Need Help: Sample Violation Letters

Rebecca unless the offense is serious or the person is doing something that must be halted right away which would require a demand notice; then the first letter should be a friendly reminder notice asking for their help in being a good neighbor and reminding them of what they agreed to when they purchased in your community. The purpose of the letter is to get them to do what you want with as little fuss and muss as possible.

Everyone has had a bad day or is new to Association living and can easily goof about when to take in the garbage cans and a friendly reminder goes a lot farther than a dictate from on high: "Do this or we'll fine you $25.00 a day until you do!" That type of communication IMO immediately generates an "Oh yea, you can't do that." or "I'll show you." or "Who appointed you king/queen." response and what is a simple matter suddenly becomes WWIII as the H/O takes a stand on "principle".

You should have a written set of rules and each H/O should have a copy of them along with a copy of the enforcement policy for how violations will be handled. In ours we noted that you only get one "friendly" reminder per violation, i.e. if we send a reminder about garbage in Jan and you do the same thing in April then it automatically goes to step two a fine; good record keeping about violations and actions is a must.

This is a violation notice posted by another member here in a previous post however if your documents allow it then you could impose a fine after giving a reasonable time to cure the violation instead of threatening legal action:

Dear _______________________

It is the obligation of the Board of Directors to ensure that each Homeowner in our Community is adhering to the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CCR’s) set forth in our Documents. Our Community is striving to continue to be a beautiful place in which to reside harmoniously with our neighbors. We are all bound to conform to the Articles of our Covenants.

We believe that you are a good neighbor and would not knowingly violate our CCR’s. Please be advised that the following Covenant Violation exists:

The Violation falls under Article _____________, Section ______________ and is specified as:
_________________________________________________________________________________

1. According to our Declaration, the Violation must be remedied within fourteen (14) days from the date of this notification.
2. You can also notify the Board of Directors at the address above in writing, or at any of the following contact numbers, of the course of action you intend to remedy the Violation, with a specific completion date (within that 14 days).
3. You also have the option of having a hearing before the Board of Directors to discuss or refute the specified Violation (within those 14 days).

Unfortunately, any Violation which goes untended and has not been addressed with the Board of Directors by 14 days must go forward to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Attorneys for legal action. The cost of which will be the obligation of the Homeowner.

We look forward to working together to in the continuing effort to keep our Community beautiful and protect the property values of all our neighbors’ homes. If you have any questions or concerns about the above matter, please do not hesitate to contact any of the BOD Members as listed below. The Board of Directors is in place to serve our Community.

Dear Glen; We are a voluntary HOA and the only rule I can find in writing about conduct in our community is: “No nuisance of any kind shall be maintained or allowed on any lot, nor shall any use of noxious or dangerous to the health or safety of the surrounding or joining property or the owners thereof." I cannot find anywhere that offers a fine policy or violation compliance follow-up action. What kind of letter can you propose for us? Thanks, DeeW3