My husband and I own property on a private camp road in Maine. (We are Florida residents.) All but one of the properties on the road is owned by family. At a meeting with all families represented we voted to NOT form an association. After the seasonal families left another meeting was called and an association was formed. This association is trying to bill everyone for future costs to be incurred for road maintenance even though half of the families have hired private contractors to do maintenance on their portion of the road. The association wants to widen the road and generally change it from a camp road into a more city like road. The estimates have been $30,000+. They have said they have the right to do this even though we (the other half of the families not wanting the association) have maintained our portion of the road which has included replacing two culverts, creating swails for proper drainage and grading and crowning the road. Do they (the association) have the right to do what they want to the road on our property?

Hello histogram,

You referred to the having and to the calling of meetings. You also referred to "family(s)" owning the surrounding properties. My questions:

Is there an existing covenant regarding the properties mentioned?, and thus, members are looking to broaden the reach and powers of the covenant through the creation of a Home Owners Assn. (HOA) and the improvements to the road?

Or is this a situation where no covenant or agreement yet exists, and that certain prop. owners are trying to form one (covenant or HOA) against the wishes of other neigbors? In short, where does the authority to vote by meeting, regarding the properties, ingress or access road, stem from; be they your meeting(s) or theirs?

Also, am I correct in my understanding that certain of the property owner's are seasonal - you and some other members of your greater family; and that some are full time residents - the one's forming the association?

The reason I ask is, for voting authority to exist, it must be pursuant to some agreement. If the agreement does exist, there will be rules regarding minimum necessary votes, and notice of meetings.

It seems to me, that it is unfair and financially burdensome that seasonal resident's pay a portion equal to full time residents, as full time residents contribute to wear and tear of the road, and enjoy the benefits of the road, in a substantially greater way than seasonal residents.

This is an interesting situation, please supply more facts. Also, consult an attorney about this, because whether or not they can do this is just one question, how to combat it, or protect your own interests, is wholly another. Good luck,

Lawford

As far as I know there is no existing covenant. Currently there are a total of 13 families on the road, 9 year round, 4 summer. The families would meet once a year, in the summer, to decide if any work needed to be done to the road. My Uncle, who has since passed away, was in charge of contracting the workers if work was nesessary. The bill was then divided up by the families.

For some reason, some of the year round residents wanted to form an association. At the yearly meeting, when everyone was present, we voted to NOT form an association, but all agreed the road needed work. While some of us proceeded to get estimates from contractors the others kept trying to form an association. After the seasonal families left, they took a majority vote and formed their association.

9 of the year round families have decided the road needs to become more of a city type road. They would like to widen the road among other things. Right now it is mostly a one lane camp road. I believe they are trying to form an association to force those of us who want to maintain the road the way it is into these alterations. Besides costing $30,000+ this would take a big chunk of our, the families that don't want the association, property. (Their property is not affected).

Do we have to join this association? Can they force us into these unneeded repairs and take our land to expand the road?

I can understand this is a frustrating situation for you. An "association" can mean a lot of different things - but as far as a legal entity is concerned, you can review the property records in order to determine if an association was legally formed and under what authority. A homeowners association is usually created when property is built, as opposed to after-the-fact. If an association was in fact legally created, then the legal members within the boundaries of the association property line will be defined. The members of the association will have some legal authority to vote on matters. You would need to review the bylaws to determine the percentage vote that is required to pass a resolution such as an expense for the road.

I suggest you try to contact an attorney to assist you with this matter, to deterimine the legal status of the association, and its ability to enforce "assessments" for the road costs upon the property owners.

You can find more information about an attorney through the locator service on LawInfo's home page at: http://www.lawinfo.com/.