Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by James CD1 on July 13, 2008 at 15:09

For more info on this group Jacmac@gmail.com

Permalink Reply by sesport on July 13, 2008 at 15:16

MTA - jacmac invited me to email him. He was very helpful and sent me their basics. What location (township, range, section) are you in?

Permalink Reply by Renee S Cd1 on July 13, 2008 at 15:52

MTA - In case you or others missed this, in the thread titled "How Neighborhood Associations in NW LA could be MUCH Better" Jmac wrote on July 11: "Your HOA's are in fact doing something. As soon as your HOA makes final decisions on joining a group, they will let you know and distribute non-binding letters of intent. As part of an HOA in SE Shreveport, our HOA board officially made the decision to join the ShreveCentre Coalition (SCC) Tuesday night and will have the NBLOI's out next week. With HOA's being run by volunteers, it takes more time to get things done than it would for a business to do it. Don't panic, don't assume - contact or phone a neighbor to get info." OK it's me again - I'm on the board of our HOA, and I can verify all your SE Shreveport boards are working with the SCC and preparing to contact each of their homeowners very soon. My board will have a letter going out to our homeowners next week. To all SE Shreveport HOA homeowners, find out who your board members are and contact them for the status of your association's progress. If you don't know who your board members are, shame on you - you should be attending every single homeowners meeting at least on an annual basis. Run for a position on your board - that's the best way to be in the loop on everything affecting your rights as a homeowner. Also, please pass the word - the ShreveCentre Coalition does NOT charge a fee. The experienced attorney and other professional individuals who will make up the negotiating committee have graciously donated their services. This is an honest organization whose only interest is helping the citizens of Shreveport. The SCC is still in the process of forming a negotiations committee, the HOA's are still in the process of notifying their homeowners and distributing non-binding letters of intent. As Jmac said, it takes time to get things done. The Haynesville Shale is an important event - too important for it to be handled in a shoddy manner. The SCC's intent is to join your property with that of homeowners across SE and central Shreveport to form a total acreage position. The negotiating committee will then receive bids on this total amount to achieve the best possible combination of up-fron bonuses, royalty percentages, and favorable lease clauses to benefit all homeowners. Please contact your board members for information and don't spread hearsay about the SCC. Sorry for the long post - just my two cents. Thanks, Renee Strange

Permalink Reply by MTA on July 13, 2008 at 16:10

Thanks very much for the information, Renee. I hope everyone realizes that the other organization (SWSHC.org) charges a 4% fee and I think that when you sign on with them, it is binding. It is also my opinion that these organizations that are charging a fee are not necessarily getting top dollar. Sesport person, I will post my township, range and section when I find it. Our neighborhood did start organizing a month ago, and I am sure they are involved with the SCC.

Permalink Reply by sesport on July 13, 2008 at 18:41

to answer your original question ... the list of neighborhood & homeowner associations is listed on the Shreveport Shale website. I didn't see my own HOA listed, though.

Now, about the above. I have that agreement (titled AGREEMENT TO RETAIN) on paper here in front of me, it says "Subdivision fee schedule to retain GEM as your representative for lease negotiations, based on the aggregate acreage for the group. Initial one only. (? don't understand this)
4% of the lease bonus and no royalty."
The 4% fee isn't SWSHC's fee, it's the fee paid to the negotiator. I've seen no mention of a fee to join SWSHC.

Now, I'm looking at the BINDING AGREEMENT for Haynesville Shale Landowners, Inc. and it does say, "pay a non-refundable initiation fee of FIFTY AND NO/100($50.00) DOLLARS ... good for 3 years and annual dues of $25.00 on the second and third anniversaries of membership."

It helped me to put these side by side and start to compare what they were saying and sort it out, decide the pros & cons of each, start to figure out what I could live with. Now, hopefully I'll see something from SCC and I'll decide.

And, yes, SWSHC's agreement does look binding, as do other agreements I've seen. I'm sure there will be a binding contract with anyone you choose, whether as a group or individual, as most professionals will require one.

Hope this helps and good luck

Permalink Reply by sesport on July 13, 2008 at 18:07

Renee - I won't get started with my opinion about some boards, mine in particular. At the very least, the word should have been sent out to all homeowners in the Assocs. that their boards were being proactive. For the record, I WAS attending all monthly HO meetings until our board decided they only needed to talk to & hear from us once every 3 or 4 months. (They don't even want to provide minutes of the meetings they're supposed to be having, IF they're even having them.) There wasn't even a call put out in my HOA for volunteers to help with this. That said, I'll get off my soapbox.

Hearsay gets started, and is to be expected, when people don't have tangible info in their hands. Want the hearsay to stop, get the info out. SWSHC might not be the best deal, but at least I found their info. As I've said before, my HOA was never listed as being involved with SESHOA or SCC and I'm not going to sit around and say, "Gee, there goes my bus."

jmac did email some info to me, and I am thankful. I know your hearts are in the right place and I know, believe me I know, HOA board work isn't easy. You're all in my prayers as you work on this.

Permalink Reply by sesport on July 14, 2008 at 4:47

Renee- Believe me, I have talked to many of my neighbors and nobody has heard anything about our HOA's involvement with the SCC. My HOA wasn't listed in the article as being in that group, or SESHA's group either. I couldn't find my HOA listed on the city's site (List of Neighborhood Associations). I asked the property manager in the HOA's business office, she said she didn't know. Sooo ... some of us decided we're not going to wait at the bus stop, watch the bus go by, and say, "Gee, there goes our bus."

I won't get on my soapbox about how my HOA operates, I'll just say they recently published a newsletter saying they were no longer holding monthly homeowner meetings (and for the record I regularly attended those), the meetings would now be about every 3-4 months. The next meeting is scheduled for Sept., and the last date of any minutes I could get from a Board meeting was for May. Also, have served on our Board, I respect the privacy of our Board members and will not call them at home unless they have invited me to do so. My board has made it very clear they don't want to talk to homeowners, and they don't want the homeowners talking to them. Real neighborly, huh?

Now, jmac has since been kind enough to email me the information he has for Jackson Square, but that's only after I searched long and hard for info & details about SCC. When I saw SWSHAC's website, I thought surely SCC must have something out there.

If you don't want people to spread hearsay, you've got to keep them informed and put tangible (printed or printable) information in their hands.

By the way, are you free to tell me the names of the professionals that are working with SCC? I haven't seen that either and I like to check references & credentials, etc.

Finally, I did see that SCC ("Group") will work without compensation, SWSHAC has only said it is accepting donations. On another SCC HOA document, I did see mention that any legal fees will be paid at a flat rate, but it doesn't say how much and by whom. Will the HOA's pay from their coffers or will each individual pay?

At any rate, and as I've said before, I believe that everyone will have to pay for some professional services at some point. I'm not against that, it's their livlihood. It also protects the client, if something goes awry the client has recourse, and it protects the professional, there are plenty of people out there who will holler about how they were duped when in essence they didn't clarify info & comprehend.

Folks are going to have to do some math here and figure out if it's better for them to pay no money up front and give up 4% of a signing bonus, or pay a flat fee up front, out of pocket. And keep in mind this is all a big blessing, give praise that you've been blessed.

Oops, sorry, I was just as long winded.

Permalink Reply by Renee S Cd1 on July 14, 2008 at 5:56

sesport person,

In reply to your thread SE Shreveport start a group?, Jmac responded "Let me state clearly ShreveCentre Coalition (SCC) charges no fees and will not charge any fees. Any contrary information is mistaken or malicious." Me here: The front page of the Times today quotes Larry Farley of the SCC "we're still getting organized". By the end of this week there should be more information coming from the SCC and your HOA. By the way, your board members do not have the right to ask you not to call them at home. Unless you are calling too early/too late/or being a pest. Let's all give the SCC time to finish organizing. Rome was not built in a day.

Permalink Reply by sesport on July 14, 2008 at 17:51

Renee, thank you for pointing out that article. I haven't looked at the paper yet today. Please keep in mind though, not everyone takes the paper, or they may take it on the weekends only, or they may not have immediate access to it on the internet. And there are some older citizens, like my parents, who are just figuring out the internet or are scared to death of it. And there are still way too many people posting and asking how they can find info.
Again, I do NOT contact any board members at anytime unless I've been invited to do so. I bring my business to our business office, and I used to address our board in the proper forum at homeowners' meetings.
I believe I quoted the documents correctly, I wouldn't do otherwise. I stated the SCC is NOT charging a fee ("working without compensation"). Are you saying I was incorrect that legal fees will have to be paid?
I see my bus coming, I've seen an Application for Public Hearing that includes an item to force pool. Again, if you need more volunteers I gladly offer some of my time and can probably bring along a few others.
I am also urging people to read, think, compare, do the math, talk to others, and then decide & be happy about it.

Permalink Reply by Renee S Cd1 on July 14, 2008 at 18:28

sesport person,

Yes, you would be incorrect in saying legal fees will have to be paid to the attorney for the SCC. He is donating his services. I plan to ask if there are areas where they need volunteers. Thanks for your offer.

Permalink Reply by sesport on July 14, 2008 at 18:58

I clearly stated that SCC will work without compensation. Please reread again what I posted, I never said legal fees were for SCC. I said an SCC HOA document stated this. Perhaps that particular HOA is going to have their own attorney look at what the SCC presents? If this is the case, I can see now that some people will be upset because they may be confusing what the SCC does and the seperate HOA's may do.
Which is why I keep saying communication is essential.

Permalink Reply by Renee S Cd1 on July 14, 2008 at 19:00

If your HOA votes to join the SCC, there will be no need for a separate attorney.

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