Bill has homeowners questioning HOA, project assigned to itself
Lakeville HOA questioned over roof repair bill
Residents of a Lakeville townhome association are upset about a bill they received for roofing repairs most feel they don't need, and the HOA's ties who was hired to do the work.
LAKEVILLE, Minn. (FOX 9) - Dozens of people in Lakeville are questioning a huge bill their homeowner's association sent them this month for roof repairs.
Questioning millions
Creating work?:
Most of them don’t have any damage, and they wonder if property managers are creating work for their own roofers.
In all, it’s a $2.5 million job and every homeowner gets billed for more than $17,000.
Several of them told me they got short notice before the work started, and they’re still trying to stop it.
The eye-popping bill landed in Sarah Conlow’s mailbox on June 5 and contractors drove up while she was still processing it.
"The next day shingles were delivered," she said. "And four days later, they started work."
Where's the problem?
Damage documented:
After a July 2023 storm, an insurance adjuster visited the Avonlea Townhome community.
Their report documented damage to a roof, soft metal, and gutters and recommended full replacement.
Conlow eventually got the report, including 30 photos, all time stamped within seven minutes of each other.
She looks at her roof and her neighbors’ and wonders where the adjuster found the problems.
"I don't see any damage," Conlow said. "There are no shingles out of place, so we just have a lot of concerns about if this work is really warranted."
The eye test
Hard to find:
The development is made up of 32 buildings and spans more than a quarter mile on both sides of Cedar Avenue.
From above, SkyFox Drone recorded crews at work replacing roofs, but struggled to spot any damage.
Residents who got independent inspections by roofers found they had no damage.
So we tried to ask the project manager about it.
"I'm looking at these roofs and I don't see a lot of damage, if any," the reporter said. "Do you see some?"
"I'm not the proper person to talk to," the man who identified himself as the project manager told us.
Looking for answers
Nothing to say?:
The roofing contractor is Gittleman, which bills itself online as a FirstService Residential company.
FirstService manages the townhome association, which has Conlow asking even more questions.
"You know, why is it so costly?" she wondered. "And if it is warranted, where is the documentation? Did we get other bids? Was it more expensive with other companies? Was our property management company truly the best option?"
The property management company sent us a response late Monday.
They didn’t address what seems to be a limited scope of damage, but they said the association’s board approved the work, not FirstService.
And they gave a timeline of communication with homeowners between August 2024 and June 2025, although it doesn’t include a vote on the contract and shows nothing between November and this month.
The company is holding a virtual town hall for residents on Monday night.
Legal consequences?
Reform reduced:
The state senate passed an HOA reform bill that would’ve required property managers to get at least three bids for any work over $50,000.
But it never got through the House and what passed in the special session was only a bill creating an HOA ombudsman to resolve disputes, an office that opens in July.
Conlow and some other residents have hired an attorney, and they’re considering legal action.