Posted 01/22/2003 
By DAVE LEVINTHAL
Article Courtesy of The Dallas Morning News 

ARLINGTON – Don Paolello's divorce and his son's college tuition had the computer systems manager financially reeling. 

About $350 in past dues to his neighborhood homeowners association didn't seem like much of a priority, particularly considering the deteriorating condition of the neighborhood's common areas. 

So when a Dallas-based management company hired by the homeowners association sent him collection letters, he ignored them. 

Until the firm put his house up for auction. 

A management company put Don Paolello's home in Arlington's Creekside Park up for auction over about $350 in past dues to his neighborhood homeowners association.

"It's almost like North Korea saying, 'Give us what we want or we'll build an A-bomb,' " said Mr. Paolello, who said that he tried in December to pay a portion of his outstanding dues but that the check was never cashed.  Select Management Co., hired by the Creekside Park Residential Association to administer the 221-house subdivision in southern Arlington, says it is merely following the association's directive to collect more than $34,000 in outstanding dues, penalties and legal fees.  The president of the company

"It's just that we have so many people out there who are back on their dues, we had to do something," company president Ted Smith said. "This all just sounds like a couple of disgruntled residents who are delinquent on their dues." 

Mr. Paolello ultimately paid nearly $1,500 in dues, fines and legal fees to avoid an auction of his house on Jan. 7. 

"I can't tell you the emotions that were running through me," said Mr. Paolello, who moved to Creekside Park in 1996. "I can't believe they have the right to do that." 

Seeking solution 

State law permits such a move. And disputes between homeowners and the growing number of neighborhood associations, formed to police community building standards and protect property values, appear to be on the rise across the Dallas-Fort Worth area and the state, experts say. 
In Creekside Park, Mr. Paolello and about 20 like-minded neighbors have launched an effort either to persuade their homeowners association's board of directors to fire Select Management or dissolve the association completely. 

In the last year, Select Management has issued 11 foreclosure notices to residents in the Creekside Park subdivision. Of those, the management company foreclosed on two, meaning the other homeowners somehow settled their debt, Mr. Smith said. 

Select Management administers property for 23 homeowners associations across the area and receives $1,000 a month to manage the Creekside Park group. It is part of a growing property management industry that brings in millions of dollars, said Ken Nelson, president of Texas Neighborhoods Together, a homeowners association umbrella group. 

Creekside Park's problems began eight years ago when the subdivision first opened, residents say. 

Many buyers didn't know until the day they bought their houses that membership in the homeowners association was mandatory. Some also didn't know that they would be required to meet deed restrictions and covenants intended to create a clean, quiet neighborhood and increase property values. For instance, residents who paint their roof trim in a loud color or don't mow their lawns face fines. 

Membership dues in the Creekside Park association are $39 each quarter, Mr. Smith said. And delinquency rates among its residents are very high, he said, probably because of lingering anger over not initially knowing about a homeowners association in the subdivision. 

But some residents say they receive precious little for their dues. They point to a crumbing entrance wall and unkempt flower beds in common areas. 

"We just got the runaround, and everything, from the beginning to now, seems suspect," resident Faye Cocchiara said. 

Ms. Cocchiara said she's not opposed to a homeowners association – but not one that hires a management company like Select Management. 

'Cloud of fear' 

Said resident Harvey Black, "The homeowners here now live under a constant cloud of fear." 
Gia Bowers, president of the Creekside Park homeowners association, said she is uncomfortable with what she described as Select Management's nonresponsiveness to residents' requests. 

But she said that firing Select Management may not be the best solution to the problem. Without Select Management, Ms. Bowers said, she'd worry about not having accurate financial records and never collecting money owed to the association. 

A community meeting between disgruntled homeowners and the association's board will happen in the next few weeks, residents said. And Select Management will meet with homeowners in February, Mr. Smith said.