Hi... I actually searched through quite a bit of your questions to see if I could find anything similar to this problem but no luck...

Here's the problem...

1) I bought a 5 acre piece of property here in New Mexico about 5 years ago.

2) The 5 acres is in a subdivision that has restrictive covenants that I am fully aware of AND in complete compliance with.

3) I have not yet built on this property.

4) When I bought the property, there was a cattle guard across the road leading into the subdivision. The cattle guard was (then) in excellent condition.

5) There are approximately 15 lots (5 acres apiece) in this subdivision.)

6) After 5 years, all the lots now have homes on them except for mine. There is absolutely no time limit for me to build.

7) After all the construction in the subdivision over the 5 years, the cattle guard became totally unusable (apparently).

8) I just received a letter from one of the owners of a lot within the subdivision that asked me for $90 toward the purchase and installation of a new cattle guard. The letter said that all the other lot owners within the subdivision were in fact putting in their $90 toward the cattle guard as well. But here's the problem... This letter was sent to a post office box that I only check mail from every couple of months or so because it's basically a post office box for mail OTHER than business or bills.

9) The letter said that I had until a specific date to pony up the $90.00 -- I didn't actually pick up that letter and open it until AFTER that date had passed.

10) In the same batch of mail, there was another letter from the same lot owner saying that since I didn't pony up my $90 share, that he was going to file a lien against my property. He also said that it would cost him $250 to file the lien and if I wanted to keep that from happening, I would now have to pay him the original $90 PLUS the $250 filing fee. LOL.

11) In addition to the letter he sent, I see that he says that he and the other lot owners have created some kind of owner's organization for the subdivision but apparently, I have to pay HIM and not this organization. I called the company that I am purchasing the property from and asked them about the owner's organization and they tell me it has nothing OFFICIALLY to do with the subdivision i.e. anyone can join but apparently, I am the ONLY lot owner that has not joined. LOL. This organization apparently has no real power like a home owner association has... i.e. it's just a bunch of people who apparently have nothing better to do with their time.

12) Finally, both 1st and 2nd letters to me had my name totally misspelled.

So... that's basically the facts of the problem here... Now my questions...

a) I have never had any kind of a lien filed against me or my property... Can this person actually file a lien against me for the cattle guard? It is not on my property NOR have I ever added to the cattle guard's damage/destruction.

b) If he can in fact file a lien against me, will I at least get some kind of NOTICE for a hearing and be able to argue that the lien is unjust? Or, can someone just file a lien against someone else without any kind of OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION... *NOTE: The letters above were simply sent to my post office box and were not certified nor did I sign for them.

Finally (not a question), I would have originally, given this guy my $90 share had I gotten the first letter in time to do so... I mean, I KNOW he sent it to me with enough time for me to send the money if I checked my post office mail fairly often which I do not.

It was the 2nd letter that really fried me... I feel this guy is basically trying to extort $340 out of me NOW... The letter was rude and basically told me I was not a good neighbor since I hadn't responded to the first letter.

I thought about writing the guy a letter but I do not want to give him the correct spelling of my name so he can turn right around and use it against me... LOL. I also didn't want to start any kind of communication which would cause me to lose my temper so I simply didn't respond at all.

How can I legally OWE this guy money? Sure, I would have given him the money had I known IN TIME which I did not. But now, he doesn't even give me that option in his 2nd letter.

As far as I am concerned, the cattle guard was not on my property and actually, should have been taken care of by the owner of the subdivision but since HE didn't want to take care of the cattle guard, this particular lot owner takes it upon himself to band the rest of the lot owners together and purchase/install the new cattle guard. And remember, this lot owner nor the lot owner organization/association he's put together has no official power within the subdivision.

I guess my main concern here is whether I will be NOTIFIED of a lien filing and given an opportunity to quash the lien.

Thanks,
Jack

Hi Jack: (I never say that on an airplane)

He can't put a lien on your property without a judgment, and he can't get a judgment unless he sues you. If he sues you, you'll kick his butt, for ALL the reasons you outlined above.

excon

PS> Sell your lot. This kind of stuff is going to happen to you forever. This group of busybodies ISN'T even an HOA YET... I sure wouldn't want to live there when they have some power.

excon,

I appreciate the answer! Yeah, I'm actually considering selling the lot now BECAUSE of this garbage... I bought the darn thing to GET AWAY FROM BUSYBODIES like this... LOL.

Go figure!

Jack

First don't jump the gun and believe that this group can not get legal status. Just because the land developers did not set them up.
I don't know Ariz laws about this, but this is normally how many home owners org start by people forming, getting a the members together to inforce the ordinaces on the property.

But that is another issue all together.

If there is no formal group, they can decide to do what ever they want, but have no legal standing to force you to do anything, unless it is part of an agreement in place.

Next a "catttle crossing" in a road may not even be community property or even part of the development property. It could well be state or county property.

Next the private person can not sue you at all for this ( well they can but could not win) unless they do it when you don't check your mail and win without you there)

The group if formed and incorporated may sue but then the judge would have to decide their legal standing in the case. You would have course have to protest their standing. The judge does not decide if they have a right to sue, it is you that has to challenge their right to sue.

And I will go with excon, this is only the start of this type of group, early warning of what is to come if you decide to live there.

But you do need to find a way to get your mail on a more active basis, you will often find over a longer period of action, you can be sued, and lose and go past your time frame to appeal and not even know if your legal mail address is not checked on a timely manner