Dumpster

Here are some pictures of the dumpster area this morning December 1st, There is one large pile of garbage topped of with a couple of pizza boxes clearly marked as belonging to 745 Waterfall Way, apparently they had no problem just dropping their garbage on the ground and walking away. Kuester is supposed to fine anyone leaving garbage outside of the dumpsters a $100 fine.

If you have excess garbage or the dumpsters are full, you should either wait until they are emptied which is Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, or take your trash to the closest York County drop off site which is free to all residents. The two closest garbage collections centers are:

Bethel 3150 South Paraham Rd, south of Hwy 55 in Clover

Allison Creek

5725 Campbell Rd, at the intersection of Campbell Rd (County Rd 80) and SC 274

We realize with the Holidays the regular pick up schedule is going to be interrupted but again there are other options available. 

Annual Meeting Report!

So the annual meeting was held this past Wednesday night. Things went well Rita Barrett from Kuester hosted the meeting, there is a new landscaper starting January 1st they promise to take a little more care when working near siding, fences, pine needles and lave rocks. They also will be trimming branches on the river birches that are within 12 feet of the ground whenever needed.

The HOA attorney spoke about the current situation, basically BnA would not proceed with the purchase of the lots without declarant retaining control of the HOA. The Advisory Board reviewed plans for the new houses and had several issues of concern about how they would fit into the neighborhood, BnA was not taking any suggestions for changes and is proceeding the way they want, ignoring all feedback from the community.

There was some concern raised about the quality of the houses BnA is building, several homeowners feel the quality is well below that of the homes Mercedes built. It also appears although the new homes are still two stories with a garage based on the square footage they are quite smaller than the existing phase 2 homes.

Phase 2 residents are concerned about their lack of parking spaces and would like to use parking spaces in phase 1, or even have a parking area installed next to the pool at home owners expense, opposition was quick on these ideas, it was stated phase 1 does not want to be a parking lot for phase 2, and that phase 2 homeowners have two spaces with the extended driveways and have a 3rd space by utilizing their garages.

Phase 2 residents also would like a club house built somewhere, something they were promised by Mercedes when purchasing their homes.

Volunteers were asked to sign up to serve on a new board which is expected to be selected by the declarant in January, the declarant wants to have control in relation to selling the existing lots to BnA and completing the development, but does not want to be involved in the day to day operations of the HOA and intends to appoint a board and change the covenants to give them the authority to make those day by day decisions.

This is good and welcome news. It is estimated BnA will take just less than 2 years to complete the remaining lots as soon as the declarant sells the last lot to BnA than full control will transfer to the HOA board.

Also it was noted that BnA has their own contract with the declarant that requires them to complete the paving of the roads in Phase 2.

HOA Special Meeting Results

So the proposed changes did pass, to give the declarant now listed as Harpers Mill Community Developers, LLC which has been listed since the last change in 2007 although still ultimately the Buescher Family in Florida and their creditors full control until all lots are 100% complete.

BnA Homes is the builder but control of the HOA will stay with the developer. Several at the meeting did voice concern about BnA's involvement considering their track record this is understandable, once it became clear their was a lot of opposition to BnA, Rita Barrett from Kuester and Sandy Brink the President of our Advisory Board made claims that the BnA Homes that is going to build here is not the same BnA Homes associated with the Pasquinelli Family, or Portrait Homes in anyway, it was stated by them that the Pasquinelli Family is associated with BnA Management Company and not BnA Homes, someone has been seriously mis-informed.

Go to: http://www.bnahomes.com the official BnA Homes website scroll to the bottom of the page you will see it states copyright 2013 BnA Management, LLC so we know BnA Homes and BnA management are one in the same.

Also go to http://www.chicagorealestateforum.com/2011/04/13/well-known-chicago-home-builder-packs-it-up/  and read the last paragraph about the Portrait Homes Bankruptcy and you will clearly see that BnA has been around and is run by the Pasquinelli Family and the now defunct Portrait Homes.

It was also asked at the meeting by one homeowner about who would pay for the completion of the needed development, like paving the roads and finishing common areas in phase 2. There has been to date no money set aside by the developer and no claim of responsibility by them either, many homeowners are afraid those costs will be passed to them in the way of dues or even a special assessment, the costs of which could be over $500,000. The attorney for the developer seemed to say it was the county who would decide if paving the roads etc is required to be done by the developer or not. It appeared that Kuester seemed to think since the roads are private the county would have no say. Kuester is going to inquire and report to the homeowners at the annual meeting what they find out. One of our readers has also reached out to the county and we will update you when he receives a response.

This blog was mentioned at the meeting one homeowner stated they felt some of the information posted here was not accurate, the blog is here to inform homeowners and is written by homeowners, and has a stated goal to inform all homeowners so we can all be informed and be united to help make this neighborhood successful.

If you question any content or have concerns you can always leave a comment below any posting or you can privately email us at harpersmillblogger@gmail.com we accept all submissions, suggestions, tips etc.

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.

Harpers Mill Animal Regulations!

This is a reminder to all homeowners, we know there has been some controversy and confusion about certain breeds of dogs that are not allowed in Harpers Mill, so for clarification Section 11 of the CCR's states the following breed of dogs are not allowed to be kept at any residence in Harpers Mill, this includes: Pitbulls, American Staffordshire's, Terrier's, and Rottweilers.

All homeowners agreed to abide by these rules when they purchased their home, and if you are a renter it was the responsibility of the homeowner to make you aware of the rules of the community when you signed your rental agreement.

It was mentioned in the Community Newsletter published last week by Kuester Management, that they are in the process of investigating several complaints about dogs of the above breeds residing in the neighborhood.

Kuester is asking anyone who would like to register a complaint about these type of dogs living in the community to please email them as much information as possible about the animal to: support@kuester.com 

A link to the original document is here.

To aid in identification  and to provide more information specifically about the breed of dogs(banned  that are banned from Harpers Mill, we have provided the links below:

Information about Pitbull's can be found here

Information about American Staffordshire's can be found here

Information about Terrier's can  be found here

Information about Rottweiller's can be found here

HOA Inside our Homes?

A homeowner has just informed us that he has had a long standing dispute with the HOA, over some electrical work that was done at his home. The homeowner states he had an email from the York County building inspector that his home meet all building code requirements, and he paid for a licensed inspection of the specific items of concern to the HOA.

The homeowner was informed today that the Board of Directors is still not satisfied, they want a full inspection done inside his home, which he is adamantly against. He states they have no legal right to inspect anything on the inside of his home, leaving him no choice but to file suit against the HOA.

This is important because it will set a precedent allowing the HOA to enter the home of any homeowner to do an inspection if they want to. they told the homeowner they believe they have that right under the guise of safety.

Of coarse this means that our monthly HOA fees will go to an attorney to represent the HOA, in this matter, and if the homeowner wins he will ask the court to have the HOA pay all of his legal fees as well.

But the homeowner believes the fight is well worth it to stop the HOA from entering our homes at anytime, for any reason.

We will update you as soon as we hear more.

Is Your Personal Information Safe With Kuester?

Probably not, this morning a home owner in Harpers Mill received an email from a Legal Coordinator at Kuester Real Estate, attached was a letter between a Home Owner in (Mcyntire Home Association in Charlotte, NC)  and an attorney along with a detailed accounting of their HOA account.

The letter was a negation between the home owner an attorney and Kuester, to try to resolve a delinquent account.

The interesting thing is the home owner who received the information never had correspondence with the person at Kuester who accidentally emailed him the information.

This should be a warning. nothing today is private anymore.

HOA Annual Meeting Tonight!

So tonight is our annual meeting, homeowners will not be voting on any issues, proxy votes were for them to make quorum only. Homeowners will be expected to sit and listen and not to participate as it should be.

1) Lets see what Board of Directors are present as a reminder here is a list of the current Board.

Here is the main issue that is important for us the homeowners, Mercedes no longer exists but they still somehow control our HOA, not us the homeowners, why you may ask?

The family who owned Mercedes Homes wants to sell the unfinished lots to a new builder, if they can sell the lots WITH CONTROL OF THE HOA, they can ask a higher price. A new builder can than come in and change the governing documents, raise our rates and use the HOA for their gain as Mercedes did and Kuester continues to do.

So how does Kuester use the HOA for their gain? Here are some examples:

1) They keep 50% of all late fees collected

2) They charge new homeowners "Account Setup Fees" in the amount of $325.00 which is very high compared to other HOA's, and they keep 100% of this!

3) We pay them monthly management fees, also in the budget you will see money for office supplies and other misc fees, 100% of which go to Kuester, as the HOA itself does not have an office.

4) When we had an insurance claim for the hail damage last year, Kuester hired themselves as the project manager, paying themselves $40,000 of OUR money to themselves.

They continue to hire contractors they have relationships with and not by the lowest bidder or who is best for the neighborhood, an employee of Kuester actually tried to get her relatives business to do the gutter clean out, luckily the sub-contractor saw through that and insisted on hiring their own crew and not using the family members crew, but make no mistake this type of thing goes on all the time.

If you are at the meeting you should ask questions like:

1) Why do we have Board of Directors who no longer live here and no longer participate actively in the HOA?

2) Why is Mercedes Homes still in control of the HOA and not the homeowners?

3) Why are "non-members" which means non-homeowners are members of the board when the governing documents specifically require board members be members!

Understand neighborhood issues like the dues we pay, budget, and garbage collection will never be fully addressed or CHANGED until the HOA is transitioned from the control of the declarent (Mercedes Homes) to the homeowners. They have control and they are going to run things the way they want until they no longer have control so the single most important fact is why, when Mercedes Homes was dissolved did a transition to the homeowners did not occur. Make no mistake about it, it is illegal and they know it, they are taking advantage because homeowners are not informed, which is why this blog was created so you could be informed and voice those concerns to them at the meeting.

If we want lower HOA fees, a more responsive Board of Directors that we 100% choose than change has to happen, and we are going to have to fight for that, they do not want to give up control, because they are profiting from us.

We recommend you review the governing documents and budget, so you can be informed at tonights meeting!

Here are the current governing documents.

Here is the budget information.

As many homeownrs as possible should show up, there is strength in numbers, we have to let them know we understand what they are up to, and were not going to take it anymore, we want change, we want real change, and we want it NOW!

Kuester and HOA Settle Suit with Homeowner

As we reported here a homeowner had sued both Kuester Management Group and the Harpers Mill Townhome Owners Association over late fees, word has come in today, Kuester settled with the homeowner so the case is now closed.

Kuester Management Group - HOA Contract

Here is a copy of the management agreement our HOA has with Kuester Management Group. This is an older copy however we doubt things have changed very much, this is just for your review and we have included a few notes below:

1) We reported here, about Kuester charging account setup fees, we do not see this anywhere in the Covenants, ByLaws, or in the Management Contract.

2) Kuester gets to keep 50% of all late fees they charge and collect.

3) Kuester has an annual 5% increase in their management fees built in to the contract.

Account Setup Fees!

We know times are hard for everyone, housing sales are slow because people cannot afford to by a home with our uncertain economy. But those that do buy here in Harpers Mill will find out that they are required to pay our management company Kuester Management Group an account setup fee of $325.00, in addition to their first months assessment fee of $125.00

Now we checked and cannot find anything in our ByLaws or Covenants allowing for such a charge, and we believe that 100% of these fees are going to Kuester directly not the HOA.

We also cannot find anything about these fees in the management contract with Kuester. According to some sources we spoke with, some HOA's do charge an account setup fee, but usually it is less than half what Kuester is charging our new homeowners.

We would suspect anyone who has paid such a fee may be able to go to the magistrate court with our Covenants and ByLaws and show that there is no allowance for this fee to be charged, and might be able to recover any account setup fees and legal fees that they have paid.

Ineligible Board of Director! - "The Proof"

We originally reported here  that Board Member Julia Colleen Jones was not a Homeowner here in Harpers Mill and as such should be removed form the board and replaced with an open and fair election at our next annual meeting on December 4th, 2012.

Later a Homeowner called Kuester Management Group and inquired as to the status of Julia Jones, as we reported here, she was told by Kuester that Board of Directors were not required to be Homeowners, they did not dispute the fact that she is not a Homeowner,

WE NOW KNOW KUESTER IS WRONG:

As stated in the Harpers Mill Townhome Owners Association ByLaws Article IV Section 3:

""QUALIFICATIONS:   Directors shall be members of the association.""

To be a member you MUST be a Homeowner, our ByLaws are very clear and concise on this point. As Julia Colleen Jones is NOT a Homeowner she is also NOT a "Member" of the association, and therefore ineligible to hold a position of any kind on the Board of Directors.

The question now is will Kuester Management Group and the current Board of Directors step up and correct their mistake, by doing the right thing, or will they continue to do business as usual?

Blog Update!

We know from the stats we have many readers and followers, and thank you for that, this blog was built with the intention of keeping all homeowners informed of the current status of our HOA, and to not cause division withn the neighborhood, although some issues will cause some division, we are asking all homeowners to come together, to actively participate in the blog and the HOA as a whole to make it better for all of us.

We are open to any and all contributions, suggestions, news tips, critiques, and volunteers that want to make contributions on the blog.  You can email us at: Harpers Mill Blog eMail Address. We are not affiliated with Kuester Management Group, we are homeowners like you, your identity will be kept confidential.

We ask that all homeowners who read our blog give this address to your neighbors and get the word out, we need support for the up coming annual meeting. We need Homeowners to be fully informed before going to the meeting.

We do have some goals our goals are as follows:

1) Keep all Homeowners FULLY informed and educated about our neighborhood, and any related HOA activity.

2) To get Mercedes Homes removed from the board and the HOA turned over to the control of the Homeowners!

3) If we can accomplish Goal # 2 than we will ask for a special meeting to be called and open and fair elections held so all Homeowners can elect a new board made up of 100% Homeowners.

4) After accomplishing number 3 we will hope the new board will be bale to look into hiring a new management company, lowering our monthly HOA dues, and work on other HOA issues that you may need to be addressed.

We also believe that once we have full control, we would have a good lawsuit against the developer, who is owned by the Buescher family the same family that owned Mercedes Homes if they do not, come and finish paving the roads and making all repairs as required by law when the HOA is handed over to us the Homeowners. Understand with the current Board and Kuester at the helm this will never happen, considering it was Mercedes Homes that hired Kuester, and the Buescher Family of Melbourne Florida that are still hanging on to their Board spot even though they dissolved the corporation. The reality is Kuester Management Group and Mercedes Homes are the ones making decisions and running our current board.

Now you may ask, if they are out of business why are they hanging on to their Board position?

We believe they are doing this in an attempt to turn the HOA over to the new builder that they are in negations with to sell the remaining lots too. We are committed to not allowing this to happen, even if it comes to filling a lawsuit against the parties involved.

Let us be clear we are for a new builder to come in and finish building out the empty lots, but we are not interested in turning the HOA over to this new company so they can change the Covenants and By-Laws once again  to suit their needs and to raise our fees or create a special assessment to cover their Development costs that they would have to do, since Mercedes Homes and their development company did not finish.

In closing we are asking all homeowners to come together and to be fully informed about our HOA and their plans before the December 4th HOA meeting. Please tell your neighbors about this blog, email us any tips, news, reviews, or issues you would like to discuss your information will be kept confidential.

Than you,

Your Harpers Mill Blog Team!

Kuester Responds!

A homeowner called Kuester yesterday and asked who was Julia Jones, and how can she be on the board if she is not a homeowner here, their response was to say the By-Laws allow a non homeowner to serve on the board, the homeowner was not given any other information about her.

So we are currently undertaking a full legal review of both the Covenants and the By-Laws we will post what we find shortly, about this issue.

Kuester all responded to a Homeowner about whether or not they have anyone on the board: "No  Kuester nor any of it's affiliates sit on the Harpers Mill board." So that is good news.

FYI:

The Harpers Mill Townhome Owners Association is a non-ptofit Corporation in the State of South Carolina as such they are bound by Title 33 Chapter 31 of the South Carolina Code of Laws Here is a link for you: SC Code of Laws Title 33 Chapter 31.

Part of the above law requires that a member (ie: homeowner) be given the full name and address of any Board Member upon request. A "member" has requested this information for all current board members the HOA has 5 days to respond, the homeowner discussed this with both the SC Department of State and the SC Attorneys General's Office, both of which are responsible for enforcing this section before making their request.

So Who Are Our Board of Directors!

As per the Governing Documents of the Harpers Mill Townhome Owners Association, we are told hold elections every two years to elect a new Board of Directors. Homeowners are supposed to vote in fellow homeowners that they want to represent them, we all should know who our board is and hw to contact them, since that has not been the case we are going to help you out and publish who they are, we believe there are several who should not be on the board and that those who should not be, be removed and that Kuester Real Estate Management, and the current valid Board Members hold open and fair elections to fill the vacancies at our annual meeting this December 4th.

President: Sandra Brink 1522 Harpers Inlet Dr             s1sbrink@comporium.net

Vice President: Mercedes Homes - See Disturbing Fact #1 - Corporation Disolved, no longe rin existence

Treasurer: Dennis Kiplinger - See Disturbing Fact #4 - Lives in Alabama, house is for sale

Secretary: Dennis Kiplinger - See Disturbing Fact #4 - Lives in Alabama, house is for sale

Member At Large: Milton Becker - 1474 Harpers Inlet Dr

Member At Large: Julia Colleen Jones - See Disturbing Fact #3 - Not a homeowner

From what we can tell the only legal and proper current Board Members are Sandra Brink, Milton Becker and, Dennis Kiplinger. We believe all others should be removed and open and fair elections to replace them from the current homeowners should take place December 4th, 2012 at our next annual meeting.

Disturbing Fact #4

Dennis Kiplinger is listed as our Treasurer and Secretary, of the Board of Directors, now Dennis as a homeowner is eligible to hold such a position (or in this case 2 positions) and many homeowners knew him when he lived here and he cared about the neighborhood very much, and was very active in the community,none of that is in question.

However more than 6 months ago he moved to Alabama. and is renting out his house here, now he is holding two Board Positions and Treasurer and also as Secretary, a Secretary should be at all Board meetings to keep notes on each meeting. as a resident of Alabama he cannot carry out his duties, as he cannot attend the monthly board meetings, or the annual meeting for that matter, nor can homeowners contact him as they should be able to contact each and every Board member.

We ask Dennis Kiplinger to resign his positions on the Board of Directors and ask Kuester and the current Board to hold open and fair elections to elect current homeowners to the two positions that would be open.

UPDATE: It has been reported that a for Sale Sign has been posted on his property which he has been renting out while he lives in Alabama, I guess now we know the rumors of his return are not true.

See Below:

Disturbing Fact #3

As homeowners we have a RIGHT to know who OUR Board of Directors are, heck they are all supposed to be elected by their fellow Homeowners, as far as Harpers Mill this is not the case, as outlined in each and every Disturbing Fact we are posting today.

Listed as our member at Large is Julia Colleen Jones, no one I have talked to knows who she is, in fact a search of York County Tax Payer documents and GIS Property Records reveals she is not even a homeowner here, if she lives in our neighborhood she must be a renter.

So again we ask Kuester Real Estate Management and the Current Board of Directors to STOP their Illegal Activity, remove Julia Jones as a Member at Large of the HOA, and hold an open and fair election to elect an eligible homeowner to that position.

See the tax search results below:

Disturbing Fact #2

In the latest Harpers Mill newsletter Kuester Management Group is listing themselves as a member of the Board of Directors, we do not know if this was a mis-print or not, however if it is true they should immediately remove themselves, a management company is supposed to be impartial, they are there to carry out the wishes of the Board of Directors.

One of the biggest expenditures we have is paying for a management company, an HOA is supposed to be run by homeowners, who elect a Board of Directors to represent them, the Board makes all financial decisions, if the management company has elected themselves to the Board of Directors, it would be a Direct COnflict of Interest and more than likely illegal as well, as they are not a homeowner.

We call on Kuester Management Group to immediately clarify if they do hold a seat on our Board of Directors and if so to immediately resign that position, and hold an open and fair election to elect a homeowner to that position.

If Kuester does not respond and we know they read this, than we can only assume they do hold a position on the Board of Directors, or maybe they can clarify at the December HOA meeting.

The image below is taken from the latest HOA newsletter listing the current Board of Directors:

UPDATE: Kuester in their latest mailing no longer lists them as a Board of Director, so this may have just been a mis-understaning, lets hope so.......                                          

Disturbing Fact #1

Mercedes Homes is currently listed as the Vice President of the HOA, however Mercedes Homes does not exist, They should have been removed from the board and a homeowner should have been elected to replace them, when they dissolved the corporation.

We believe they are listed on the board in an effort to continue to control the HOA giving the Homeowners no say.

We demand the current board of directors, and Kuester Management Group stop their illegal activity and remove Mercedes Homes from the Board of Directors immediately and hold a open and fair election for a new Vice President.

See below website from the SC Secretary of State showing Mercedes Homes as a dissolved entity a of 3/18/2011