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January 2025

Board Corner

HOA 2025 PLANNED ACTIVITIES
Nena Perkin, HOA Board Vice President
Happy New Year HOA residents! We now have 2024 in our rear-view mirror, and we look forward to another year of continuing our status as a highly desirable neighborhood.

We appreciate our homeowners' attendance at our Annual Meeting on November 14th. For those of you that were not able to attend, please visit the website for access to the presentation and the minutes. The City will begin working on the Westside Blvd. median landscaping in late February.

As you may have heard, annual dues will increase from $220 to $240 in 2025 to enable us to cover our expenses. See the Manager's Corner article below for more details. Please keep in mind that the HOA has a right to foreclose on a property for nonpayment of dues. The Board does not take this decision lightly and would like to avoid it. However, we are keeping this option open for four of the properties with the highest outstanding balances.

We need additional volunteers to step up and assist with the committees that keep the HOA going. Board members serve a two-year term. All of our Board members have met or exceeded this time frame. We encourage you to take a look at our volunteer opportunities and consider joining one of our committees. We are in need of someone with Wordpress.org skills to help with maintaining the website and publishing the newsletters.

Sadly, our Communications Team chair, Joan Gillis, lost her battle with cancer and passed away on December 2nd (see "In Memoriam" below). We mourn her loss and miss her greatly.

Many of our residents enjoy walking our trails and our neighborhood streets. Please inspect your properties for any potential hazards, such as raised sidewalks or overhanging limbs/plants. Raised sidewalks are especially hazardous and may cause injury to our residents. Maintenance of sidewalks on a homeowner's property are the owner's responsibility.

Thank you to all of you for maintaining your properties and property values. Below is an example of a neglected property in a neighborhood just down the street without an HOA. Thankfully, we have no properties looking like this in our neighborhood.

Enjoy 2025!
Landscape and Maintenance Committee
John Currier, Landscape and Maintenance Committee Chair

The Board of Directors approved replacement of the irrigation lines along the east side of Seven Bar. Work should begin in late January or early February. Irrigation lines along both sides of Sierrita were replaced in January 2024. The irrigation line replacement project should be completed in 2026 with the replacement of lines on the west side of Seven Bar. The system lines were last replaced in 2010 through 2012.

The wet heavy snowstorm in early December resulted in numerous limbs coming down on the sidewalks, roads and trails. Yellowstone crew removed the downed limbs in a timely manner within three days of the storm. Additional trimming of dead limbs that remain in the upper reaches of the trees will occur when they can be identified after sprouting leaves this spring. HOA trees along roads and trails will be trimmed back as usual in the spring to ensure that they meet City code for height clearance.

Several trees will be removed and replaced this spring. Bradford Pears and Purple Leaf Plum trees planted over 30 years ago are starting to lose their vitality and will need to be replaced to maintain the tree coverage along our roads. Additionally, some shrubs will be replaced and new ones planted along the roads and trails.

The Yellowstone crew is normally on-site Monday afternoons. They do a litter cleanup along Seven Bar and Sierrita and the entrances to the communities. Landscape maintenance, trimming bushes and shrubs, is also done along a section of the HOA property. The maintenance is on a 4-week rotation during the non-growing season and a 3-week schedule during the growing season.

Manager's Corner

Corder and Company
Money Matters from your Managers
Jack Corder, Managing Member/Qualifying Broker

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The dues notices were mailed out this year to all of the homeowners as we had a number missed last year when we tried emailing the dues statements. Please watch your mail for your statement.

One thing has changed this year is that the dues have increased to $240 a year. Maintenance needs and cost of insurance and landscaping replacements and irrigation and long-term projects are the biggest reasons for the increase that was approved by the Board and presented at the annual meeting in November of 2024.

We want to remind all of our homeowners that the Board of Directors has set a threshold of $500 for a homeowner to be sent to collections. That means, IF your balance reaches $500 or more you will get a pre-collection notice from our office with a timeline for a response. If you do not contact our office, then at the end of the time period given in the letter your account will be sent to the collection service the association uses. Over the last two years the service has collected $17,225 for the association. The service will charge you, the homeowner, all costs of collection so that may add several hundred dollars to your balance. If your account is in arrears, please contact our office and let Michelle know that you would like to set up a payment plan, but this MUST BE DONE BEFORE the account is sent to the collection service!

As of December 31, 2024, Seven Bar North HOA had over $66,000 in past due balances. There are 46 homeowners with a balance of $350 or MORE. The estimated total balance in outstanding dues as of December 31 was $66,600.

You can help the association by paying on time and in full when you get your dues statement. There are a number of ways to pay:
1. Online with an E-Check,
2. Online with a credit card.
3. Use your bank’s Bill Pay system to send a check,
4. You can mail in a check or,
5. Even do it the old-fashioned way and drop a check by our office at 2207 Golf Course Rd in Rio Rancho and have a cup of coffee with us.

Hoping you and your family THRIVE in 2025!
Compliance
Michael McGuffin, Association Manager

During the recent compliance drive, it was noted that a lot of the Homeowners in the association took advantage of the city’s free refuse pick up that took place at the beginning of last month. We would like to thank all the Homeowners who took advantage of this free service. However, more than a few homes have yet to clean up their leaves / pine needles / tree refuse in their front yard or have multiple trash bags in their front yard. Please be aware that if this is not cleaned up by 19th of January, expect to receive a violation for excess refuse in your yard.

Compliance numbers are low at this time of the year. Most of the neighborhood compliance issues are vehicle related. Working on vehicles on your personal property is only permitted in garages or enclosed yards where you cannot be seen from the street or neighboring units. Please do not park any portion of your vehicle in the landscaped parts of your yard unless you have been authorized by the ACC. If you are going to have a Trailer / RV in the association, please reach out to the management company @ 505-896-7700 and let us know. If you are not on the list of active / approved RVs in the association, you will receive a violation. If you have questions about RVs in relation to 7 Bar North, please reach out to the office or check the CC&Rs and additional policies on the Seven Bar North website.
Greater Albuquerque area has 1,935 homes on the market. We’re seeing homes on the market longer than usual, with some sellers offering incentives to get deals done. Seven Bar North is still proving to be a highly desired neighborhood!
In Memoriam
Joan Gillis

It is with heavy hearts that we remember Joan Gillis, a devoted volunteer and cherished member of our community. Joan volunteered on every HOA committee over several years, chairing the Compliance Committee and the Communications Team. She dedicated her time and boundless energy to improving our neighborhood. Joan was civic minded, had a great sense of aesthetics, and cared deeply about our community. She was frequently seen walking our trails with Parker, her black labrador, at her side. Joan's warm smile, quick wit, and unwavering commitment will always be remembered.

Joan leaves behind a legacy of kindness and service. She believed in the power of community and her influence will be felt in our neighborhood for years to come.

We extend our deepest condolences to Joan's family and loved ones. May they find comfort in knowing how deeply she was admired and appreciated by everyone she touched.

Rest in peace, Joan. You will be profoundly missed.
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