Applewood Townhomes Homeowner s Handbook 2015

Transcription

1 Applewood Townhomes Homeowner s Handbook 2015

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3 Welcome to Applewood! On behalf of all the members of Applewood, welcome to the neighborhood! We are proud of our community and look forward to getting to know you. To help you understand and appreciate our special neighborhood, the following Homeowner's Handbook has been prepared. It contains important information about Applewood, including the organization and management of our homeowners association, key protective covenants, and other items of interest and importance to you as a homeowner and member of the Applewood Townhomes Homeowners Association. Our common interest in Applewood is very simple: to preserve and enhance the value and appeal of our neighborhood for those who own townhomes here. We welcome your involvement in the homeowners association and appreciate your taking time to read and follow the covenants and guidelines in this handbook. Your comments and questions are always welcome. Contact information for the board of directors and the neighborhood manager are listed on the last page of this handbook. Sincerely, The Board of Directors Applewood Townhomes Homeowners Association, Inc.

4 The Homeowners Association All property owners within Applewood are members of the homeowners association. Each year, members of the association meet to elect members to a board of directors. The board meets quarterly or more often if needed to manage the affairs of the association. Homeowners are welcome to attend any meeting with advance notification to the board. In addition to the board, we all play an important role in Applewood community, many through work on one of our committees. These include the Architectural Review Committee, Landscape Committee and other committees that may be established from time to time. All members of the board and the committees serve as unpaid volunteers. The Townhouse Concept Our townhouses are designed to be uniform in their exterior appearance. This is the nature of a townhouse community and required by the covenants. To assure that this uniformity is maintained, the homeowners association is responsible for all exterior maintenance of landscaping, painting, roofs, rain gutters, fences and our private streets, walkways and drives. This is a big obligation for the association but a major advantage of living in a townhouse community. The cost of all of this maintenance is divided equally among all homeowners. Architectural Review Committee The Architectural Review Committee exists to help ensure consistent application of design criteria and requirements included in the CC&Rs and architectural guidelines. All proposed exterior changes to homes and landscaping must be reviewed and approved by the committee. Architectural Request and Approval Request forms may be found on the Applewood website at under the Homeowner Resources tab.

5 Landscape Committee The Landscape Committee oversees the common area landscaping which includes virtually all landscaped areas in the neighborhood. The committee also works with the Architectural Review Committee to help review proposed landscaping changes by homeowners. The committee serves as liaison with our landscape maintenance contractor to assure that the care of our common areas is done properly. Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions All properties and common areas within Applewood are guided by a set of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs). This legal document is provided to each homeowner during financial closing, and each homeowner is expected to abide by its conditions. If you do not have a copy of the CC&R s, please contact your title insurance company for a free copy. Homeowners Assessments Under authority in the CC&Rs, the homeowners association levies and collects quarterly assessments from each homeowner. The assessments cover costs including the maintenance of our townhomes and of common areas, signs, utilities, security, insurance, neighborhood communications and other operating expenses. Financial statements, which reflect the use of the assessments, are prepared regularly and are available to all homeowners upon request. Association Management Our homeowners association has engaged Association Management, Inc. or AMI to provide a range of services. These include assessment billing and collecting, helping with meetings, keeping our records, doing our financial bookkeeping and reporting, producing newsletters, managing contractors who serve our neighborhood and responding to homeowner concerns. While our elected board of directors is ready and willing to deal with issues, our first line of communication should be our management company. Call any time to AMI's one phone number, If you call after business hours you can leave a message or an emergency page and someone will respond immediately.

6 Parking and Storage Vehicles used for everyday transportation should be parked in the garage or on your driveway directly in front of your garage. Parking on our narrow streets is prohibited. Visitors should park in your driveway or in the guest parking area. The guest parking area is for guests only. Homeowners cannot use the guest parking area for any reason. Boats, campers, travel trailers, motor homes, snowmobiles, motorcycles, watercraft, tent trailers, and other recreational vehicles should be parked in the garage or at an off-site storage facility. It is permissible to park your RV in your driveway for up to 36 hours for cleaning, loading and unloading. It is permissible to have a utility trailer parked in your driveway while in use for hauling items such as furniture, recreational vehicles and landscape or construction materials. However, such trailers should be parked out of sight as soon as possible after use. The primary use for garages should be to park vehicles and the secondary uses should be for storage. Garage doors should remain closed when not in use. Back yard storage sheds are not allowed. Landscape Maintenance All common areas and the backyard lawns/grass are maintained by a landscape company contracted by the Applewood HOA. Any other gardens or landscaped areas in the backyards are the responsibility of the homeowner. Lawn areas are mowed each Friday. Be sure your back yard lawn is free of obstacles like chairs, tables, toys and pet litter so that the landscape workers can do their job. While they are very careful in their approach to maintaining your yard, if you notice any damage to your property by the lawn maintenance crew, please contact AMI to report it.

7 Renting Your Home If it becomes necessary to rent your home, please make sure your tenants have a copy of this handbook and the CC&Rs. Notify the board of directors of the names and phone numbers for your tenants so they can be properly welcomed to the neighborhood and receive newsletters and notices. Neighborhood Complaints Complaints about neighbors will be handled and addressed on an individual basis by the board of directors for our association. Complaints should be made in writing to the board of directors for record keeping and documentation. Anonymous complaints will not be considered and are not a valid way to register a complaint or concern. Here are some of the most common complaints by homeowners: Loudness and Music: Please keep radios and music devices low if used outside. Loud or boisterous outside activities should be avoided at all times in keeping with noise ordinances. You may report an out of hand situation, such as loud music after 10 pm to the Boise City Police non-emergency number. Pet Etiquette: Pets should be on leash and under control at all times when outside the confines of fenced areas of your yard. Cats should not be allowed to roam free at any time. Pet litter must be removed immediately by the pet owner. Barking and pet nuisances should be reported promptly to the police, not to the homeowners association or to the board of directors. Trash Receptacles: Put your trash receptacles in the street at curbside on the morning of trash pickup. Trash pickup day is on Thursday. Recycle pick up is every other week on the purple cycle. You may call Allied Waste for more information regarding recycling. To assure trash pickup, there should be at least three feet between the regular gray trashcan and the blue recycle can when both are set out. Both cans should be placed out of the way of driveways and mailboxes. Receptacles should be stored out of sight as soon as possible after trash pickup.

8 Covenant Enforcement Adopted by the Applewood Townhomes Homeowners Association (Valmore Townhomes) Board of Directors June 28, 2014 Background: Covenant enforcement is an essential part of association management and an implied if not directly stated requirement of covenants. However, unlike city and county ordinances or state law, covenants do not provide any direct enforcement authority. Ultimately, covenants can be enforced by action of law but lawsuits and other legal actions are expensive, time consuming and the judicial process is inherently unpredictable. The following four-step procedure is designed to move the covenant enforcement effort along swiftly while giving a homeowner ample time to respond and react. The essential objective of the process is to engage a homeowner. Ignoring the association when it initiates this procedure quickly becomes a financial and legal burden for an unresponsive homeowner. The costs associated with step four are added to the homeowner s assessment account, creating the opportunity to file a claim of lien and take other collection actions against the homeowner. These costs are initially paid by the association and billed to the homeowner s assessment account, then credited back to the association when collected from the homeowner via the assessment. Step One: A Covenant Reminder Notice is completed and a copy left on the doorstep or mailed to the owner of the home in question. The Neighborhood Manager enters the notice in the Covenant Enforcement Log and files a copy of the Notice for record keeping purposes. Step Two: If the apparent violation is not corrected and the homeowner has not contacted AMI within ten days, the Neighborhood Manager makes an attempt to contact the homeowner by phone, mail or in another attempt to resolve the matter. This copy is also filed for record keeping purposes. If contact cannot be made or if the homeowner is unresponsive, the matter is turned over to the AMI administrative office for follow up (Step 3). The Neighborhood Manager is required to follow the violation by continuing to stay informed and to list it on the Covenant Enforcement Log, but no further direct action is required of the Neighborhood Manager.

9 Step Three: A memo is sent by the AMI administrative office offering the homeowner two options for contacting AMI to resolve the matter. The memo advises the homeowner of the next step, Step 4, where the violation will be turned over to legal counsel. The memo will also advise the homeowner that the attorney s costs and fees will be billed to the homeowner. Step Four: If the homeowner does not respond within ten days to the Step 3 memo from AMI, the matter is turned over to legal counsel. Legal counsel mails a certified letter with return receipt requested and also sends the letter by regular mail. If legal counsel receives no response within ten days, legal counsel provides advice and a decision is made on how to proceed with the case. Legal costs will be billed to the homeowner s account. The homeowner is responsible for all legal fees involved. Association Services Explanation In accordance with the Applewood Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, the services provided for you include three basic services: Landscape Maintenance, Building Maintenance and Association Management. Bullets point out your part in the maintenance of your own property. Landscape Maintenance HOA - Grass or turf, including backyards is mowed, edged & fertilized. Trees and shrubs in the common areas are kept in good condition. HOA - Common area sprinklers are fully maintained. Backyard sprinkler maintenance is limited to sprinkler start up and winterization. Irrigation to the common areas is included in the dues. Owners have the flexibility to maintain their backyards as they wish, so long as the mowing crew has a clear passageway to bring the mowers through the yard and gate. (See Covenants, Article VI, Section 1) Make adjustments to the watering schedule and arrange for repairs as needed. Owners pay for watering their backyards.

10 Building Maintenance HOA - Roof covering is kept in good condition through regular repairs to damaged areas. HOA - Siding and stucco is maintained by the association including painting approximately every 10 years, or as needed. If association reserves do not cover the cost of this work, the association will levy an assessment. Owners are responsible for the roof sheathing, roof joists and structures within the attic. Damage to the building done by an external source such as misdirected sprinklers or other situations that are due to owner neglect are NOT covered by the association. Association Management HOA - Accounting, collections and covenant enforcement are handled through the association management company. The board of directors gives direction to the Neighborhood Manager through regular meetings and weekly correspondence. He/She oversees the overall business operations for Applewood. This includes coordinating with Applewood s maintenance contractors. Owners are to contact the management company with any concerns regarding neighborhood issues, exterior building maintenance, landscape issues or account issues. Insurance on the common areas is covered by the quarterly assessment. Owners must arrange for their own insurance and annually provide proof of insurance to the association management company as a safeguard that all are covered. Capital Expenses such as painting and repair of our private roads are currently NOT included in the budget. When expenses exceed the regular operating expenses, a special assessment becomes necessary. Usually, large businesses create a fund called a capital reserve in which money is retained in advance for expensive repair and replacement projects. With 42 owners paying into quarterly assessments, a substantial increase in those assessments would be needed to create a fund large enough to cover large scale repair and replacement projects.

11 Although the board has been in favor of establishing a large capital reserve fund, the majority of the homeowners have voted against it. Water Drainage Policy Approved July 25, 2013 Background As a homeowner in Applewood Townhomes, it is important that you are aware that the association has been faced with drainage problems on occasion. The source of much of the drainage problems is usually due to the settling of the foundations on the land of your property, but a variety of other factors also play a part in creating problems for our homeowners and the association. Statement of Purpose: To deal with these problems, the Board of Directors for Applewood Townhomes has adopted the following policy: 1. Because the crawlspace is located beneath the home, it is considered the homeowners property, and therefore is the homeowner s responsibility. The property around the foundation is the association s responsibility. If there is a water drainage problem in the homeowner s crawlspace caused by a problem outside the foundation, the problem becomes the shared responsibility of the homeowner and the association. 2. Applewood Homeowners are encouraged to have their crawlspace inspected at least once a year and to notify the homeowners association immediately if any water or water damage is found. This will help identify and solve problems early. 3. If there is water or water damage, it is the responsibility of the homeowner to hire a professional to assess the damage, determine the source of the problem, and provide suggestions in writing for alleviating the problem. 4. If the source of the problem is determined to be caused by something outside the foundation, the homeowner is responsible for submitting to the association a report and supporting documents addressing the following four questions: a. What is the source of the water or water damage? b. How can the problem be alleviated? c. What contractors could perform the work to alleviate the problem? d. What is the estimated cost of the repairs?

12 5. After receiving the report, the Board of Directors will review the report within a reasonable amount of time and if there are no questions, decide what work will be done and how the cost will be divided. Decisions will be made on a case by case basis. 6. The Board of Directors is the final authority in these matters. Disputes will be submitted to mediation or another form of dispute resolution agreeable to both the homeowner and the Board of Directors. Other Tips and Reminders Portable basketball hoops should be placed only on the side of driveways never on sidewalks, streets, in cul-de-sacs, or facing onto these areas. Permanent basketball hoops may not be installed. The association schedules neighborhood-wide garage sales occasionally. Members may have individual garage or yard sales provided they keep signs advertising the garage sale minimal. Damage to the irrigation or landscape from sign placement will be repaired at the expense of the homeowner who placed the sign. Items remaining after garage sale cannot be stored in front of garages, but may be set out one day for pick up. Back yard sheds are not allowed. The board of directors of Applewood Townhomes Homeowners Association has sole authority for interpretation of these guidelines and other information in this handbook. All decisions and interpretations of the board are final. Applewood assessments do not include blanket coverage. Because the buildings are attached, the board has asked Owners to provide proof of coverage every year.

13 Homeowner Reminders New Address, Phone or Change of Address call or AMI with your contact information. Yearly - call your homeowner insurance agent to request a certificate of coverage and send to your neighborhood manager. Yearly in spring turn on your sprinklers when the weather gets warm enough to water. Adjust watering schedule as the temperature increases. At least yearly look around home for potential problems such as a tree that rubs on the siding or fence or foundation problems. Yearly in May - the annual meeting notice and proxy is mailed in April with the meeting taking place in May. Plan to attend and discuss important community concerns. As needed submit an architectural review request for proposed improvements done on the outside of your home. Spring through Summer Maintain your backyard trees and plants and keep a clear pathway through your yard and gates. Keep guest parking for visitors only. Refrain from parking extra vehicles in guest spaces.

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15 Applewood Townhomes Homeowners Association, Inc. Architectural Review & Approval Request Form Please complete and either to fax to or mail this form to AMI, 1310 N. Main St., Meridian, ID Date Phone Phase Lot Block Request by Address Describe the nature of the changes or improvements for which you seek architectural review and approval. Please be as specific as possible. Proposed starting date for the project Ending date Is a building permit required for your project? yes no List the general contractor and major subcontractors who will be involved Identify the documents attached to this request plans specifications permit survey other Architectural Control Committee Section Progress inspection dates Individual responsible for inspections Decision on Request: Approved Not Approved Date of Approval or Non Approval Architectural Control Committee Members' Signatures

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17 Management Company Association Management, Inc. (AMI) 1310 N. Main Street Meridian, ID Front Desk ext 0 Fax: Web site: Urgent Calls: ext. 1 leave message Applewood HOA Neighborhood Manager - Tammy Rogers Phone: ext [email protected]