CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – When Ken Baker purchased his home in Timber Springs in 2022, he was glad to see there would be no homeowner’s association. As he signed to purchase the home, he said, an HOA was never mentioned, verbally or contractually.

But a year later, in February 2023, Baker got a letter in the mail saying a meeting would be held to turn over an HOA from the developer to the residents of Timber Springs. He and several neighbors were caught off guard.

“Collectively, a lot of us were very upset; we did not want this HOA,” Baker said. “My redline for buying this home was no HOA.”

It turns out, though, the developer had referenced an HOA for Timber Springs on plat maps for the subdivision filed with the city. The plat map for Timber Springs Section 1, filed in 2006, states, “The homeowners association shall be responsible for the maintenance of all open space area and all islands in the right of way area.” The HOA is referenced again on plat maps for Section 2, 3 and 4, filed in 2012, 2018 and 2022 respectively.

That raises some questions: Why were homeowners surprised, who should have told them, and do they now have any choice in the matter?

How an HOA works

An HOA is managed by members of the subdivision and exists in part to collect money to maintain common areas. However, they also often exist to restrict homeowners with rules about what can and can’t be done with one’s home.

To better understand how an HOA is established, Clarksville Now spoke with Nashville-based attorney Adam LeFevor, who said an HOA is a nonprofit organization. For an HOA to be compliant as a nonprofit, one needs to file a charter with the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office. Until that happens, there is no legal homeowner’s association corporation. Once the HOA is compliant, it is governed at the state level by the Nonprofit Corporations Act.

The disclosure of an HOA in a housing agreement can vary case by case, LeFevor said. However, when a resident is going through the typical process of buying a house through a real estate agent, they’ll more than likely use a Tennessee Association of Realtors (TAR) contract, which has a disclosure section. In this section, one of the questions sellers are asked is if whether an HOA is recorded.

HOA turned over to residents

During the early 2023 meeting, Timber Springs residents listened as an attorney explained that the developer, Main Street Investment, had self-managed the common property at Timber Springs since 2006, while not turning any fees over to the residents until then.

According to those in attendance, the attorney told residents that whether they go through with the HOA was up to them, and he left shortly after. The residents then took it upon themselves to vote, and they voted to reject the HOA being developed.

However, in February this year, Timber Springs residents received another letter. The letter said Main Street Investment filed to establish an HOA for Timber Springs through the Secretary of State’s Office in December 2023, months after the community voted against it, according to documents sent to Clarksville Now.

The residents’ vote wasn’t honored because the HOA hadn’t yet been filed yet with the Secretary of State’s Office. The residents couldn’t legally vote yet since there was no legal homeowner’s association corporation. Essentially, the HOA would have to meet in order to have a formal vote to disband, with two-thirds majority.

Clarksville Now has reached out to Main Street Investment through their attorney.

Residents protest HOA

After receiving the second letter, Baker took the matter to the Clarksville City Council in February. He laid out the details and asked for the council to discuss the matter and possibly intervene.

“I think there should be something put in here (a city ordinance) that says if a HOA is not disclosed, those individuals should not have to be forced into a HOA,” Baker said during the council meeting. “I’m the type of person that, if I have a house, I would like to do with my house as I please. I am not a burden on anybody, I don’t have anything excessive in my house, I just want to be left alone.”

DON’T MISS A STORY: Sign up for the free daily Clarksville Now email newsletter

The next week, other residents of Timber Springs attended the City Council’s regular session meeting and protested the creation of their HOA. Since then, Clarksville Now has spoken with a number of the residents, including Anthony Bass.

Bass is a longtime Clarksville resident and he closed on his house in Timber Springs in March. The first-time homeowner told Clarksville Now that leading up to the purchase, the possibility of an HOA wasn’t discussed.

“I’m disappointed with the whole process,” Bass said. “I could’ve been a person that was completely against an HOA, not to say that I was, but I could’ve been. … I would have preferred for everything to be put on the table before closing on the house.

“I literally moved in, then 20 days later, the HOA was in effect. There’s a $25 monthly due, which $25 is not a crazy amount, but it adds up over time. Especially when you have to get used to paying your monthly mortgage, I wasn’t expecting $25 to be added on to my costs.”

‘This information should be disclosed’

The HOA at Timber Springs comes with a list of covenants and restrictions, along with the $25 monthly fee.

“I’ve lived all throughout the world, I’ve bought multiple homes throughout the United States, this is the first time I’ve seen covenants and restrictions like this,” Baker told Clarksville Now. “The State of Tennessee only requires the seller to disclose these restrictions to home buyers if they ask for them.”

Baker listed some of the covenants and restrictions he found excessive, including that the HOA has to approve yard or exterior ornaments, along with their color and size. Another gives the HOA the right to remove violating items from a homeowner’s property without being subject to trespassing laws.

NEWS TIPS: Do you have a local news tip? Email news@clarksvillenow.com or call us at 931-648-7720.

“Now, if I’m a first-time buyer or if I’m moving around, I’m not going to know these restrictions are there. … This information should be disclosed every single time someone purchases a home. Just because it’s on record downtown doesn’t mean I understand that it’s there.”

Baker said the process as it stands now is a disservice to all service members who come to Clarksville to purchase homes, potentially unaware that they are buying in an HOA neighborhood.