I debated about posting this today but I decided to just so that I can remind myself to never again serve on an HOA Board again. If anyone ever tries to talk me into serving on a Board again, I hope I go back and read this as a reminder of why I should not do it. I think I’ve paid my dues and served my time. When my current term is up in January, I’m done. Not to mention, this whole episode coupled with the current Montana political climate has just made me think the right decision for me is to embark on a new adventure somewhere else.
When I first moved to Bozeman almost 4 years ago, I expected to be here a while and enjoy my retirement. The country around here is beautiful and it is a great place for hiking, skiing, bicycling, and all kinds of outdoor activities. There are many great restaurants and bakeries. And, of course, there is the state’s largest university, Montana State University, which adds a whole interesting dimension to the area. Although real estate is certainly no longer affordable for many (the median price of house in Gallatin Valley increased 45% in the last year alone!), I moved here at the exact right time and have a nice house that sits on an acre of land. It all sounds idyllic so why in the world am I thinking about leaving?
I have toyed with moving overseas for a while, initially just because I thought it would be fun. As the political climate in this country continued to deteriorate under Trump and in the time since his defeat with the continued propagation of the ‘Big Lie’, enactment of voter suppression laws, etc., my desire to leave has continued to accelerate. Montana turned bright ‘red’ after the last election and shows no indication of changing any time soon. Unless something unforeseen happens, Montana will soon join the states that enact severely restrictive abortion laws, enact laws against trans-gender students, enact voter restriction laws to essentially prevent almost any Democrat from winning any more state wide elections, ensure continued reliance upon coal as an energy source, and enact more laws to allow the killing of wolves, grizzlies, and everything else that moves.
All of that is certainly weighing upon my mind as I consider what to do. But lately, I’ve come to realize the toll this last tenure as president of the HOA has taken on me. It has really made me want to leave this community. The bottom line is that I just no longer want to live here.
As I discussed in my last post, we (the HOA) are involved in a lawsuit with a resident who blatantly built a duplex on her property in clear violation of the HOA Covenants and the County regulations. As a result, we have incurred legal fees and are in the position where we need to raise the dues from $20/year (!!!) to $20/month. While that is a significant increase, we are still talking $20/month from people who live in homes worth $700,000 to $800, 000 or more.
At a community meeting we had this past week to vote on this increase, it was the best attended meeting in anyone’s recent memory. We have 75 homeowners and there were 64 at the meeting either in person or represented by proxy. The person being sued actively tried to rally support to defeat this fee increase. My personal belief is that she believed that if the HOA did not have the funds to continue the litigation, the HOA would give up and she would win by default. The fact is, the fee increase passed by a 2 to 1 margin. But the way this issue has polarized the community is extremely disheartening.
I know this whole thing is totally insignificant in the context of what the maniac Putin is doing in Ukraine, but it is just a micro-example of how one person, who is acting solely with self-interest can wreak havoc on a neighborhood or a world.
We have been at the lawsuit for a year and a half. We have been through legal discovery where we on the Board had to spend many, many hours responding to requests for relevant documents. We were involved in a series of depositions where three of us sat for hours of legal questioning under oath. We went through a court mandated mediation where four of us on the Board spent an entire day trying to hammer out a deal to end this and at the end of the day, we signed the terms of any agreement and the opposing party walked away. Frustrating to say the least.
We are now awaiting a decision from the judge where he will either make a ruling from the bench or set a date for trial. In either case, the opposing party has said that if they lose, they will appeal the decision to the Montana Supreme Court. All of this means, the road ahead will not be pretty no matter what happens. If the HOA loses, it will be open season in the community and more multi-family dwellings will begin to appear which will change the entire character of the neighborhood. If we prevail and the defendant appeals, this will drag on for at least another year or more.
Unfortunately, no matter what happens, I have just lost any desire to live here. My house probably won’t go on the market until next year but I’d say there is a very high probability that I will be leaving next year. Even though there are good people in this neighborhood, the toll this has taken on me just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. It’s time for a new adventure – assuming WWIII doesn’t start in the meantime.
In 6 weeks, I head for Portugal on my first exploratory trip. We’ll see what happens. I don’t know if I’ll end up in Portugal or somewhere else overseas, but I’m pretty sure I’ve lost all desire to live in this community in Bozeman. When I lived in LA after serving on an HOA board for 5 years, I swore I would never do it again. I wish to hell I would have stood by the statement.