Victory And Independence

On May 18th 2012 the State of New Mexico Thirteenth Judicial Court issued the following Order: “As of the date of entry of this Order, any and all rights, duties, and responsibilities as the Homeowners’ Association for Las Maravillas Units II and III shall transfer from VIA to Good Neighbor Association (“GNA”). Accordingly, the GNA “Covenants of Las Maravillas II and III” filed with the County Clerk of Valencia County on December 3, 2009 are valid and binding on the residents of Units II and Units III and the original VIA “Protective Covenants, Las Maravillas Subdivision Unit II, filed with the office of the County Clerk of Valencia County on June 1, 1993 and the “Protective Covenants for Paseo de Flores en Las Maravil­las Unit III” filed with the office of the County Clerk of Valencia County on January 15, 1998 are without force and effect. The Good Neighbor Association is the sole legal homeowners association of Las Maravillas Units II and III, and GNA assumes and shall be responsible for and shall perform, discharge and fulfill any and all duties and responsibilities required of it as the acting homeowners’ association.”

Pursuant to the ruling of the Court and the provisions of the New Mexico Nonprofit Corporation Act [53-8-1 et seq. NMSA 1978], the 'Good Neighbor Association, Inc.' now serves as the Homeowners Asso­ciation for Las Maravillas Units II and III.

We are finally free and independent from VIA! The opportunity is ours.

• We can now do things for ourselves.
• We will control our money and how it is spent, and all money spent will be for the sole benefit of Units II and III.
• We will have the financial records posted online.
• We will have the right to vote and that right cannot be denied.
• We will elect our representatives to the Board of Trustees.
• We will have the right to recall the Board members..
• We will have the right to submit a proposal for vote of the membership.
• We will continue to hold open meetings each month for everyone to attend.
• We will own the Parks and Common Areas, including the Storage Facility.

Short-term and long-term plans for our Community, as well as the provisions of the Settlement Agreement will be discussed at our next Association Open Meeting on Saturday, June 2nd at 10am. The location will be at the Tome Community Center, 2933 HWY. 47. All homeowners are welcome to attend.

A Community White Paper of projected Association activity during 2012 has been posted on our Web­site, http://www.lasmaravillas.org. In a non-profit organization a White Paper is an authoritative report of objective information. Presenting an overview of our Association's plans, it's a work-in-progress rather than a conclusive declaration. Your comments are wanted and welcome.

Also posted on our Website is the draft of the proposed new Bylaws. These Bylaws were developed from the New Mexico Non-Profit Corporation Act, the American Law Institute's Restatements of Law, the Uniform Law Commission's Uniform Common Interest Owners Bill Of Rights, and Black's Law Dic­tionary. The provisions of the new Bylaws are supported by nine (9) pages of endnotes referencing specific legal authorities. The proposed Bylaws will be posted for review, comments, and modification for thirty (30) to sixty (60) days. Once finalized, the revised Covenants will be submitted to our mem­bership for ratification.

Comparison of the Rights of Membership in the proposed GNA Bylaws versus the VIA Bylaws.
 

1. For homeownerrs who live within our Association boundaries.

New Covenants are also being developed.  The Board of Trustees extends an open invitation for any member to participate on a team to draft the refinements. While tailored to the specifics of our Community, the legal model will be drawn from the American Law Institute and the Uniform Law Commission. Upon completion the draft will be submitted to our Association's Attorney, John McCall, for review. Once finalized, the revised Covenants will be submitted to our membership for item voting, and thereafter ratification. Until this is accomplished GNA is responsible for ensuring observance of of the current Covenants, though these are considered only to be interim.

No longer will any money be sent to VIA, instead, GNA will collect our dues and all money spent will be for the sole benefit of Units II and III.  The financial records will be posted online and once a year a committee comprised of homeowners will have the authority to audit the books.  There are no plans to increase the annual dues in 2012, which are currently set at $93.00.  Paid quarterly, the calculation is simple: $93.00  4 = $23.25 every 3 months.  Very affordable.  Quarterly payments ensure our Association has a steady cash flow so we can budget for improvements on a regular basis.  To save time and reduce costs, our Association is developing paperless billing, payment, and notification systems.  When implemented, any homeowner who takes advantage of the systems will enjoy up to a 15% discount off annual dues.

Our Association is also developing a paperless voting system.  Online voting is far more cost effective than paper ballots, and while the latter will still be available, any homeowner who takes advantage of the paperless voting system will enjoy another 5% discount off annual dues.

In the immediate future our Association plans to repair or replace all Common Area fences in Units II and III, then conduct a a major clean-up of our Community.

And finally, it's time to celebrate!  We will be holding a Victory party within the next few weeks.  As soon as the location, date and time is finalized we'll send out an open invitation for all homeowners to attend.

All The Best!
GNA Board of Trustees
Director Jake Forest
Representative Lib Johns
Secretary Ed Tedesco
Treasurer Joyce Bernard