By Andy Sevilla.

One day after Mark Decker sold his Bunton Creek Village home in eastern Kyle earlier this month, paperwork finalizing the transaction was rejected. The property had a $4,600 lien against it.

That came as a surprise to Decker.

He said a preliminary review of his home title in February, when it was first contracted, proved it to be free and clear. Hays County Clerk documents show a lien was placed on the home March 17 – just weeks before his closing.

Decker told the Hays Free Press it was a “horrible experience” to hear his homes’ sale was in jeopardy due to a lien he had never heard of before then.

A trip to the past revealed the source of the issue. In 2005, Kyle City Council approved the creation of a Public Infrastructure Improvement (PID) district for the then-planned Bunton Creek Estates subdivision. With the PID’s creation, the developer – Pacesetter Homes – could issue debt on the backs of future homeowners to build infrastructure for the planned development.

The debt was to be paid down through a financial assessment of no more than $3,202 (excluding interest) tied to each home in the Bunton Creek Village subdivision over a 30-year period, according to the June 21, 2005, city resolution creating the district.

Then-council member Todd Webster, who presently is running for Kyle mayor, moved to approved creation of the PID with expressed direction that it be guaranteed that home buyers be made aware of the terms, according to the July 5, 2005 city minutes. 

Then-council member Becky Selbera, who is presently defending her District 2 seat on the Kyle council, also voted for the creation of the PID. 

Typically, homeowners are notified of a PID when they purchase a home within the district, as called for by the Texas Property Code, and they are explained the full assessment amount and how it can be paid down.

Several distressed homeowners stormed City Hall at the April 1 council meeting, however, and told city leaders that no such disclosure was presented to them at the time of home purchase. All homeowners who spoke to council expressed dissatisfaction with how the matter was being handled.

Decker said he was not aware a PID existed in his neighborhood and was never asked to make payment on his assessment since living at Bunton Creek Estates. He bought the house in 2010.

The city’s 2005 resolution states that homeowners could make annual payments of $207 over a 30-year period to pay down the assessment levied on each home within the PID. 

The PID interest was sold by C4D-I, Ltd to PID Holdings, Ltd in November 2005, according to city attorney Ken Johnson, who said, after the sale, the latter company was responsible for collecting the assessments.

Such collections never occurred until this year when homeowners said they discovered liens on their homes. 

Decker said his home’s buyer’s title company tried filing paperwork the day after the sale and it was rejected because of the recently placed lien on all the properties. He then began informing his neighbors of the never-before disclosed financial obligations each homeowner has in that subdivision. 

Decker’s home eventually sold, though he had to pay the $4,630 lien first, plus several other fees and interest incurred when the property didn’t sell at closing. 

Several Bunton Creek Estates homeowners have mobilized and are considering retaining an attorney to advise the property owners on their legal rights regarding the PID assessments.

Larry Jones and his wife, Cheryl, hosted a meeting at their Bunton Creek Village home where 32 homeowners began the process of petitioning for the dissolution of the PID. They are also  seeking answers on whether the assessment could be removed as, according to them, no homeowner was advised on the existence of the PID.

Kyle council members will take the matter up at their May 6 meeting and potentially take action to address the PID and the assessments. 

The Bunton Creek Public Improvement District is the only one of its kind within the city, though Plum Creek developers have recently pursued the creation of a PID to help develop the second phase of the property. 

Council has not taken action on a potential PID for Plum Creek.