{Editorial note by web admin: Although this news story is not about your RRRHOA, it's a reminder that community covenants are binding on those who choose to purchase homes in the respective covenant -restricted area. The covenants are normally drafted by homeowners to protect their own investments and lifestyles. They can be amended with the proper support of the homeowners. Those who serve on a HOA's board are typically volunteers who own homes within the boundaries of the HOA. Their job is not to "bully" homeowners but simply enforce the covenants the community has agreed to (originally) or to which homeowners have agreed by moving in to the area. Your HOA does not require dues but asks for voluntary donations to support the projects overseen by the board and financial obligations that arise.
By BILL VOGRIN THE GAZETTE February 11, 2008 - 4:41AM
On the far eastern edge of Colorado Springs, Joe and Janet Kubitschek are locked in a bitter dispute with their Eastview Estates homeowners association and its management company.
The conflict includes allegations of arrogance and bullying and of expletive-laced e-mails and name-calling. (Some are posted on my Side Streets blog at gazette.com)
But this isn’t another story about a rogue HOA and its dictatorial manager. This is a story about homeowners who didn’t realize how neighborhood rules, called covenants, can affect their lives.
It’s about homeowners who haven’t paid their dues and who reject the rules and an HOA’s right to enforce them.
It’s a conflict that has deteriorated so badly that a judge last week issued a restraining order to protect the property manager, James Fletcher of PCMS in Englewood, from homeowner Joe Kubitschek.
Fletcher said it’s a mystery to him how the situation spiraled out of control. All he knows is Kubitschek stopped paying his dues — $210 every six months — and became enraged when he was assessed monthly $10 late fees and charged for legal expenses.
“We have no lien on his house,” Fletcher said. “We haven’t turned him over to a bill collector. We haven’t even fined him. It’s so weird.”
It boils down to a simple hatred of the HOA and covenants that Kubitschek promised to live by when he bought his house on Kettle Drum Street in November 2005.
It’s a scary situation for Fletcher, who got the restraining order against Kubitschek after angry e-mails, punctuated by profanity, were followed by a threat of harm.
“He threatened to harm me with a weapon,” Fletcher said.
Kubitschek admits having dark thoughts about Fletcher and becoming enraged after he got a bill for nearly $800 in dues, fees and legal costs.
He rejects the HOA’s authority to bill him for seeking legal advice. Particularly offensive are the “bullying tactics” used by Fletcher, Kubitschek said, in dealing with homeowners.
But Kubitschek said Fletcher was not in any danger.
“I would never hurt him,” he said. “I was having thoughts in my head and I went and got help. I did the right thing.”
Kubitschek said he is not a deadbeat. He quit paying his dues when his adjustable rate mortgage suddenly jumped, leaving him unable to make his mortgage payment.
His financial problems were compounded when an injury left him unable to work as a nurse for a time.
In fact, his house has been threatened twice with foreclosure, and the family has been in bankruptcy proceedings. Fletcher said he learned of the foreclosure only when notified by El Paso County.
On Friday, in response to the restraining order, Janet Kubitschek began talking to PCMS, which offered to waive late fees on the unpaid dues. But the company said the family must pay $250 in legal fees.
Kubitschek, however, said there is only one solution to his problem.
“I’m getting a ‘for sale’ sign to put on my house,” he said. “I was ignorant. Now I have learned what HOAs are about. I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone. This has been a nightmare. I’m going to move.”
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