front of the dunpster area is illegal under state law and is an ARRESTABLE OFFENSE under the states illegal dumping laws.

Blog Update!

Well we just surpassed the 1 month mark of the blog, we also are about to hit 1000 Unique page views. We want people to know that this blog is here to keep homeowners up to date on the happenings in the neighborhood good or bad, we are not here to sugar coat things we tell it like it is.

We all pay HOA fees and we all have a vested interest in the prosperity of the neighborhood. We hope to spark some more participation from homeowners, the next annual meeting will be a big one for us, as it is the first where we the homeowners now control our own destiny.

We also hope by drawing attention to some of the problems and rule violations that it will make people think twice before they do something, keeping the dumpster neat and clean, picking up after the dogs, taking care of the common areas and generally abiding by the HOA Rules, local ordinances and state laws, this makes the neighborhood more enjoyable for everyone. But it takes a community effort and participation, and sometimes a willingness to help a neighbor who needs it.

We encourage everyone to particpate by commenting below, you can also email us with news tips and updates, comments, or feedback by clicking this link: Harpers Mill Blogger .

Police Blotter - July 1st & 2nd

At approx 9:30 pm on July 1st the York County Sheriff's Department responded to a call for a county ordinance violation - fireworks, in the area of Shady Pond Dr.

At approx. 1:30 am on July 2nd the York County Sheriff's Department responded to a disturbance in the area of Water Fall Way, they were advised of a female that was acting disorderly upon arrival the disturbance had moved to the pool area, where deputies made contact with the female and two males that were involved. The deputies gave the female a ride back to her residence in Clover.

2035 Shady Pond Dr & 2037 Shady Pond Dr

UPDATED: A couple who was renting 2035 Shady Pond Dr, was moving furniture yesterday July 1st, they moved out of 2035 and into 2037 Shady Pond Dr and they left several items in the dumpster area see below picture. As posted on the gate it is a $100 fine for leaving garbage in the dumpster area and not inside the dumpsters. This is because Waste Management only empties the dumpsters they do not pick up any trash left outside of the dumpsters, so now the HOA will have to pay a maintenance person to come and haul this garbage away to the County Connivence Center, or break it up and put it into the dumpster, costing all home owners extra and unnecessary fees.

Our suggestion is that Kuester Real Estate should send the owner the $100 fine right way so the owner can deduct it out of the tenants security deposit before it is returned to them.

If Kuester does not follow through on this than the cost of removing this furniture will have to come out of the HOA funds instead of the fine, and will just be another reason why our dues will never go down.

The sad part is this couple was driving a red pick up truck pulling a white trailer with "Arnold" bread logo on the back, another words they had plenty of room to load up the trailer and take all their excess garbage down to the county convenience center, instead of dumping their unwanted stuff on the rest of the home owners to have to deal with now.

The driver of the pickup truck was a cuban male about 6'4'' and the passenger was a white female about 5'2'' with short red hair. They both unloaded and dumped the items together in the dumpster area.

UPDATE 07/06/12: Kuester had Metrolina Maintenance come out and clean up all the times the couple left outside the dumpster. We believe the HOA was charged somewhere between $100 to $130 to clean up their mess but someone would need to get the exact number from Kuester. Also we do not know if the home owner was fined or not, but our guess is more than likely not. And home owners wonder why our monthly fees will never go down? this is why........

UPDATE 07/08/12: A source told us another home owner who saw them leaving the items offered to help them, properly dispose of their unwanted furniture, and their response was to simply walk away and drive off, they obviously just do not are about this neighborhood, but since they are renters we guess they feel they have nothing invested here, so why should they care?

Pool Chairs

For those who have been to the pool you surely have noticed that most of the pool chairs are broke in  some way. A home owner advised us that Kuester has ordered replacements that will be shipped to their office and than brought out here by their maintenance department. We should see the new chairs in the pool area in about 2 weeks from now so by about July 15th the new chairs should be out  at the pool ready for use.

Lots of Sore Feet at the Pool

Kids all around the neighborhood and even many adults are coming out of the pool with cuts on their feet many which are so bad they are bleeding. Apparently this has been very common this year according to a homeowner who knows about pools told us, over the years the chemicals in the pool eat away at the bottom causing the surface to become very rough, a procedure known as "polishing" the bottom of the pool can correct this, however the pool would need to be drained. In the meantime many pool goers are buying pool shoes and hoping that the HOA will drain the pool and fix it at the end of the season.

Playground?

We have had a few homeowners contact us asking why we do not have a playground and how can we get one?

So we did a little research and asked around about this issue, here is what we found out:

1) The current Board Members, who are all single with no kids living with them in the neighborhood are completely against any playground, their claim is that the insurance needed would be so high dues would be raised to over $150 a month.

2) Some homeowners in phase 1 were told when they bought their home from Mercedes Homes that a playground would be built, although Mercedes plans never included a playground.

3) Many homeowners do not want a playground, they feel it would attract more kids from neighboring communities like Forest Oaks, which would ultimately cause more problems overall for the neighborhood.

From what we can tell, many believe there is plenty of room for a playground maybe near the pool is one  location mentioned, we don't believe the insurance claim, we feel homeowners should request from the board 2 or 3 estimates from insurance companies showing the cost of adding a playground to the existing insurance policy.

This comes down to two sides parents with kids that would like a playground and homeowners without kids that don't want the added expense or potential problems that a playground may bring. Either way we believe the board should get the estimates for both the cost to build a playground and to insure it. and let homeowners decide in a vote, however we don't believe this will happen anytime soon, with the current regime in power.

Car Accident

A Homeowner on Shady Pond Dr, near the intersection of Harpers Inlet Dr in the area near the dumpster, woke up this morning to find their car was hit overnight by another car and damaged. The South Carolina Highway Patrol was here and asked several neighbors that were around if they saw anything, but no one had seen who did it.

If anyone knows or had seen anything please call the HOA and let them know or let the Homeowner know, we think she would really appreciate it, if she knew who hit and damaged her car.

UPDATE: The persons responsible contacted the homeowner and resolved the situation.

Forest Oaks Dog Walk Area

Well we just received an email from a home owner it is bad enough we have our own problems with residents not picking up after their dogs, this homeowner saw someone walking their dog next to his home and did not pick up after their dog, he asked the individual how old he was, and he stated he was 15, so he asked where he lived so he could talk to the parents about not picking up after the dog, the person replied that he lives in Forest Oaks, when asked why he was here, he said he was just here to walk his dog, he further stated that he has been walking his dog here in Harpers Mill for years. He was asked if he was here to visit a home owner he said "no I am not here to visit anyone, just here to walk my dog, I always walk my dog here", he said he does know people who live here, but he was not here to see them he was simply here to walk his dog.

The homeowner did call the Sheriff's Department who issued the person a warning, and directed the individual to leave the neighborhood.

It amazes us, we already knew Forest Oaks homeowners come here and illegally dump their garbage in our dumpsters, but we had no idea that Forest Oaks homeowners used Harpers Mill as their private dog walk.

Harpers Mill Forclosures

In the recent newsletter that was sent out, the HOA mentions that if you are having financial difficulties to let them know so they can work with you. Now sometimes filling a foreclosure is a necessary thing to do, however, we have heard that the HOA has filled foreclosure paperwork on homeowners just 3 months behind, and they would not work with the homeowner at all. What is worse is if you having problems after 3 months that would leave you with a balance of $375.00 plus late fees, but when they file the foreclosure paperwork almost never notifying the homeowner before hand you suddenly have at least another $800 in legal fees added to your burden.

There is a recent case where a long term homeowner who was one of the first to live here, has always taken care of their home and never caused any problems to their neighbors is being foreclosed on by the HOA, we wonder how much they tried to work with this homeowner. We know the person in question lives by them self and lost their job about 6 months ago, we also know by looking at the court records the homeowner is not being forclosed on by the bank only the HOA, indicating that the bank is working with them in their time of need, we have our doubts if the HOA is doing the same.

If you want to see foreclosure records for the community follow these simple instructions, these records are open to the public and available online

!) Goto: http://judicial.yorkcountygov.com/scjdpublicindex/

2) Don't change anything just click "Accept" towards the middle bottom of the page.

3) In the box labeled "Last/Business" Type "Harpers Mill"

4) Than you will see a listing of all cases filed since inception of the community, you will notice there are 7 pages of records, to go through, some by banks some only by the HOA. We count 32 Foreclosures that the HOA has filled as the Plaintiff, many of which show a status of cancelled which means the homeowner paid the past due amounts including all the inflated legal costs that were added to save their homes.

We hope this will bring some attention to this, and hope the HOA is really working with homeowners that are having difficult times and not just filling the paperwork and adding tons of legal fees on top of someone who is already struggling and would work with the HOA if the board was sincere in really helping our fellow homeowners out.