I recently rented a house in Nevada that has extensive common use emenities. It was agreed by me and the manager that the first year of the two year lease the owner would pay the HOA fees and I would start the second. Shortly after moving in and regularly using the emenitties I was told that my privliges had been revoked. As it turns out the manager of had not submitted plans for the landscaping in the backyard. It is now over two months I have not been able to make use of the facilities. So in the last months rent check I deducted the amount that is charge by the HOA. The manager does not agree with this and is asking for the remainder or he will evict. It seems fairly obvious that if privliges are revoked and it was very clearly one of the main reasons I rented the house that I should not have to pay the established value of those privliges.

I'm I right or wrong.

I rented the house from a management company that represents the owner.
The owner has several home in the development. The amenitites include Clubhouse with a gym(I canceled my existing gym membership when we moved in), two pools and two jacuzies(my kids had swim lessons that they could not attend), sana, tennis courts, recreation rooms for kids (of which I have four), and many adult activities. There is also a 9 hole golf course.

After talking the HOA I found out that they require that plans for the backyard landscaping must be submitted and approved before the landscaping is done. This was not done. The HOA has been in contact with the management company for over 6 months trying to resolve this by first asking to have pictures of the backyard landscaping submitted to try to get it approved. The manager did not do this. So they are now asking for plans from a reginstered landscape architect and then necessary revisions to the landscaping to make it comply with regulations. The manager has been draging his feet to complete this.

Apearently they have been getting fined for many months a rate of fifty per week and because of the lack of response from the owner or management they have now suspended privliges until they come into complience with the HOA requirement

You can not merely deduct the money, without his permission, you will have to pay your rent in full, then bill him for the other amount, and/or sue him for that amount.

If you don't pay the rent in full, he can evict you.

And if you plan to live there for a couple of years, is there a plan to regain use of the facilities? Does all of the landscaping have to be ripped out? Does is just have to still go before the board for approval? The manager needs to address that.

This is totally unclear. Who did you rent the house from? Is this in a development of rentals or what? Who is this "manager" and what is his relation to the development? What amentities are we talking about and why would landscaping affect your use of them? Is it that you are being punished because the landscaping wasn't approved? If that's the case, then what remedy did the HOA offer? I can't see them permanently revoking privileges over this. What if the landscaping is removed, or scaled back to what they will approve? As you can see there is a lot of unclear and missing information here.

But you can't just decide to withhold rent. To pay less than the lease calls for means you have to make an agreement with the landlord first. If you do withhold rent because of some problem with the facilities, the withheld amounts need to placed in escrow pending resolution of the dispute.

Thanks for adding the addtl info. That helps.

As you've been told, you can't just withhold the rent. Out of curiosity have you had any contact with the actual owner of the property, or just the manager?

I guess how you proceed depends on what you would like to have happen. If you want to stay (sounds like a nice place) I would start by writing a letter in triplicate to the owner, manager and HOA. State clearly your understanding of the situation, the inconvience this has cause you - both monetary and otherwise. State that the main reason you rented THIS property is because of all the amenities and emphasize the fact that you are being charged rent based on used of the amenities. Then state the date that you expect this to be resolved by and what you'll do at that time if it isn't resolved, but only state what you're actually willing to do. For example, don't state that you're going to "take legal action" if you won't actually do it.

I suppose you could sue the management company in small claims based on the amount of rent going to HOA dues, since you're not able to use the amenities. A judge would probably also release you from your lease based on what you've states. But if you're wanting to stay that won't really solve the problem.

So, is there a chance that the landscaping will pass as it is? Can you take photos and get them to the HOA to speed things along?

What is the manager saying about the issues they haven't taken care of? I realize they want their rent, but then are they just ignoring the fact that your use of the facilities is cut off? Are you communicating in writing? Do so from now on.

Ok, fully rambling now... hope something in there gave you an idea.
Karla in TX

Kevin - AMENITIES are just that and are NOT PART OF THE RENTED PROPERTY... no, you can not withhold any rent amount and yes, you can be evicted.

The HOA is most likely unlawfully withholding your use of the amenities as they have recourse against the property owner who needs to be dealing directly with the HOA board.

First, if you add additional info to a post you should do so by replying to the thread. If you edit your post, you should mark it as edited.

You clearly have a case against the management company and the owner. By not informing you of the landscaping issue when you signed the lease, they withheld vital information. There is no question in my mind that you can get out of the lease. If you can quantify your losses (the cost of a gym, swimming lessons, etc) you can probalby get damages from them.

You may have a case against the HOA revoking privileges as Cville indicated.

I would suggest having a lawyer prepare the letter Karen suggested.