BURNING TREE ONE HOMEOWNERS NEWS!

BURNING TREE SOUTH, BURNING TREE WEST AND BURNING TREE EAST WERE NEVER PART OF BURNING TREE MASTER ASSOCIATION. WHAT ABOUT BURNING TREE ONE?  

Looking at the Burning Tree covenants & Burning Tree Master Association ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION  it appears that One, also is not a part of the BTMA!!!!

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WHAT DOES IT SAY IN THE COVENANTS REGARDING MEMBERSHIP IN "THE ASSOCIATION"?

 Membership in the Association(1) shall be subject to assessments for the actual (2) cost of maintenance, repair and upkeep of the common areas of the subdivision for the unpaved areas of the Boulevard and facilities as designated on the overall development plan for Burning Tree.

1.) Our attorneys advised that because this document is about Burning Tree One and mentions Burning Tree Area #1 Association, Inc. and Burning Tree Area #2 Association, Inc. as the HOAs for Burning Tree One, any mention within said document of “the Association” refers to Burning Tree Area #1 Association, Inc. and Burning Tree Area #2 Association, Inc. (i.e. It is NOT referring to Burning Tree Master Association.) 

2.) It states actual cost of maintenance, repair and upkeep of the common areas. (Burning Tree One subdivision owns no facilities or land  and even if it did how could anyone know the actual cost and assess for actual costs before they are incurred???)

3.Why there is  mention of the unpaved boulevard? Simply to get it done in the quickest fashion the developer copied it from paperwork for what the Master
Association owned but failed to correct this piece.

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WHAT FACILITIES DOES BURNING TREE ONE HAVE THE RIGHT TO USE?

In the Deed of Dedication it states  "Each and every lot owner shall have an easement to use facilities of the Association of which said lot owner is a member or of the Burning Tree Master Association, subject, however to the rules and regulations thereof.

Had the paperwork been done correctly, it would have given us a choice of which one we wanted to be a member of (.....as long as we followed their rules and regulations....probably pay the associate membership dues....but the developer failed to file paperwork correctly so  Burning Tree One homeowners can only be members of the HOA for Burning Tree One,  which is inactive. (Even if we brought up Burning Tree One...what would be the point? It does NOT meet the criteria the State of Oklahoma requires for an HOA. We'd end up  paying expenses out of our own pockets to have the annual meetings that the law requires....and we cannot enforce covenants, have no land and just waste money to have meetings. So for what purpose do we need an HOA for BT One?     

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IT MENTIONS ASSESSMENTS IN THE COVENANTS.  

Absolutely, true, however it states we only pay dues for our subdivisions facilities (Yes,  the developer originally showed there were to be facilites in each subdivision in some of the earlier developmental plans. There are copies of where he kept refining and making changes to them until he  ended up removing them entirely from the subdivisions. Yet, he failed to make amendments to tie BTOsubdivision in with BTMA. That is why it is not lawful for BTMA to assess our subdivision. 

HOMEOWNERS ARE REQUIRED TO PAY ASSESSMENTS ONLY FOR ACTUAL REPAIR, MAINTENANCE AND UPKEEP OF THE COMMON AREAS --BUT BURNING TREE AREA #1   INC AND BURNING TREE AREA #2  INC OWNS NOTHING.
The Certificate of Dedication states that by "acceptance of deed" (purchasing your home) in Burning Tree One you agreed to pay assessments for the ACTUAL maintenance, repair and upkeep of the common areas of the Burning Tree Area #1 Association, Inc. and Burning Tree Area #2 Association, Inc (However, there are no common areas owned by Burning Tree Area #1 Association, Inc., Burning Tree Area #2 Association, Inc or Burning Tree One addition nor have there ever been.)

The Tulsa County Assessor shows that Burning Tree One and/or Burning Tree Area # 1 and Burning Tree Area #2 Association, Inc  owns NO land and NO facilities. Thus, it is unlawful to assess Burning Tree One homeowners for actual repairs, upkeep and maintenance when there is nothing owned and thus nothing to be repaired or maintained.



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ASSESSING BURNING TREE ONE HOMEOWNERS IS UNLAWFUL!
The Certificate of Dedication clearly states that an attempt by ANYONE, to force homeowners to pay for something other than maintenance, repair and upkeep of the common areas that belong to the Association for Burning Tree
One is a violation of the Covenant.

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 WHAT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE WHO VIOLATES THE COVENANTS       BY ASSESSING HOMEOWNERS UNLAWFULLY?

The Certificate of Dedication states that if anyone attempts to violate any of the covenants, it is lawful for any  person owning property in the subdivision to prosecute the person attempting to violate them and to secure damages.


There you have it!!! Homeowners have the right to file suit against anyone who violates or ATTEMPTS to violate these Covenants. That would include those who have assessed us in the past or attempt to in the future.

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Was there paperwork showing that the developer voted to dissolve the  Design Committee or place that authority with the BTMA?

Information about a Design Committee was placed in the Deed of Dedication, under the Covenants, to be used while homes were being built.  Normally when a developer transitions everything  over to a HOA and steps away, there are amendments made to the Covenants by the homeowners.  The amendments remove information that is no longer needed. We all need to remember that there  was a lawsuit going on where the homeowners had taken  the President of the BTMA  to court* during this time. There seems to be lots of things that didn't get done.  *The homeowners won.

Many things were left in a mess and documents that should have been amended or filed never were. 

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DEVELOPER FAILED TO AMEND ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION

No matter what was on that overall developmental plan, the developer failed to amend the BTMA Articles of Incorporation to make any subdivision a "sub-association" of the BTMA. 

SEE FOR YOURSELF AS THIS WAS TAKEN FROM BTMA BY-LAWS (BTMA)

ARTICLE III

MEMBERSHIP

Every Burning Tree Area Owners Association approved by Declarant* shall be a member of the corporation.

No owners association was ever approved by the Declarant*. (Notice that it says it was supposed to have been an "owners association" --not the homeowner --who was to have been the member of the BTMA. THAT MEANS: the BTMA has never had any authority to assess or place a lien on a homeowner’s property!!!! 

Had the subdivision’s HOAs been approved, by the Declarant, the Master Association's Articles of Incorporation should have been amended and filed with the Secretary of State to include the HOAs, making them sub-associations.  The office of the Secretary of State has advised that this was never done. Thus, none of the HOAs in the subdivisions are even tied to the Burning Tree Master Association, based on how the Articles of Incorporation are written and were filed!   

*The Declarant was Sixty-First and Memorial Development Corporation, shows it has an OTC Suspension according to the Tax Commission and the office of the Oklahoma Secretary of State.)

It goes on to state: Membership in Burning Tree Area Owners Association shall entitle the members of those Associations to the right and use of enjoyment of the common areas and common facilities of the Association. The Master Association Articles of Incorporation were never amended to add the HOAs in the subdivisions so this could happen. Thus, the subdivisions are NOT members.   
 

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OKLAHOMA STATUTE CONDITIONS TO SET UP AN OWNERS ASSOCIATION

A 1975 Oklahoma Statute states that an “owners association” may be formed by the owner or owners of real estate development for the purpose of:

1. providing management, maintenance, preservation and control of commonly owned areas or any portion of or interest in them, (Burning Tree One has no common areas.....nor does Burning Tree Area #1 or Burning Tree Area #2 Association, Inc.

and/or

2. enforcing all mutual, common or reciprocal interests in or restrictions upon all or portions of such separately owned lots, parcels, or areas, or both. (The Certificate of Dedication that was filed does not allow an HOA board of directors to enforce anything....but BTO does not have a board anyway. Instead the developer filed them so enforcement is left up to the individual homeowner to handle, if they have a problem with their neighbor.)

1975 Oklahoma state law requires that those who form an “owners association” must have all homeowners at that time acknowledged and signed agreeing to it prior to the forming of a HOA, and file an instrument at Tulsa County showing that.

(1) Burning Tree One owned no land and (2) The Certificate of Dedication does not allow the HOA to enforce anything. This means the document filed by the developer did not meet the criteria required to form a mandatory HOA.   100% of the homeowner’s signatures are required in order to have a mandatory HOA. Tulsa County does not show that any such document has been filed with homeowner’s signatures showing their agreement to an HOA.

The statute also states: "No lien may be placed or mortgage foreclosed unless the homeowner was informed in writing upon joining the owners association of the existence and content of the owners association restrictions and rules, and of the potential for financial liability to the individual owner by joining said owners association."

As you can see the developer did not meet the criteria for forming Burning Tree Area #1 or Burning #2 Inc, it is unlawful for the Burning Tree Master Association to assess you and a lien placed upon your property is unlawful.

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I HEARD SOMEONE SAY THEY ARE "JUST SURE THE DEVELOPER'S INTENT WAS TO...."

Like one judge said, “It is only the very foolish who claim they know the intent of another.” 


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Do we need to get a petition to get us out of the Burning Tree Master Association?

No. The Covenant you made when you purchased your home is a legal binding contract for you to do what is in your subdivisions Covenant. The Burning Tree One Covenants (as do the other subdivisions) require homeowners pay ONLY for upkeep, repair and maintenance of the common facilities and land in their own subdivision. THERE ARE NO SUCH FACILITIES! Should you get a letter from the Burning Tree Master Association assessing you, remember that the Burning Tree Master Association has no right whatsoever, to do that. It is not in your covenants, it is not in the Burning Tree Master Association ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION . Hang on to anything you receive as evidence!  


NOTE: This takes away nothing from homeowners who wish to purchase an associate membership to use the  Burning Tree Master Association pool.

Tulsa, Oklahoma