Grandson living with Grandparents

We have a couple who are long time homeowners who have taken in their 19 year old grandson to live with them. They have a basement unit and the grandson occupies the lower level. He accesses the basement separately from the upper level.

The problem: The grandson has "many, many" friends who stop by at all times of the day or night. Some days there are multiple cars parked in the court area at one time, or cars come and go at brief intervals.

The friends walk to another complex in the neighborhood by taking a shortcut behind and between units, through adjoining properties. There is a public street which connects this property to the other complex.

The homeowners who actually live and own units here, out of respect for one another's privacy, do not themselves enter the areas behind units or between them. Thus, the grandson's invasion of this private (although common) space has been stressful.

Our governing documents do not speak to homeowners conduct or the behavior of their family/guests. The covenants speak to only prohibiting anything immoral or illegal. Of course, some suspect drugs may be attracting all the traffic, but it cannot be easily proven. Police cars have been observed at the residence from time to time over the last 6-8 months, but it isn't common knowledge as to the purpose for the visits.

We have several single, and elderly ladies living here. Some no longer feel safe.

The grandsparents have been spoken to on several occasions by the previous HOA president, but the grandparents are blind to the situation totally and either cannot or will not control the activities of their grandson.

One more piece of info. The grandfather is currently on the BOD.

Now that I've been placed in the HOA President position, I'm unsure as to where I need to go with the problem.
Do I ignore it until someone brings the issue up again? Do I pick up where the last president left off and resurect the issue at the next board meeting? Do I initiate revision of the rules and regulations to include language covering such situations? Can such language be retroactive?

Will appreciate anyone's thoughts on how best to deal with this situation.

Sorry this is so long.

stay on top of the situation, and continue where the previous admin stopped. nothing worse than restarting an issue over and over as boards change, the owners learn to simply outwait the complaints and get a fresh board next year.

Perhaps some landscaping is in order for your common areas: A new tree, flower bed, cactus (works for us in Arizona), etc. will limit the ability to pass between units. And, when the teens damage the new landscape feature, THEN you can charge them with something.

JoyceS1,

The more tranquil quality of life has certainly been compromised since the grandson has become a resident. The parking situation is probably one area you can address. For example, a rule can be established that limits parking to designated parking spots, unless there is a party. Unfortunately, this is probably going to be the next "disturbance" when the grandparents take a trip without grandson. The only other area I see you enforcing (without limiting the rights of the other residents) is in the grandson sleeping in the basement. Is the basement a walkout, is there a way to get out in case of a fire? Ownership in my COA was hinged upon signing a Certificate of Occupancy that prohibited sleeping in the basement, even if it is a walkout. So you may want to look into this, check with the borough in which you reside.

Best of Luck!!
GeraldT1

It's time to organize a pro-active Neighborhood Block Watch Program. Call 911 to report any suspicious activity and then get busy on your Neighborhood Block Watch Program. You just can't sit back and hope things will get better or disappear...you must become an activist to curb this type of activity in your neighborhood, as you describe. We have a similar situation in our own neighborhood and we have recently sent a very clear message to the son of the homeowner that we will not tolerate this type of activity. The situation continues to be closely monitored.