HOA Sold Me Their Dried-Up Lake for $9,000 — Then Tried to Take It Back After a $41M Find
Chapter 2
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"It's become a burden," she told me. "Storm runoff crossed the property. People dump tires there, and the association paid to cut brush around it. Restoring the lake would cost more than the board wanted to spend. They wanted the whole parcel gone."When I asked whether 9,000 was really the full price, she smiled. "Mr. Bennett, you'd be doing us a favor."I walked down the old boat ramp alone. There were beer cans, torn fishing line, and the sun-bleached frame of a lawn chair, but there were deer tracks, too. Birds moved through the reeds around a shallow wet patch. I could picture clean banks, a few benches, maybe a safe pond where parents could bring their kids without buying a membership. For the first time in months, I wanted to build something.Halfway around the shore, I noticed an older man watching from beside a lawn mower. His left hand rested on a cane. I recognized him before he recognized me: his name was Walter Hayes, the groundskeeper who had opened the gate for Lucy years before.When I reminded him about the bluegill, he smiled and said Susan had insisted on helping him carry trash bags before we left. His smile faded when I said I might buy the place. He glanced toward Patricia, who was talking on her phone above the boat ramp."Get your own person to read everything," he said, "and ask for the maintenance records."I asked what was wrong with the lake. Walter rubbed his thumb across the top of his cane. "Depends on which year you ask them about."That warning stayed with me. I hired a local attorney named Rebecca Shaw to check the sale. She confirmed that the association owned the parcel and had voted to sell it. She made them put the cleanup duties in writing and checked that the deed included whatever mineral rights the association owned.Patricia complained about the extra week. Rebecca told her that rushing was not part of the agreement.There was no promise that the lake would hold water again, and I would take it as it stood. I understood that. What bothered Rebecca was a separate sheet that said the association could enter the property whenever it wished for community purposes. She crossed that out. Patricia argued for 20 minutes before agreeing to a narrow right to inspect one existing storm drain with advance notice.At closing, Patricia pushed the keys across the table as if she were getting rid of something dirty. "You know the houses aren't included, right?" she joked.The board treasurer laughed. I signed, paid the $9,000 from money I had saved for a replacement truck, and carried the deed home in a grocery bag because rain had started falling. Lucy bought me a blue folder that evening.During the first week, I hauled out 43 tires. I found two shopping carts, a washing machine, and enough fishing line to fill a bucket.