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Services that sell to HOAs This is something I've been thinking about since my HOA sent me an email a month ago warning me that the sidewalk outside my propert

by ideals 6y ago

Services that sell to HOAs This is something I've been thinking about since my HOA sent me an email a month ago warning me that the sidewalk outside my property may be damaged and in need of repair because if someone tripped I'd be liable for this. Of course the email had a bunch of red and gold text. Luckily for me they already had a concrete cutting company come by and survey the area and provide estimates for each plot. My bill would be about $200 to fix the sidewalk. I looked outside and it was totally level and no edges exposed. In really small print at the bottom of the email was information telling me it was optional to do, but again I might be liable if anything happens. Today I saw this person outside doing the concrete repairs. It was a guy with a small trailer and grinding down the sidewalk with an angle grinder and a vacuum to suck up the dust. This basic concrete cutting job is pulling money in if he can go around and tell all the HOAs about the urgent need to fix sidewalks and HOAs pass that along to all the residents. How many people paid the $200 "to be on the safe side"? Now you repeat for all the other services you can think about for home maintenance and repair and contact HOAs with estimates they can pass along.

tmaly 6y ago
I would love to get rid of my HOA to be honest. We have a property management company that interfaces with them. I put in a change request back in early June. I am still waiting for approval. My neighbor mentioned something about bylaws and the requirement for HOAs is only 20 years. That is up in December. However, I have to confirm that.
brailsafe 6y ago
So, you wouldn't really be liable for this right?
- imtringued 6y ago
  It's not about liability. It's about scaring people into thinking something is broken when it's not. If your sidewalk is in good condition you're not going to see any accidents. Being liable for zero accidents isn't the same as not being liable at all.
gruez 6y ago
>because if someone tripped I'd be liable for this isn't the sidewalk the city's responsibility? Also, wouldn't your homeowner's insurance cover it? >In really small print at the bottom of the email was information telling me it was optional to do, but again I might be liable if anything happens. Honestly the arrangement seems rent-seeking(ish) to me. At the very least it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. They're not providing any real value, just scaring people into paying with an (arguably) misleading letter.
- paulcole 6y ago
  If you’re aware of a potentially dangerous problem, ignore it, and somebody gets hurt because of it, your homeowner’s insurance isn’t going to rush to cut a check.
  - gruez 6y ago
    But is that the case here? OP said it was looked flat.
    - llarsson 6y ago
      Sure. But then there was a letter from what in this case can be seen as an expert warning of potential danger. If that was intentionally ignored, would it be impossible to claim some level of negligence? Shady.
- kelnos 6y ago
  Insurance companies (in the US at least) will easily drop you over something like this, even if they do pay out first.
- pkaye 6y ago
  > isn't the sidewalk the city's responsibility? There are plenty of cities where the homeowner is responsible for maintenance of the sidewalk and street trees. My city will cover 50% for city trees replacements and root damage to sidewalks. I last year replaced two old trees and it cost me just under $1k after splitting with the city. To make it worse, the contractors raised the prices when the city started offering the 50% cost sharing.
rland 6y ago
So basically bilking people with overpriced and unnecessary (not to mention: loud) services by making vague legal threats? As a society, we should really spend more time and effort doing this.
texasbigdata 6y ago
Three of my friends are doing “HOA” non-tech plays. So there’s totally space.
rtx 6y ago
Here is a company from India https://mygate.com/ https://mygate.com/. They recently got $56 million in funding.
opportune 6y ago
You realize this is basically a shakedown, likely with either a kickback from the concrete cutter or nepotism? Seems kind of unethical
computerphage 6y ago
And you think this is a good idea?
ideals 6y ago
Since I made this comment yesterday I've thought it about it. lot more. I did some more research and discovered there is a franchise!! around sidewalk repairs exploiting ADA requirements from schools, govt buildings, etc type places that have to maintain compliance. So the comments referring to this being a shake down are pretty much on point. I mean it isn't much of a surprise. There's real value to what this service offers, people do want to fix mangled sidewalks, but the shakedown side of the business is where the money is at unfortunately (or not depending on your morals). Also I was off on the costs, in the email it said there were 2 spots affected and the estimate was $280!! It took the guy ~2 days to do the whole neighborhood, each section took maybe 15mins at what looked like a comfortable pace. So the $/hr is very high. food for thought

by ideals 6y ago

tmaly 6y ago

I would love to get rid of my HOA to be honest. We have a property management company that interfaces with them. I put in a change request back in early June. I am still waiting for approval. My neighbor mentioned something about bylaws and the requirement for HOAs is only 20 years. That is up in December. However, I have to confirm that.

brailsafe 6y ago

So, you wouldn't really be liable for this right?

imtringued 6y ago
It's not about liability. It's about scaring people into thinking something is broken when it's not. If your sidewalk is in good condition you're not going to see any accidents. Being liable for zero accidents isn't the same as not being liable at all.

gruez 6y ago

>because if someone tripped I'd be liable for this isn't the sidewalk the city's responsibility? Also, wouldn't your homeowner's insurance cover it? >In really small print at the bottom of the email was information telling me it was optional to do, but again I might be liable if anything happens. Honestly the arrangement seems rent-seeking(ish) to me. At the very least it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. They're not providing any real value, just scaring people into paying with an (arguably) misleading letter.

paulcole 6y ago
If you’re aware of a potentially dangerous problem, ignore it, and somebody gets hurt because of it, your homeowner’s insurance isn’t going to rush to cut a check.
- gruez 6y ago
  But is that the case here? OP said it was looked flat.
  - llarsson 6y ago
    Sure. But then there was a letter from what in this case can be seen as an expert warning of potential danger. If that was intentionally ignored, would it be impossible to claim some level of negligence? Shady.
kelnos 6y ago
Insurance companies (in the US at least) will easily drop you over something like this, even if they do pay out first.
pkaye 6y ago
> isn't the sidewalk the city's responsibility? There are plenty of cities where the homeowner is responsible for maintenance of the sidewalk and street trees. My city will cover 50% for city trees replacements and root damage to sidewalks. I last year replaced two old trees and it cost me just under $1k after splitting with the city. To make it worse, the contractors raised the prices when the city started offering the 50% cost sharing.

rland 6y ago

So basically bilking people with overpriced and unnecessary (not to mention: loud) services by making vague legal threats? As a society, we should really spend more time and effort doing this.

texasbigdata 6y ago

Three of my friends are doing “HOA” non-tech plays. So there’s totally space.

rtx 6y ago

Here is a company from India https://mygate.com/ https://mygate.com/. They recently got $56 million in funding.

opportune 6y ago

You realize this is basically a shakedown, likely with either a kickback from the concrete cutter or nepotism? Seems kind of unethical

computerphage 6y ago

And you think this is a good idea?

ideals 6y ago

Since I made this comment yesterday I've thought it about it. lot more. I did some more research and discovered there is a franchise!! around sidewalk repairs exploiting ADA requirements from schools, govt buildings, etc type places that have to maintain compliance. So the comments referring to this being a shake down are pretty much on point. I mean it isn't much of a surprise. There's real value to what this service offers, people do want to fix mangled sidewalks, but the shakedown side of the business is where the money is at unfortunately (or not depending on your morals). Also I was off on the costs, in the email it said there were 2 spots affected and the estimate was $280!! It took the guy ~2 days to do the whole neighborhood, each section took maybe 15mins at what looked like a comfortable pace. So the $/hr is very high. food for thought