Considering that Decatur is the last Township to experience accelerated growth, one would not expect to see the kinds of problems we do with Homeowner Associations. It makes one wonder what the bigger, County-wide situation is.

Homeowner Associations (HOA), for the purpose of this article, will refer to only those organizations with required membership whose purpose is primarily enforcement of the Covenants and Restrictions and maintenance of the Common Areas of that Subdivision.

Here in Decatur we have a number of neighborhoods created before developers began setting up HOA’s and certainly before the City of Indianapolis began requiring them.

The cluster option is one point in the Zoning Ordinance whereby perpetual maintenance of Common Areas must be provided for. “Provisions shall be made for continuous and adequate maintenance at a reasonable an non-discriminatory rate of charge.” Thus, HOA’s are set up, in part, to fulfill this requirement that allows the developer to cluster the lots.

But, who is looking to see that the HOA is set up to survive, if not thrive, after the developer has moved on?

Here’s a quick rundown of the actual situation here in Decatur Township. We have 6 Homeowner Associations still under the control of the developer. Of the 11 HOA’s that should now be the responsibility of the neighbors, only two have moved forward with little outside appearance of problems.

Of the remaining 9:

Leaders of one neighborhood managed to 

• resurrect their HOA years after it fell completely apart.

• Two were never set up by the developer. How the common areas are to be maintained, and even who owns those areas, are outstanding questions for these communities. One of these has just recently opened up a phase 2 that will only increase the import of not having any HOA in the phase 1 area.

• Two HOA’s collapsed nearly immediately after the developers’ departures, but no word as yet regarding the impact.

• One collapsed after trying to hold on for a couple of years and it has been having ongoing maintenance issues as a result. There are also issues of some homeowners paying dues while others scoff at the idea. Tempers have grown hot.

• Another was set up so very poorly, it appears that legally, the individual phases are independent, even though the developer treated the HOA as a unified entity and passed that practice on to the residents elected to run the HOA for the first few years. Significant issues have arisen regarding who is indeed responsible for plowing the streets, insurance, and common area maintenance. Questions regarding the legality of imposing dues and enforcement by the management firm hired by the officers (of a questionable Association) are bubbling to the surface.

• One has seen its common areas put on the auction block for failure to pay property taxes. The fate of and responsibility for such disposed property is a lingering question.

• And, last but not least, one HOA was apparently functioning well, but quick purchase by a resident kept the common area from being sold to others for back taxes and they are under the IRS gun for insufficient records.

No matter how you cut it, this is not good. The City has claimed in one case, that since the developer set up the HOA, that is all that was required and no further enforcement action is possible. Apparently no one is stepping up to either assist these groups formed under the aegis of the City, or to look into what structural components of an HOA add strength and durability to the organization once the residents are in charge.

I am hearing a burble of questions regarding requirements for filing taxes by these groups, coming from people around the County. Beyond that, not much. If you know of a Homeowners Association that is struggling with significant issues like the HOA’s in Decatur, or ones that have collapsed entirely, please send me an email (andrews@mcanaindy.org) or call me at 856-3341.

If Homeowners Associations are worth creating, they are surely worth saving. And if they are 
indeed worth creating, they are worth structuring so that they are durable and survive foreseeable obstacles. Or so it seems to me.