Northwest Condo & HOA Law Blog : Washington & Oregon Construction Defect Lawyer & Attorney : Barker Martin Law Firm : HOA's, Condos : Seattle, Portland

Yesterday, I was co-presenting at a Washington Community Association Institute (CAI) seminar on community building and annual meetings.  When discussing owner engagement in association matters, an attendee asked how a board should respond to "the crazies," and went on to describe a protracted dispute between several renegade homeowners and her board of directors.

As soon as the board member finished asking her question, several other attendees' hands shot up, wanting to share similar experiences within their homeowner communities.  The co-presenter and I ended up discussing the issue for several minutes before getting back to the main points of the presentation.

When I was driving home, I realized how often I have heard similar complaints from board members and association managers, with specific mention of "the crazies" within a community.  As I thought further, I came up with the following suggestions:

If you are a board member or manager, keep in mind:

• Not every complaint needs to be addressed.
• Not every issue must be resolved by the board or manager.
• Not every email needs an immediate reply.
• Not every phone call or in-person exchange at the mail kiosk or elevator requires an "official" response.

Just because a homeowner raises a community issue, it does not mean action has to be taken by the board or manager.  There are some issues that simply do not rise to the level of formal association action, no matter how strongly a homeowner protests, cajoles or threatens.

If a legitimate question or issue is raised by a homeowner during a chance meeting onsite or via email or phone call, a board member or association manager can respond by stating the issue will be discussed at the next board meeting.  When you get down to it, very few issues are truly emergencies requiring immediate action.  In reality, how much is ordinary business that can or should be conducted during formal association activity (i.e., board meeting)?  Think how refreshing it would be to let go of a significant percentage of email traffic by simply printing off the email, placing the issue raised on the agenda for the next board meeting, and discussing it then.  

If you are an "association crazy" or potential "crazy," keep in mind:

• Board members live within the same community (or own units/homes there) and pay the same assessments as you.
• Board members are volunteer (unpaid) lay persons without formal education or training in association and corporate governance.
• Board members are subject to the same governing documents as every other homeowner.
• Contrary to claims by some, board members are not out to rule the world or get kick-backs from each contractor and the management company.
• Threats to sue the board and association are usually counter-productive and result in added legal expenses and assessments to the association, to which you are a member. 

The key to reducing disputes between the "crazies" (and also rationale) homeowners and boards and managers is to rely strictly upon governing documents, set reasonable expectations and pursue enforcement actions consistently and uniformly.  If at the end of the day the homeowner(s) are still acting irrational, try following the suggestions described in an earlier post entitled "Dealing With Problematic Homeowners." 

Good luck within your own communities and let me know if you have additional suggestions I can add to my toolbox.

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Homeowner association boards often struggle with enforcing certain rules, such as improper parking, failing to pick up after pets, littering and similar conduct.  It is not that the violations are unimportant or do not affect the character of the community; rather, the cost and effort  required to catch violators often exceeds the resources available to non-profit homeowner associations.

However, there is a relatively inexpensive, yet highly effective, tool available to associations to combat this behavior:  electronic surveillance.  As shown in this KOMONEWS.com video story, one apartment tenant using a camcorder and YouTube is deterring illegal activity near his apartment complex.

Some associations may not wish to post on the Internet video of illegal conduct within or adjacent to their neighborhood, for fear of stigmatizing their community and possibly adversely effecting sales.  However, an association can still record the activity and forward it to the police.  To deter Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&R) violations, an association can record a common area where pet owners routinely fail to pick up after their dogs, or visitor parking spaces where unit owners park, or other locations of common violations.

An association can obtain a wireless web camera for well under $100.  The camera can be installed inside a common area (such as a clubhouse, office or other enclosed area) or even within an owner's unit.  A day's worth of digitized video can be reviewed by a board member or committee member in fast-forward time in only a few minutes.  If conduct that violates a rule or covenant is found on the video, then the board has compelling evidence to pursue an enforcement action.

Electronic surveillance can be a highly effective and cost-efficient tool for homeowner associations to use in enforcing their CC&Rs.

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This Blog posting from HOA Legi-Slate was just too good not to pass along...just when you think you've heard it all...

According to this NY Times Article, the use of guide horses, monkeys, goats, parrots, pigs, ferrets and even iguanas as service or comfort animals are growing in number. But, as a result, the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) is considering proposed regulations for the ADA which may limit certain types of comfort and service animals. The proposed final ADA regulations were accepted by the OMB on December 3 after soliciting over 5000 comments. Given the change in administration, the regulations may be quickly adopted or languish for months.

Here's a photo from the Times article:

Ann Edie and her guide miniature horse, Panda, checking out at Staples.

An HOA or condominium association should proceed very carefully if an owner requests an accommodation for a service or comfort animal and seek advice of counsel before denying any such request.  For further information, feel free to contact Barker Martin, P.S. by selecting the "Contact" tab at the top of this blog page.
 

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