Fire Marshall Cited our Building !!

It depends, is there something in either the CC&R's or the Law that mandates that someone must allow the Fire Department access to their unit without a warrant when an emergency situation doesn't exist? If so then whatever section is applicable is where you go to force compliance. This is not the same as a rental property where the law says the landlord must allow inspections. What specifically did the Fire Marshall cite you for and what does the citation require you to do?

Not in compliance with what specifically?

Out of compliance by half our buildings exterior alarms are not working.... and that many homeowner's internal units aren't working and without access we can't get them repaired.... no alarms .. equals a smelly bbq.

Fire Codes let the Fire Department enforce. Civil Codes get the prosecutor to enforce or take them to court. Is there a Covenant or properly enacted rule that requires a homeowner to open their privately owned dwelling to the Association to inspect and or repair the fire alarm in their unit? Our units have interconnected alarms however there is nothing in the CC&R's or as far as I know the law that would prevent me from disconnecting my unit from that system.

You need an inspection by the fire marshall for the board to maintain common property? Can't blame the residents for being any less apathetic.

You might be charged with CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE if you violated the law when you disconnected it, conviction is another matter. If you were to go back and read my prior posts you would find I am a staunch defender of HOA rights. I am also a staunch defender of homeowner rights and having the HOA enter my home without a court order would if I were home be met with the most adverse (12 gage) consequences and if I weren’t home I would file trespass charges.

As a former volunteer EMT/Paramedic with the local fire department I am certainly not advocating disconnecting fire alarms from the master alarm and I'm all for following the codes and laws and Covenant's. And having lived through it I can tell you personally how scary it is. I was also home when the large apartment building I was living at the time caught fire from a lightning strike, because the fire was above the alarms I was notified of its presence by neighbors long before the alarms ever sounded.

The rules for multiple occupancy dwellings and rental properties are different from stand alone homes and this might indeed be a violation of the fire code. We recommend that HOA BOD's not get involved in criminal matters but call the police to deal with the perpetrators. If it is a violation of the law then the Fire Marshall has the power to enforce compliance.

I'm not even advocating that the HOA shouldn't have the power to repair the system and charge the H/O for the work but it must be done in a legal manor. Just because the CC&R's give you the right to enter units does not mean you can do it capriciously or arbitrarily. Depending on what your violation policy is you must follow it to the point where it allows you the right to cure the violation; the HOA cannot make up something that violates your civil rights to do so.

I'll freely admit that Nicole and I are not the best of friends and I sometimes question her motives. From her posting I'm not sure whether she's more upset that some of the fire alarms were not functioning and it might be a safety concern or that people had the effrontery not to be home to allow entry when the BOD told them to be. Hence my question of what exactly they were in violation of. Is there a covenant that says upon x number of days notification the homeowner must open their home for inspection of the fire alarm system or one that requires the homeowner to maintain the fire alarm system in their unit in a working manor?

Yes, I would say that I am more concerned about the lack of concern or apathy with homeowners.

And Glen.. lets let the past be the past. You don't need to keep asking my motives... ok?!! Let it go.

Skating or not.

The answer is yes.. we have direct cc&r's that state we have to give our homeonwers 14days notice ( which we did ) and it also states that homeowners must keep thier individual units alarms in working order. We have found in the past with our annual alarm testing when a block of units alarms were not going it was due to someone tampering with their own internal alarms to deactivate them. As crazy as that sounds, the fire marshall feels this is the causative issue with over 30 units not being active and that whole side of the buildings external alarm does not work.

We had to hire a private security guard to do walk throughs every 30 minutes due to our citation until it gets resolved.

OK Nicole now we have something to work with. Although as I stated earlier I wouldn't try to enter anyone's unit without a court order and I seriously doubt whether a licensed and bonded locksmith will open the doors for you without a court order but maybe you'll get lucky. At a minimum I would hire an off duty police officer to make sure that nothing is taken from the home.

I would arrange a time and post a notice on each and every unit you intend to enter and make repairs. I would cite in entirety the Covenants that require the H/O's compliance and the Covenant that gives the BOD the power to enter and make repairs if they do not do it and what the increased fees will be if they don't arrange to open their units. But before you do this I would run the whole mess by the HOA's attorney to make sure you're on solid legal footing.

Next year instead of using the newsletter and postings around the community that are too easy to ignore or say you didn't see, I would post the date of the inspection, the Covenants that require it and the penalty for non-compliance directly on everyone's door. Then use your postings around the community as a countdown to inspection day to keep the matter fresh in the H/O's minds and still I'll wager you'll have some that don't comply.