Residents Association Fee: €30 pa for what?

why? the OPs question was a valid on. yoricks last comment was about as useful as a tits on a bull coz it added lots to the discussion.

@jane Doe my personal opinion is run a mile, when you raised legit concerns they had no interest. they want money to cut the grass because all they are interested in is the visual aspect of the estate and not actually working as a residents group and tackle all problems in the estate. just my two cent
 
redfedora said:
@jane Doe my personal opinion is run a mile, when you raised legit concerns they had no interest. they want money to cut the grass because all they are interested in is the visual aspect of the estate and not actually working as a residents group and tackle all problems in the estate. just my two cent
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If you are so concerned about "they" and "them" why don't you join the residents committee and comit your own free time to try to make the estate that YOU live in a better place.
 
everybody's interest

Jane Doe said:
Update

They came to me for the fee!! and i asked if they had a constitution. They said "no we're just interested in grass cutting and keeping the area tidy." I raised concerns about certain problems here, small enough to be fair and was given the fob off/"we have no money". said i would think about it.

I agree with a lot of what redfedora says about getting it right

Thans for the feedback everyone
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Its in everyones interest to keep the estate clean & tidy, it encourages people to look after their own gardens, not throw litter, etc.

The committee should have elected members and produce accounts showing how they spent the last collection and balance.

Also, they should listen to residents concerns and invite interested people to join the committee.
 
aristotle said:
If you are so concerned about "they" and "them" why don't you join the residents committee and comit your own free time to try to make the estate that YOU live in a better place.
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you obviously havent read the part where i said i was already involved in my community AND more importantly the fact that i dont know the OP from adam but can be pretty sure based on the info given i dont live in their estate so it would be a practicale impossibility for me to be involved in their estate and residents association now wouldnt it :rolleyes:

the fact that this group are only interested in grass being cut and no other legit concers would for me at least cause alarm bells to go off, I offered advice based upon experience, you can like it or not i couldnt give a damn to be honest. the OP asked for advice on something, it was something i had knowledge and experience of so i gave my 2 cent
the fact that your only contribution apart from the above is

You are thinking too much about this. Give them the 30 euro or whatever and after a few months you will likely see the estate looking neater and tidier, with the grass cut etc. You'll wonder why you flustered with the decision then.
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this would make me think that you, like the RA mentioned above are only interested in the visual astetics of the estate and how it apprears to the eye and not in actually improving the community. grass doesnt make a community, also its not about us and them, your sadly mistaken to think otherwise, its about ensuring that if you allow them to represent your interests then you better make sure that they are actually doing it. as was posted above
monagt said:
they should listen to residents concerns and invite interested people to join the committee.
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from the info posted above by the OP, to me at least it would appear that they are only interested in what they want and not what owners want which is what an RA should be about.
 
My street collects €2 a week but not from rented houses which make up about 50% of the street. We don't see anything for this.
 
redfedora said:
this would make me think that you, like the RA mentioned above are only interested in the visual astetics of the estate and how it apprears to the eye and not in actually improving the community. .
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Suppose you are free to make any assumptions you want.
 
aristotle said:
Suppose you are free to make any assumptions you want.
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bit like the assumption you made about me not being involved in my community or the fact that i was concerned about me and them. i guess you just forgot to actually read my posts. I dont suppose you're in this RA that the OP is talking about or in a similiar one?

like i said I would be concerned that if a group proposing to represent my interests at the first instance ignored my interests whilst looking for money. I'd personaly tell them where to stick their request. see to me actions speak volumes, the act of ignoring the OPs concerns when they knock on the door looking to represent them and wanting the OP to hand over his/her hard earned money speaks volumes.
 
Lei86 said:
My street collects €2 a week but not from rented houses which make up about 50% of the street. We don't see anything for this.
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so you pay an association €104 per house a year. can i ask how many houses contribute? lets for the sake of arguement say there are 100 properties. that means this group collects €10,400 per year and accorging to Lei86 nothing is done. where's teh 10K gone? stationary?

do they cut the grass, plant flowers, maintain any part of the estate?
 
redfedora said:
so you pay an association €104 per house a year. can i ask how many houses contribute? lets for the sake of arguement say there are 100 properties. that means this group collects €10,400 per year and accorging to Lei86 nothing is done. where's teh 10K gone? stationary?

do they cut the grass, plant flowers, maintain any part of the estate?
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There has to be transparency. We only started this last year but it was demonstrated where the € was going. I would say this is a very basic requirement ie. a breakdown of costs. If I was you, I would ask for this - or withhold.

One other thing while i'm on the subject. Very frustrating in that some people will pay and some wont - although I originally thought myself lucky not to have moved into an estate with a 'management complany' - now that many of these have cut back and charge something reasonable, I feel that it would be best if there was one in place in hindsight. It means people must pay (at least thats my understanding???) and keeping an estate that little bit more in check will make so much more difference in both the short and longer term.

As regards the points raised about folks not being happy with the focus of the RA, they are after all your neighbours - and they are entitled to their opinion - and surely only the overall (majority) approach can be adopted?
Is it not better then to influence from within? Ours came about as a result of 'aesthetics' - but if the 'aesthetics' don't get looked after, the social problems will certainly follow!

Just my 2 cents.
 
I live in Dublin and the City Council regularly cuts the grass in our common areas, prunes the trees (and replaces them when required), does weeding, sweeps the street etc. etc. - as would be expected in any suburban area.

It seems strange to have people talking about RAs having to collect money to cut grass. Do councils in some parts of the country not cut grass etc. on council owned green areas? Or are we talking about managed estates where the management company has gone awol?

Years ago there used to be a guy going around our estate (and some others in the area) once a month collecting money for the residents association. A good proportion of the neighbourhood used to pay him - until they coped on that there was no active RA. Nobody knows where the money was going, but it is assumed it was a scam.
 
As far as I know the Cork county council does not cut the grass in any estate. We used to get a grant towards our grass cutting but did not this year. We have 35 houses and we pay 150 each this year to maintain the greens. Our contractor charges €200 per cut.

Out of the 35 houses 10 have yet to pay this year. Different houses take over the collection each year and it has been various amounts (when we got a grant it was as low as €75 one year).

Some houses have paid every year,some paid for first time this year (never having paid in past) and others not paying for first time this year due to others not paying for previous years!

It is a thankless job trying to collect to maintain the greens. We are lucky to have a lot of green areas but some residents are turining it into a tit-for-tat on paying. If everyone paid next years fee would be reduced!
 
Most county councils have now got the the point where they will only take new developments in charge where the development remains responsible for grounds maintenance - they do not maintain grass or green areas in new estates, with so many new estates they can't afford to.

The difference is that most developments being taken in charge now have to retain a management company even after being taken in charge so the legally binding contracts signed at purchase means people have to pay.
 
beldin said:
However they can publish a list of people who payed, with thanks.
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Hi

Are You CERTAIN about this? The reason for me asking is this: I am a member of a Resident's Association (RA) and we are also wondering if we can publish those who have or not paid.

I am aware that we cannot publish those who haven't paid, but wasn't aware that we can publish those who have. Please can someone issue us with the legal standing on this?
 
Le_Dieux said:
Hi

Are You CERTAIN about this? The reason for me asking is this: I am a member of a Resident's Association (RA) and we are also wondering if we can publish those who have or not paid.

I am aware that we cannot publish those who haven't paid, but wasn't aware that we can publish those who have. Please can someone issue us with the legal standing on this?
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i am justcurious as to why you want to publish a list of payees? Is it to ackknowledge those who have or to show up those who haven't. i do not known the law but wonder would publising the 'have paids' infer the identity of the 'have not paids' and if that would be a problem. Out of interest does you RA have a constitution?
 
Yes we do have a constitution. We have been in operation for 4 years now. Our local CC has taken in charge of the Estate, but they have yet to cut the grass.

Why do we want to publish? To show who cares for their Estate. Sure there is NO OBLIGATION on any to pay, and many don't through various reasons eg rentals. We also have 2 clean ups a year. But on both counts its the same faces always, and the ones who do the moaning on our website contribute nothing - thats a fact. I just feel the law was in favour of those who wanted to not pay, but when I read above that we can publish those who have paid, I was just wondering if thats legally ok to do so. Also, as You mention, to acknowledge those who do pay.
 
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Le_Dieux said:
Yes we do have a constitution. We have been in operation for 4 years now. Our local CC has taken in charge of the Estate, but they have yet to cut the grass.
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good for you re constitution. CC will not cut grass anymore to my knowledge

Why do we want to publish? To show who cares for their Estate. Sure there is NO OBLIGATION on any to pay, and many don't through various reasons eg rentals. We also have 2 clean ups a year. But on both counts its the same faces always, and the ones who do the moaning on our website contribute nothing - thats a fact. I just feel the law was in favour of those who wanted to not pay, but when I read above that we can publish those who have paid, I was just wondering if thats legally ok to do so.
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afraid i cannot tell you the legal situ. The only problem i can see is it is possibly inferring something negative about the people who are not on the list? I don't know though. Let us know when you find out PS if you use the search there are many threads on RA's and on Boards too I think
 
Jane Doe said:
good for you re constitution. CC wull not cut gras anytmore to my knowledge

We fought to get handed over to the CC. We had a management company for a year, renewal time came along, and they wanted to up the fee by FIFTY THREE%. A group of us met with them to fight to bring this increase down, which we eventually did to 29% - still a crazy increase in our opinion. We then approached our TD's etc, and eventually got the local CC to take in charge the Estate. Before we started our RA, we surveyed other Estates the CC had in charge, and discovered they cut the grass and left the much there to be dragged all over the Estate and into houses etc. We decided to go the 'do our own landscaping route'.

And TBH...NO REGRETS since.
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30 euro a lot cheaper than a management fee of €1000 plus!

Just 30 euro- I would pay up without any questions- beats having to pay 1000 + management fees in some areas...
 
serotoninsid said:
@ Le_Dieux: Out of curiosity, what % of residents pay the fee?
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Serotoninsid, about 40-45% paid. The sad part was it was nearly always the same people paying every year. Thats why I was wondering could I print the house numbers as I do feel they should be praised. We also got a grant from our CC this year to assist with the upkeep - nothing to be sneezed at either:)
 
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