Frequently Asked Questions

MY QUESTION ISN'T ANSWERED HERE!  HOW DO I FIND AN ANSWER TO IT?
The website is still under development and we are attempting to identify the most often asked questions to add to this page.  If your question is about money, or anything related to your dues, you should call Steve Divine at 318-687-3408.  If your question concerns a neighborhood policy, a concern that you have, or you want to get more involved in making Hideaway a better place to live, we would like you to call one of our Board Members.  You can find their numbers on the Board page or a general contact number on our Contact us page.

NAME OF THE ASSOCIATION
Hideaway Homeowners Association in reality was formed as the "Cross Lakes Hideaway Harbor Estates Homeowner's Association".  It's a long name, so in operation, the shortened version of Hideaway Harbor Homeowners Association has been used for several years.  At the April 2010 Homeowner's meeting, the property owners authorized the board to legally register the trade name of Hideway Harbor Homeowners Association and that has been done.

WELCOME COMMITTEE--GETTING SET UP AND MEETING OUR GROUP.
Our desire is to welcome you to the neighborhood by meeting you in person, but we don't always know that you have arrived until some time after you've moved in unless you let us know.  Please call us and let us know you are new to the neighborhood.  The contact numbers are on the contact us page.  We want to enter your information in the database so that you can have access to your online account!

HOW DO I OBTAIN A NEW GATE CODE OR A REMOTE CONTROL FOR THE GATE?
Gate Operations are coordinated by Jeremy Waters and Roger Elkins. You will find their numbers on the contact us page.  Either of them can provide you with a new remote and assist you in obtaining a code for the gate.  Download instructions on the operation of the Privacy Gate HERE.

MINERAL RIGHTS AT HIDEAWAY HARBOR ESTATES
Homeowners in Hideaway have formed a Mineral Rights Committee to negotiate as a block with oil and gas producers for the lease of common areas and individual home lots for the Haynesville Shale Gas Exploration. No drilling will occur in Hideaway Estates but a well can not be drilled without the required lease agreements and we believe that together we can negotiate for a better deal as opposed to the individual.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS NEGOTIATION....please download the AUTHORIZATION FORM and send it to us by mail or provide it to one of the Board Members.

CAN I CHOOSE TO NOT BE A MEMBER OF THE HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION?  OPT OUT?
Property located within the boundary lines of Hideaway Harbor is subject to the restrictive covenants that pass along with the deed to the property.  There is specific language in the covenants whereas a property owner may not elect to opt out of the Association and is automatically a member by way of owning property in the Subdivision.

HOW MUCH ARE THE ASSOCIATION DUES AT HIDEAWAY?
Homeowners dues are established by covenant and may only be increased by a percentage and then, only with a vote of the homeowners at the annual meeting.  Currently, the dues are $25.00 per month, payable in advance with a $5.00 late penalty if not paid by the 10th of the month.  Some homeowners pay quarterly and some pay annually, but payment in advance is required.

WHAT DOES THE MONEY PAY FOR?
The Association provides services to the homeowners in the form of the maintaining the neighborhood streets, paying for street lighting, providing for and maintaining the private gate at the entrance of our neighborhood and keeping our neighborhood by a collective effort of committees.  As a group, we own the lake and other common areas and administer the business of the association.  Board members are non-paid, volunteer positions.  Accounts Receivables and Payables is handled by a contract bookkeeper, and part of our dues goes to pay for this website and the administration of the accounts ledger.  You do receive services in return for your dues.

IF I BUY A HOME IN HIDEAWAY, WHEN WILL I NEED TO PAY MY FIRST DUES?
Dues are payable beginning the first of the month of the month immediately following your move in date.  If you move in on January 8th, as an example, your dues are due by Feb 1 and late on the 10th.  After the 10th, you will owe $30.00 which includes the late fee.

I OWN TWO LOTS!  DO I NEED TO PAY DUES ON BOTH OF THEM?
Property owners are assessed dues based upon the lot that they own, based upon how the tax office assesses you.  If you have multiple pieces of property in Hideaway and you are receiving a separate tax bill from each property, then you need to pay dues on each lot.  In some cases, property owners have purchased vacant lots that adjoin their property and "combined" the properties into one at the Caddo Parish Tax office so as the Caddo Tax office will only assess the property as one parcel.  In that case, a property owner now only pays for one lot.  However, in order to qualify for this, the properties must join each other, one must be a vacant lot, and you must combine them together on the tax rolls at Caddo Parish.  Doing so, makes it difficult to later sell the lot separately without a division so you should strongly consider if there are advantages to you in doing this.   Multiple Properties that do not join are not eligible for this.

WHERE CAN I GET A COPY OF MY ACCOUNT STATUS?
Each homeowner has the ability to login to the database and view their dues account ledger by clicking on the LOGIN link on the menu header, entering your login and password and then viewing my account.  If you have lost your login and password, refer to that FAQ.

I DON'T HAVE  OR I FORGOT MY LOGIN TO ENTER THE MEMBER'S ONLY AREA.  HOW DO I GET IT?
When your account was established, we entered a default login and password for each homeowner.  If we have your email in our database, you can simply click on FORGOT PASSWORD and then enter your email and our system will email you the login and password information.  If you have not provided us with an email, then our system can't email this to you.  In that case, you will need to contact Steve Divine at 318-687-3408 and obtain a user name and password.  For security reasons, you will be required to provide some identifying information prior to obtaining the account information.

IF I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT MY DUES ACCOUNT, WHO DO I TALK TO?
If you have looked at the account ledger and have a question about your account,  you can call the Steve Divine, our Bookkeeper at 318-687-3408.  He will either be able to answer your question or refer you to the appropriate party who can do so.

WHERE DO I MAIL PAYMENTS FOR MY DUES? 
If you are mailing your payment, we want you to make your check payable to Hideaway Homeowners Association and mail your payment to our post office box at:

Hideaway Harbor Homeowners Association
P.O. Box 29552
Shreveport, Louisiana 71149

ARE DUES PAYMENTS TAX DEDUCTABLE?
To the best of our knowledge, dues are not tax deductible.  You receive services for the dues that you pay.

CAN DUES BE ADDED TO MY ESCROW ACCOUNT?
To our knowledge, the mortgage companies will not add your dues fees to your escrow on your mortgage and we have none that are being paid that way.  But that is a question for your mortgage company and not us.  We simply need you to pay dues to maintain the neighborhood.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I DON'T PAY THE DUES?
Property owners in Hideaway Harbor Estates are required by covenant to pay dues as established by the Association.  In addition to other legal remedies, the covenant provides that the Association may file a lien on your property, with legal fees and interest until the outstanding dues is paid.  The Association understands that there are circumstances that appear from time to time that create situations where we might all fall behind, but collectively, it is very important that you pay your dues in order to maintain the services in our neighborhood, and we are serious about taking a proactive approach to delinquent payers.

ACH AUTO BANK-DRAFT!  HOW DOES THAT WORK?
If you want to have your dues automatically drafted from your checking account, we will need you to download an authorization form and mail or fax it to the Bookkeeper.  You choose the date you want to have the funds drafted.  Keep in mind that the funds are due on the first of the month, and late after the 10th, so you will want to choose a date that will allow your payments to be drafted in time for your due date.   Each month, a clearing house that works between our two banks will draft your payment from your bank and then deposit it into our bank, then send us a report that the payment was made.

When we receive the payment report, we will then enter the payment information into our online database so that you can see the payment has been applied to your account.  The date the payment is applied is the date the payment was drafted from your account.

Because this is a manual process, downloading the report and applying the payments into our books, you may notice a lag between the time the payment is drafted from your account and it is posted to your Homeowners Statement...however we will always use the date that it is drafted as the posting date.

MEETINGS

WHEN WILL A HOMEOWNERS MEETING BE HELD?
Two meetings are held each year, typically in April and again in October.  Notice will be provided by a newsletter distributed through out the neighborhood, by a sign placement at the front gate and by notice on this website.

WHERE ARE THE MEETINGS HELD?
When a notice is posted that there will be a meeting, you will be provided with information on where it will be held.  Locations vary according to what is available to us, in anticipation of how many people will be involved.

WHO GETS TO VOTE AT THE MEETINGS?
The restrictive covenants determine the voting status of the members.  In summary, Property owners in Hideaway Harbor have one vote for each lot owned, providing that their dues account is paid current.  In cases where more than one person owns a lot, each person is a member of the association but together, as a whole, they vote 1 vote per lot.

The property developer, by a provision in the covenants and extended for a period of time by a majority vote of the homeowners is awarded 3 votes for each lot owned for subdivided land and 3 votes for each 7200 square feet of undivided property annexed into the subdivision.