Residents of the Willoughby subdivision were invoiced in August for dues to a homeowners association that many did not know existed. The letter began the transfer of control of the Willoughby Property Owners Association (WPOA) from R.D. Wade Builder, Inc., to residents. Yet instead of pro-democracy plaudits, the shift has stoked resistance and even fears of criminal activity among residents.
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Residents of the Willoughby subdivision—located in southern Charlottesville off of Fifth Street SW, with some lots in Albemarle County—were recently asked to pay dues for a homeowners association that some did not know existed. |
The WPOA was formed when construction of Willoughby, located in the southern portion of Charlottesville off of Fifth Street SW, began in 1978. Wade Builder bought and developed about 150 lots and assumed control of the WPOA in 1985. Since then, Wade Builder owner Randy Wade and a local attorney constituted the association’s board of directors, which can levy dues and penalize property owners who violate association rules.
Instead of using the association, however, Wade Builder maintained and insured common areas, such as stormwater basins, and operated the board with its own funds at a cost of about $5,000 to $10,000 per year, according to Wade Builder’s Michael West. Elections were never held for new board members. Hence, the association was invisible to residents.
But Wade has left the construction business and wants to relinquish control of the WPOA. The current board members will resign and be replaced by two to nine Willoughby property owners elected at a meeting in March 2011. The invoice that shocked residents, West explained, was merely intended “to get funding for the new board members to have some resources going forward.” It also followed the dues established in 1978: $15 per quarter.
Yet the seeming emergence of a foreign power spooked some residents, who banded together online and in person. Jeff Maurer, who bought a house in Willoughby 10 years ago, found no reference to the WPOA in his deed and closing documents. If he had, he says, he might not have chosen Willoughby.
“There’s a lot of common property that needs to be maintained,” concedes Maurer, “and I’d be willing to chip in, but I don’t like the idea of a board being taken over by any two people and forcing their whims on us: what color I paint my house, if I hang wash out on a line.”
He and like-minded others grapple with their next steps. They have contemplated a legal fight to dissolve the WPOA, claiming that it violated its own by-laws about elections and term limits. Maurer even questions Wade’s motives. “Obviously, he didn’t keep control of the board from the goodness of his heart.”
West dislikes such allegations. “We gave a lot more than we got back,” he said. “We manage rental properties in Willoughby and want to make the transition as smooth as possible. Getting a neighborhood board in place will make what’s already a nice community better.”
If a legal challenge fails or proves too costly, resistant residents might hesitate to run for the board. Says Maurer, it would be nice to get elected and change the by-laws, but if they can’t, “I don’t want to legitimize it. But I myself don’t even know what I’m going to do.”
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