Pat,

Thank you for coming forth with your intellegent comments.

There are several owners who are in the same situation you are: retired, on a fixed income, love their unit, living here for many years.

The housing market, as you know, is extremely soft. A Stoneybrook owner friend had an open house weekend before Easter and only "3" people came.

We have some Board members who don't care what our HOA fees are. They are on the Board for political reasons. They want what they want and only care about asethetics not what is needed.

We need good residents to run for the Board. Time for a change. A cap should be put on how long a person can be on the Board. One Board member is in their "7th" term. Things have been going down so rapidly in the past 2-1/2 years here. TIME FOR A BIG CHANGE WITH THE BOARD.

We need Board members who want to save us money, not spend it like it grows on our trees.

IT'S PAST TIME TO STOP RESERVE SPENDING ON ANY ITEMS FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS UNLESS SOMETHING IS EITHER BROKEN OR IS AN EMERGENCY.



--Owner Who Really Cares

For what it's worth, raising the dues another 20% next year and the year after and the year after will only cause the value of our property to go down. Who wants to pay $500-600 per month on dues? That's very unattractive to new buyers. I fully support a special assessment to come up with the funds required for the reserves. First it should be determined how much is really needed, then reasonable options should be developed. For instance, if $2500 is really needed from every unit, then perhaps split that over 2 years to make it easier to swallow.

I have only been an owner here for a little over a year and feel like I'm taking the brunt of past mismanagement. Those who are responsible should be ashamed of the current situation.
--Scott

I agree 100% with Owner Who Really Cares.

I love Stoneybrook. But for dues to have risen nearly 100% in three years time? We are asking for trouble, right here in our little city of a thousand people.

It's one thing to propose and implement thousands of "things we'd like to have" in a rising real estate market and a bullish business climate. It's quite another to do so in a bear market with property values already declining.

Yes, our Association's costs have risen. So have our individual living expenses.
We homeowners are taking a double hit at a most inconvenient time.

We MUST be frugal and find ways to save money or we will see more and more delinquent dues, forced sales, and foreclosures, which will put a further drain on our resources and might actually leave us with less money (because of collection problems) rather than more.

Another way we are all losing money is in our home equity. Property values are falling, and lenders are tightening criteria.
Raising dues at this time means buyers qualify for lower prices at a time when home equity loans are harder to get than they've been in at least 15 years. This traps people, making values fall even further.
We have to do certain projects, projects which should perhaps have had higher priority in the past.
But in everything else: we have no choice but to economize.
I know this is hard for any Board to face. Reserves must be replenished and it's hard to know where to cut. But we must declare a halt on any unnecessary projects for now. We must get three open bids on any items above $2000 and select carefully. Every major contract must be reviewed, including our management company's contract, and opened for competitive bids. We must be open to all suggestions for saving money.
It's either that or face a 15 to 25% turnover, including forced sales, short sales, and foreclosures, which will further weaken our values and place more burdens on the rest of us.
I regret having to place this evaluation into an open forum that the public at large may read, but what other options are therek?

--One Who Tells It Like It Is.

Association fees have doubled in three years.
The current Board predicts they will again double over the next three years (20% + 20% + 20%).
The comparison of Stoneybrook to high-status, high-maintenance high-rises in downtown Long Beach is bogus.
Just because Association dues are over $500 a month at the Pacific or Villa Riviera, for instance, is no justification for raising ours.

If I'd wanted to have 24-hour desk security, major art and fresh flowers in the lobby twice a week, a guard calling up to my room announcing visitors, a high-tech workout facility, glassed-in pool -- I would have bought elsewhere!!
They should compare us to similar complexes in nearby Orange County, see what their dues are, and how they are managed.

--Being Driven Out by Price Hikes

It pleases me to see visitors and posters to this blog. Thank you all. I am for free speech and dissemination of information to which you as owners and residents of Stoneybrook are entitled. That is why I sponsor the Unofficial Stoneybrook Villas website and blog.

As many of you know, I am a member of the Finance Committee, among others, and was a board member years ago. I want to thank Pat Donley for her characterization of the committee as being a hard working group.

I sympathize with those of us who have difficulty with increases in assessments by the association, especially during this period of economic stress. I also appreciate the frustration many feel when faced with decisions made by the Board with which they have personal disagreement.

As you know the service of the Board members is voluntary and unpaid. Some of our present Board members have jobs they have to work at, just like many others of our association members. But they volunteer their services anyway and accept the awesome responsibilities that are incumbent upon directors.

It is not easy to find people willing to serve. And it is becoming more difficult as time goes on because the job is becoming more demanding. For instance, the State legislature is considering requiring board members to attend or have attended training in community development matters but that has not yet passed.

My point in this is to urge you to keep in mind the difficulty in getting volunteers to serve on our Board and hopefully to be able to see that you who want to limit the terms of office of board members, or to replace some board members, thereby reducing our pool of volunteers, are sincere and responsible enough to be willing to volunteer your own services to make up for the loss of a volunteer director. Your volunteer service would be valuable and greatly appreciated.

--Don Evan Appleby
<mailto:deappleby@donevanappleby.com>

The problem is a simple one, for 20 years the board spends no money and kept dues low, so we are in the fix were in now and what do you not want to spend money on? roofs? water intrusion? that kind of thinking got us into this mess and if we can get a ONE time influx of money we can get past the present problems and move on. I am one of the newer owners and I feel that the people who have lived here for 20 years or more got a free ride and it is time to pay up. sorry but the truth hurts

I was thrilled to read Pat Donely’s blog message and learn that an owner is very concerned about the current short-term financial crisis at Stoneybrook. The questions in this Blog message are very well though out and relative to solving the problems. Pat, our reserves do not have to be 100% funded, but most banks will not make loans for purchasing a condo in which the association’s percentage of reserve funding is ZERO. Our Reserve Study Budget projects that we will be ZERO percent funded in 2009 and 2010.

In order to stop the bleeding during our short-term financial crisis, the owners should ask the board adopt the following two golden rules: Rule number one - If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Rule number two – Stop spending and starting saving. I believe the top priorities should be replacing the roofs and waterproofing the deteriorating foundations before the steel rebar inside the cinderblocks rusts beyond repair.

Pat, you stated that “perhaps there are residents with financial expertise who might have helpful ideas”. This is an excellent idea and I hope we can harness some of the talent here at Stoneybrook to come up with some solutions to our short-term financial crisis. Marilyn Helgeson is spearheading such an effort and is planning a brainstorming session in the Clubhouse on April 19, 2008 at 10:00 a.m.

The 4/1/2006 Reserve Study Budget had 120 items listed, the 2006 cost to replace all items was $3,630,965 and the recommended total monthly dues were $28,974. The previous Board had 3 revisions done during 2006 to this original study because more items were added and higher costs for the expenditures were projected.

The 4/1/2008 Reserve Study Budget has 169 items (41% increase over 2006), the current cost to replace all items is $6,572,680 (80% increase over 4/1/2006 study) and the recommended total monthly dues increased from $28,974 to $68,487 (136% increase over the 4/1/2006 study).

If we were to replace all 169 items recommended in the 4/1/2008 Reserve Study Budget (projection for next 30 years) this year, the projected cost is $6,572,680. The main reason this study shows that we will be ZERO percent funded in 2009 and 2010 is this study has 57 items listed with a ZERO remaining life (34% of a total of 169 items) and 17 items listed with a one-year remaining life (10% of a total of 169 items). The current cost to replace the 41% of the items budgeted to be replaced over the next two years is $3,558,800.

Replacing this $3,558,000 worth of reserve items (54% of the cost of replacing every item in the reserve study budget) is what is causing our extreme cash shortage over the next two years. I have listed a few of the items scheduled to be replaced over the next two years and do not agree that they must be replaced now.

1. Fences: Phase II, Phase III and block wall along the church - $366,000.
2. Paint the Buildings - $513,850
3. Replace asphalt driveways and asphalt inside the complex - $192,500
4. Carpet Hallways - $170,100
5. Replace tile at entries to buildings - $165,400
6. Coat balcony floors - $121,000
7. Shut-off valves & distribution piping - $108,250
8. Replace interior lighting fixtures - $82,300
9. Stucco repairs - $60,000
10. Remodel elevator cabs - $57,750
11. Replace mailboxes - $19,000
12. Replace trash chutes - $15,600

If we just postponed replacing the 12 items listed above for at least two years, then we could add this $1,871,750 to our percent funded thereby easing the burden of the undesirable ZERO funding in 2009 and 2010.

Posted by Bill Whitecloud: bwhitecloud@verizon.net
--Bill Whitecloud
<mailto:bwhitecloud@verizon.net>

SUMMARY OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS AT STONEYBROOK

CURRENT 4/1/08 RESERVE STUDY ADOPTED BY THE BOARD
PROJECTED RESERVE EXPENSES (Zero & 1yr life only) BUDGETED-2008/09=$3,558,800
4/1/2008 ACTUAL RESERVE CASH in the bank-$1,490,090 as of 2/24/08.
20% increase in membership dues (average of $343 per unit per month) beginning on 4/1/2008.
Special Assessment on 4/1/2009 of $721,812 ($1,533 per unit).
Special Assessment on 4/1/2010 of $721,812 ($1,533 per unit).
Special Assessment on 4/1/2011 of $721,812 ($1,533 per unit).
Special Assessment on 4/1/2012 of $721,812 ($1,533 per unit).

Since the $721,812 increase recommended per year for the 4 years exceeds the maximum of 20 % that the Board can raise the dues without owner approval, the Board will most likely have to raise the dues 20% a year as follows:

April 1, 2009 – Average dues increased to $411 per month.
April 1, 2010 – Average dues increased to $493 per month.
April 1, 2011 – Average dues increased to $592 per month.

The cash crisis problem is severe because even with the Special Assessments listed above or the increase in membership dues per month, Stoneybrook Villas will still be ZERO percent funded on 4/1/2009 and ZERO percent funded on 4/1/2010. Most banks will not make loans for condominiums in which the association’s percentage of reserve funding is ZERO. Another major problem is that the monthly membership dues and the property value are directly correlated and the higher the dues go, the lower the property value.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO THE RESERVE CASH SHORTAGE CRISIS

RESERVE EXPENSES (Zero & 1yr life) BUDGETED IN 4/1/2008 RESERVE STUDY
ASSUMPTION: Funds spent as budgeted in 2008/2009 according to 4/1/2008 Reserve Study:
4/1/2008- 24.87 Percent Funded based on required funds of $4,792,020 because of zero remaining life.
4/1/2009 - ZERO Percent Funded based on required funds of $3,416,104 because zero remaining life.
4/1/2010 - ZERO Percent Funded based on required funds of $2,512,672 because zero remaining life.

ASSUMPTION: No funds spent in 2008 & 2009:
4/1/2008 CASH in the bank-$1,490,090
Plus reserve allocations - $68,487 per month X 24 mo=$1,643,688
Plus interest earned on $2 million @ 4% per year=$80,000
4/1/2010 RESERVE FUNDS BEFORE ANY EXPENITURES=$3,213,778

ASSUMPTION: No funds spent in 2008 & 2009:
4/1/2008 CASH in the bank (22.7 percent funded based on total current cost of $6,572,680).
4/1/2009 CASH in the bank (36 percent funded based on total current cost of $6,572,680).
4/1/2010 CASH in the bank (49 percent funded based on total current cost of $6,572,680).

ASSUMPTION: Roofs are a top priority and should be replaced in the beginning of 2009:
A special assessment of $1,200,000 ($2,548 per unit) in 2008 will fund the roof replacement.
This special assessment could be paid during 2008 in 8 equal monthly payments ($318.50 per unit).

Posted by Bill Whitecloud: bwhitecloud@verizon.net
--Bill Whitecloud
<mailto:bwhitecloud@verizon.net>

FIRE ALARM ACTIVATED, LONG BEACH FIRE DEPT
RESPONDS TO 424 BELLFLOWER; BLDG 5

Shortly after 9:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, 2008 the quiet solitude of Stoneybrook Villas ambiance was disturbed when a fire alarm was tripped in Building 5 (424 Bellflower Blvd.). Concerned that there may indeed be a fire I grabbed my Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T.) vest and helmet and ran over to the source.

One resident stated that she smelled something burning coming from the vent in her bathroom on the third floor. Not taking any chances, I called in the alarm to the Long Beach Fire Department and they responded out with several engines, rescue squads, battalion chief and ladder truck. There was a delay in the response as I called from a cell phone and was put on endless hold until finally being passed through to an operator; more precious time wasted. I was amazed how non-reactive residents in that building and surrounding others were of this event. Come on everybody, your building’s fire alarm is ringing, this may mean everything you own including lives of those close to you could be at stake here. Wake up!

It was determined that someone had maliciously pulled a fire alarm in the garage of Building 5 and there was no fire. However, in pulling that alarm they managed to also break part of the alarm switch which made the fire alarm system inoperable until the alarm company can come out and make necessary repairs.

Meanwhile, Shield Security has posted an additional guard on duty to maintain Fire Watch throughout the evening in Building 5 until which time the repairs to the fire alarm system have been completed. This protocol is by law and standard operating procedure.

Looking at this situation sure makes me wonder what might have happened had there been a fire within that or any of the buildings. No one seemed to evacuate or even come out of their villas to investigate what might be going on.

Last October the front office staff person advised us that come January of this year the Long Beach Fire Department would be out with one of their engine companies to conduct C.E.R.T. training for residents wishing to have the piece of mind of what to do in the event of an incident so as to be at least prepared. We are now in April, and yet to have this appearance or said training offered to us.

Unfortunately, there are only two residents (Deborah Ferrelli and myself) that are current C.E.R.T. trained for the entire 464 condominiums. Ideally, there should be four people per building trained to know where the shut offs, alarms, and related information in the event that it is needed in short order.

What would we do if we were faced with a small airplane crashing into one of the buildings such as what happened the other day in the City of Compton?

Food for thought.



--Ward Johnson C.E.R.T.
<mailto:wjohnson17@msn.com>