Shadowmoss residents seek to oust HOA board
Low Country Source
by John Steinberger
24 August 2016
Most newer subdivisions are governed by Homeowners Associations (HOAs),
which hire management companies to maintain common areas and amenities.
The HOAs are represented by a board of directors elected among the
homeowners.
Shadowmoss Plantation in West Ashley is one of more than 40 lowcountry
subdivisions which sued management company Marshland Communities and
its owner Karen Colie in March for misappropriating funds. Several
months later, the Shadowmoss HOA board hired Community Management Group.
the lack of oversight and transparency within its elected HOA board
Some Shadowmoss residents became concerned with the lack of oversight
and transparency within its elected HOA board. The HOA rules require
all checks to be signed by the HOA president and treasurer, which was
not being done. Annual audits were not being conducted, as required.
There was also concern about a vacant lot purchased by the HOA at the
intersection of Muirfield Parkway and Shadowmoss Parkway and legal fees
vastly exceeding the amount budgeted.
Homeowner Rebecca O’Grady is part of a team walking door-to-door to
call for a special HOA board meeting to elect new officers to the
seven-member board. There are 647 homes in the HOA. Signatures from 162
homeowners are needed to hold a special HOA meeting, and 325 on-hand or
proxy votes are needed to remove current HOA board members and elect
new ones. Each household gets one vote. The Charleston County RMC
(Register of Deeds) office will have to certify the voters are valid
homeowners.
O’Grady says that many residents became concerned about management
problems in the neighborhood and attended the HOA annual meeting in
November, 2015. “Many of us had never met before (the HOA meeting) and
decided to do something positive,” she said. “We want a mandate to
improve the neighborhood.”
Lin Bennett, who is the Republican candidate for South Carolina House
of Representatives District 114, which includes West Ashley and part of
Dorchester County, is a longtime Shadowmoss resident who is fed up with
the confusing citation letters and property liens issued by Community
Management Group. She wants to pass legislation which prohibits HOA
management companies from issuing property liens on homeowners.
Steve Taylor, a 26-year Shadowmoss resident and past HOA President,
wants a competitive bidding process for landscaping and legal services.
He also wants to stop the practice of issuing citations and levying
fines for situations ranging from cracks in the driveway to installing
basketball hoops. “We’ve lost our focus here,” he says. “We have
serious problems with drainage and road maintenance that are not being
addressed.”
top
Shadowmoss homeowners vote to oust board;
suit threatened
The Post and Courier
Warren L. Wise
13 October 2016
Homeowners in Shadowmoss Plantation voted Wednesday to oust the current
board of directors, setting up what’s expected to be a protracted legal
tussle over control of the West Ashley neighborhood.
By a vote of 344 — the disgruntled homeowners needed 325 votes — the
disaffected homeowners decided to remove the current seven-member board
and install a new nine-member regime, according to Rebecca O’Grady, who
led the effort to change the board’s makeup.
The new board members include Kelly Gaskins, Mike Duck, Steve Taylor,
John Nelson, Lin Bennett, Lauren Cushing, Artemiy Zheltov, Curt Norman
and Ron McCullum. The association’s bylaws allow up to nine members.
“We are hoping for a peaceful transition,” O’Grady said.
That is not expected to happen.
original board threatened legal action
The original board, led by Aaron Richard, sent a letter to homeowners
in September that the vote would be illegal because the disenchanted
homeowners did not follow protocol and threatened legal action if it
went forward.
Homeowners grew concerned over the past several months when they said
the seven-member board bought a piece of property without their input,
didn’t perform an audit, levied liens and fines against property owners
and didn’t have proper checks and balances in place over spending.
The board homeowners voted to oust maintains everything was done legally and any undue fines levied have been repealed.
The homeowners association’s annual meeting is set for Nov. 9, when
dueling boards are set to oversee the gathering unless the court steps
in.
top
Competing Shadowmoss board countersues in HOA dispute
The Post and Courier
By Warren L. Wise
28 October 2016
The newly elected leadership of the Shadowmoss Plantation Homeowners
Association wants a judge to appoint an independent third party to
oversee the association until a legal dispute over dueling boards is
settled.
The nine residents who were elected at a special meeting Oct. 12 are
countersuing the seven members of the incumbent board, saying they
don't have authority to act on behalf of the homeowners in the West
Ashley neighborhood because they have been voted out of office and
replaced.
The incumbent panel maintains the voting results of the special meeting
are invalid because the new slate of candidates failed to follow policy.
the incumbent board filed a lawsuit after the election
The incumbent board filed a lawsuit after the election. It is seeking a
restraining order to prevent the upstart board slate from claiming
legitimacy and from attempting to run the upcoming Nov. 9 annual
meeting and other meetings.
The strife at Shadowmoss resulted from a series of grievances about HOA policies and how the neighborhood was being managed.
They include concerns over a lot the board purchased without notifying
the membership, the lack of a financial audit, liens and fines brought
against property owners and checks and balances over spending.
The original board said it addressed many of the concerns over several months.
It also said that an audit of the books had not been performed because
of an ongoing investigation of the HOA's previous property manager.
The new board wants a third party to conduct an audit and take over the
association's management to pay only those items authorized by the
association's covenants or by the court. It also wants the court to
disallow the payment of attorney fees or costs relating to legal fights
over control of the HOA by competing board members or HOA members.
The new board says association dues should pay only for maintenance and
"to promote the health, safety and welfare of the residents" in
Shadowmoss.
A hearing date has not been set.
top contents chapter previous
next