HOA fees are killing me

[Dan Grossman]

I own a couple small commercial properties in a mixed used building in the SOMA area of San Francisco. The top two floors of the building are apartments and the bottom floors are four commercial spaces, I own two (850 sq/ft each). The monthly HOA fees are north of $1,000 AND they charged a special assessment fee to fix the outdated fire alarm system for almost $9,000 in September. The worst part about it is my tenants in the commercial spaces don't get the advantages of the residential residents, such as use of the parking garage (there is very limited street parking in SOMA), the fob remote system to enter the apartment building (which always seem to break), etc. So for 2022 I will have paid OVER $20,000 in HOA fees, but for what? Water?

I have written the board members of the HOA and haven't heard a response. I have contacted the other two commercial property owners in the building and one is on board to create a separate HOA just for the commercial spaces but the other owner is reluctant to do anything (I think he is a member of the HOA board). On top of everything they announced a raise in HOA fees to $1,200 for 2023!

Should I hire a lawyer? The other owner who wants to start the commercial HOA says if all commercial tenants agree to separate from the building HOA they can start their own, but the other owner is not on board. How can I go about trying to reduce my HOA fee and solving this issue of paying for a service I don't receive?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Best,

Dan