Dear McKendall Estates Residents:

The fallout from the housing crisis has led to yet another worry for potential homebuyers: homeowners associations.  Depending on the housing development, homeowners associations can be extremely important.  The more things the homeowners association is required to take care of, the more important they are.  Now, thanks to fallout from the housing crisis, many homeowners associations are in shambles and homeowners are feeling the pain.

In one development in Arizona, more than 40 percent of homeowners are not paying their homeowners association fees, and in others across the country, it is even worse according to USA Today.  With the collection of unpaid dues appearing unlikely, the burden to maintain the homeowners association falls on the remaining homeowners who have paid their dues.  If they fail to cover the excess, we all will be faced with decreased services.  If it were not for the homeowners who have agreed to pay association fees we would not be able to keep up the common area, then what would your subdivision look like and how would this affect your property value.

Those of you who are not paying your association fees but are relying on others to do it for you while you benefit should ask yourselves what would happen if everyone decided to stop paying.  We all would have to watch the neighborhood go to waste along with the value of our investment.  With the economy being the way it is now the value of your home has already dropped were it not for the association and its volunteers helping to enforce the restrictions.

Everything the association does to beautify and to keep the community clean and safe will also add to the value of your home.  One of the goals was to get the lights on again. This was accomplished the week of July 13, 2009. This is a direct result of your financial participation in the future of our subdivision.

We all chose to live in this community and at the very least we should try to keep up the community standards and keep the community in top condition for all of us.  We are open to suggestions in ways you feel we can all assist in accomplishing this.

Ronald G Baptiste

Your President