Hello, Tx resident here. I am a small business for roofing, I was entering a gated community and my truck bumped into a electric gate, the damage was very minor and I spoke to a resident that called the police on me, cops came and seen it was a honest mistake and told me just to have the gate welded fixed no charges were filed it was very small damage. Now the HOA is telling me it’s 8k in damages 2 weeks later and I do not agree with the damages. I’m a contractor so I can have the gate repaired for under $500. I told them there quote is insane and I can fix it for the original agreement we had. Now they requested if I have my insurance pay for the gate. They are trying to get a new gate system from my insurance and I do not agree. I have my quote to repair it from my own pocket, what should I do?
Tell them to get three quotes. You can get one too. They are only entitled to reasonable damages.
Awesome Advice!!
thank you that was my next move. I’m standing by my quote as well
Theodore Carbajal I absolutely agree with Joe Midwesterner Make them get 3 Quotes and because some HOA Board members are Satan’s Spawn. I would get 3 Quotes from other companies as well as presenting your own Quote on top. That way if they Try to Use the Most Expensive Company out there you also have Quotes. Sadly some people will have a Friend, Family member or someone they know to Say that it Needs Replaced instead of Repaired. It does sound like they are trying to get a New one off your accident. Some of the HOA Board members like the Power, Control and love to make other’s miserable. I literally just Sold our house in December because of 2 specific Karen’s in the HOA. Never again
HOA Property manager.
BEST IDEA…
Find a contractor who can do it for about $500 and tell them to go write up a proposal and give that to the board. They are almost obligated to accept it because they have to carefully spend their budget. $8k is a huge chunk of budget spent. The contractor needs a certificate of insurance though. So it can’t be just a friend who does repairs.
Or you can start with the HOA and play them. Tell them to provide you with the invoice. Which they will. Then ask them who the contractor is as you’d like to work with them directly and pay for the repair and not the HOA to make a profit. Do all this in emails letters by the way. (don’t mention the profit part)
THEN, after they give you this, ask them to state the other contractors / vendors they got bids from.
Keep in mind the HOA has an obligation to get 3 bids and pick the best one.
This gives you a chance to see if 1) they’re on the level. 2) they’ve given a complete and honest description to the vendors 3) if they vendors even came out and bid by sight or description.
So here’s what happens with bids. You’ll get someone bidding saying “well, if the paint is chipped, then the whole fence needs painted to match, so we’ll do that too”, etc. These vendors are looking for a way to take additional money that’s not needed.
Legally the HOA can play this game, but if you can prove they only got one bid and didn’t get two others (even if it’s their right to skip that) it can hold additional weight in a small claims case. Especially if you got a few bids from some other vendors. and you can show this photograph.
I’m sure most vendors are thinking the metal may need bent back into position, etc.
Lastly, you want to call their vendors and talk them down. take the pic to them and give them an honest account. This means the HOA gets an even lower bid. Contractors know HOA’s are made of money and bid high.
Hand it over to your business insurance and let them deal with it
The insurance company will not pay it if the quote is unreasonable
there should be a law against HOA’s.
3 quotes & yours then take it to the board. If they don’t accept, take it to your insurance and they will fight for you (this is why you pay insurance monthly) You’ll have to pay the deductible, but get your insurance involved 100% if board doesn’t approve. They never have money for anything but an abundance of legal charges honestly.