Homes may become vacant for a variety of reasons, some of which are relatively benign. A property that is for rent or sale can be vacant for a short time. If these properties are well maintained by responsible owners, they will not depress neighboring property values. In general, a vacant property becomes a problem when the property owner abandons the basic responsibilities of ownership.
Sun City residents Debbie and Don Smith have been living next to a house that has been vacant for five years.
Debbie said, “Issues we have had are rodents, grub worms, bird poop on the dryer vent side, mud wasps between our home, dead vegetation and siding damage causing openings in the foundation. The front tree on that property by street has roots that have gone under sidewalk and heading towards our lawn and house.”
The Smiths have incurred high expenses in rodent and pest control for their home over the past years.
Debbie said, “It’s not going to go away until someone takes responsibility for the pest control at that property next door.”
HUD recently has taken ownership of the home. The Smiths have gone to the association with photos and the board has been informed of their frustration. But they have not seen any results.
Jean Christie, another Sun city resident, said “Upon the death of our neighbor the family neglected the property and let it go into bankruptcy. We were concerned with the unsightly appearance of a vacant home in our neighborhood. I looked up the procedures required to have the Association take over the maintenance of the lawn. For everyone sake it is a drawn-out legal process taking many weeks and exchange of letters. By the time the Association would have been able to take of the maintenance of the lawn; it would have been more than unsightly. We were not willing to have the grass go untamed, so we had our landscaper mow the lawn for several weeks.”
First residential services website for Illinois states, “The board does the essential work of maintaining the integrity and value of a community by establishing HOA rules and regulations that protect a resident’s investment as a homeowner. These rules provide a standard structure for all residents to follow.”
Debbie Smith said, “It appears that the Association does not want to do their job when it comes to dealing with bankruptcy homes.”
Nancy and Peter Norton improved the aesthetics of the home, but also have run into problems. The Nortons moved into their new home in the community and decided to replace their concrete deck with a beautiful Trex Enhance Deck. They applied and received approval from the modifications and compliance committees here in Sun City on October 26, 2021. Once receiving approval, they hired the installers.
Peter said, “We have people just stop by and compliment us on our deck. We then received a notice on March 20, 2023, stating that, ‘In order to ensure community aesthetics, your community management has noted the following violation on your property.’ The problem was that the vertical railings between the post were black.”
Peter appealed to the board and lost by a vote of 7 to 0, and is mandated to remove those railings. Although the by-laws state that black is allowed for guard railings, it is not specified for deck railings.
Peter said, “Although everyone agreed that it was beautiful, they did not want to allow it. I was told that to change the by-laws it would take two-thirds of the community to add black as an option and they couldn’t even get that many to verify their birthdate.”
On the First Residential Website it states, “The first step to establishing rules is to err on the side of common sense and make sure that new regulations solve problems, not exacerbate them.”
First Residential website continues, “While it is essential to create new rules, it’s also prudent to revisit old rules and regulations to make sure that they still serve their intended purpose and still apply today. Your community is constantly growing and evolving, and part of the board’s responsibility is to make sure that the rules continue to evolve, too… It is best to revisit your rules and regulations annually to review that they are still relevant and not outdated. Board rules may be added to, amended, or repealed at any time by the board of directors.”
