Letter: Communities need dues to function

Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.

I must disagree with the Las Vegas Sun's Feb. 27 editorial, "Your dues - or your home." If a large number of homeowners refused to pay their dues, a community could disintegrate and safety could be at stake as well. I live in a gated community with armed guards. We cannot allow people to stop paying their dues. We need the money to function.

We have more than 2,000 homes and a big budget.

I think you are confused about the difference between dues and fines. A homeowners' association cannot anymore foreclose because of unpaid fines, but it can foreclose for unpaid dues, which pay the normal operating costs of the subdivision or condo.

Your editorial would encourage anarchy in the running of a community. In fact, your argument is similar to many attempts to stop paying federal income taxes because people felt that the government was spending money on the wrong things. As you know these protests did not end well for the protesters.

Matthew B. Horween, Las Vegas

archive