Frustrated...no backbone on compliance

Do you have a documented compliance violation/notification/fine process which has been shared with the owners and is in place.

If you do, you need not discuss giving someone a pass in a board meeting, you simply follow the process. Most compliance processes stipulate the owner has a right to have a hearing before the Board before the out-of-compliance issue is enforced. In that way, the owner can be heard and, hopefully, the Board takes appropriate action. Was it a violation? Has it been cured? If not, why not? When will it be cured? If not cured, the fine is applied.

If the Board discusses every 'excuse' which is presented, you have no consistency in place and you could be accused of unfair and inconsistent treatment. Take the consideration of the plea for 'a pass' out of the hands of the Board and execute the compliance process for every violation, in the exact same way, every time.

Rule enforcement and preparing budgets are usually two of the most difficult challenges for an HOA board. People think the rules apply to everyone else but them, and they want the association to do everything as quickly and cheaper as possible because assessments are already "too high.". I heard that one a lot during my years on the board.

These days with people wanting to sue in a heartbeat over a ham sandwich because there isn't enough meat, I understand why your colleagues are intimidated. Especially if a notice was sent to the next door neighbor who then whines about you doing him or her a solid by ignoring it or threatening to have you recalled. You've often written about your colleagues not wanting to do much any way, so why are you surprised at hearing this?

Yes, rules need to be enforced because everyone agreed to comply when they purchased their homes - if they didn't bother to read them at that time, that's their problem. However, that doesn't mean the rules shouldn't be reviewed from time to time. Maybe you do have some that are outdated because tastes have changed. They may need to be tweaked or some added to make them clearer, or dropped altogether because they don't work and never have.

This is a work in progress, so the next step could be for you to take a good look at those excuses. What seemed to come up over and over and what areas seem to be ripe for violations? Perhaps you should call all those people in and ask point blank why they feel the board should disregard this rule? If you ignore this obe, why should you respond the next time THEY howl about what someone else is doing?

Take a polli of the community or have a special homeowners - preferably both - and brainstorm what rule enforcement should mean. If there are areas that are more obnoxious than others, does the current rule (if there is one) need to be strengthened? Is it time to establish a fining schedule? If you have one, should the fines be increased?

Ask the homeowners the hard questions along with what their expectations are for themselves and their neigh. If they want this rule, but not that one, they need to consider the implications of that decision and then you'll know how to proceed.

By the way, this isn't a one shot activity. Rules and rule enforcement should be reviewed regularly as people came tastes change. If you can get a good process started niw, your successors will continue it (hopefully.). Giving homeowners a voice in the process could prompt more compliance. Good luck!

But, a short school bus, not licensed commercially, is not a prohibited vehicle. It is not an RV, commercial vehicle, or boat. And, BTW, you should add trailers to your list of vehicles which may not be parked in the driveway.

My question is, why was a compliance letter sent in the first place? Perhaps the reviews by the Board should take place on the front end.

I own a 2018 RAM 3500 dually to transport my 5th wheel and its weight is 11,400 pounds. It is not registered as a commerical vehilce. You gonna to cite me?

Another reason why I wouldn't live in an HOA.

I ran for my Board because of "Violation issues". This may or may not work for you, but my biggest issue was that our PM was handing out an excessive number of Violations (which were beginning to cost the HOA substantial money). A hurdle I had to get past was that the other Board members felt like we risked getting sued for Selective Enforcement if we tried to 'control' the PM.

Nonsense. The Board has the right (and duty) to discuss Violations with the PM and direct them to focus on whatever Violations that the Board deems important{1}. But some of the Violations being cited were trivial BS, and even if there was no fine involved, a lot of residents were becoming very upset over stuff like "properly edge your lawn" (when the attached photograph showed a beautifully maintained lawn) etc. I'm not in law enforcement, but I believe it's commonly accepted that law & order works best when the people respect the law.

Not necessarily a solution I'd recommend, but I didn't get along with the PM and he decided to quit unexpectedly. I / the Board has worked closely with the new PM, breaking them in and telling them about the things we want to see enforced. Part of this involves *taking a good picture of the Violation*. It's perhaps only a partial solution for Michael, but I guess what I'm trying to say is: our residents are substantially happier when we don't hand out bullshit violations.

The other part of Michael's problem is, I think, yeah: his Board has no backbone on compliance. Parking a bus, a boat, and RV, etc, in the driveway when it's an explicit Violation - that kind of stuff should not be allowed to stand.

You might ask me: "but what is a bullshit Violation?" and that's a fair question. To me, a *non*-bullshit Violation is something that interferes with other residents' enjoyment of their property, or negatively affects their property values. A bus in the driveway is an eyesore (I'm assuming it is indeed prohibited by CCRs). A dead tree - or a tree that might be infected with Oak Wilt - or a falling-down fence, etc - is the kind of thing I'd hope most people would handle on their own. But if they don't - the Board really needs to work to fix it.

BillD

{1} And perhaps not everyone here will agree with me on this.

It sounds like Michael's CCRs mandate that no vehicle over 10,000 pound arte allowed, or are they automatically assumed to be a commerical vehicle, even with no signage. If the 10,000# limit is to protect the streets, then do you allow UPS or Fed Ex to enter your property. How about a garbage truck weighing 51,000#. I have a Class A motorcoach that weighs over 54,000#, could I park that in front of my house to load supplies before starting my journey?

The example was a made up example to demonstrate how the Board flips on a compliance issue as soon as a homeowner presents an excuse.

Let's not worry about the made up example other than to highlight my perception of the problem.

I think the OP is asking whether there is some way to compel a board majority to enforce covenants, rules et cetera.

One can talk reason until one is blue in the face. But if the Board does not understand covenants and the legal principles on which a HOA rests, then it's often a losing battle.

If I felt my staying on the board was better than resigning, I think I'd accept the losses. I would keep in mind that often, future boards can overturn previous board's decisions.

i think you need to review and understand what a commercial vehicle actually is.

The problem is how your handling the violations. The MC is NOT the one whom is to do this. It is a BOARD thing to do. You may pay them to send out the letters but processing the violation is all on the HOA/Board to do. Do you have a fining schedule in place. If so, is it distributed to everyone? That way everyone knows garbage cans have to be taken in by "midnight" Friday same day a trash pickup? If not, $25 fine. Which make sure your allowed to issue fines.

Fines work like "traffic tickets". They are NOT money making nor should budgets be made based on them. They also can't necessarily change to liens or foreclosures. That will depend on your state etc..

It has to be agreed on what is and is not a violation. Your example as you can see did not quite cut the mustard. Think most here seemed to think it would not be a violation of owning a "short bus". Busses are privately owned by the school system in my area. They would not be "commercial". You may not like them sitting in a driveway but it does not fall into a defined violation.

Our HOA we sent out a letter quoting the violation in the rules they were violating. Plus made sure they knew the cost of the fine issued. They could come and appeal it. Honestly, there are just some "excuses" that are valid reasons. It may not be in your eyes but majority of the other board members. Example: I had a renter plant plastic flowers in their yard. My opinion was it was kind of genius. However, most of the HOA members found it awful. Even though there was no specific rule about planting plastic plants, we did have to send them a correction notice to the owner.

Beauty and violations are all in the eye of the beholder...

Tit for Tat Max on FREE advice. Your advice isn't always better than anyone else. Plus your associated with Management Companies. Which are NOT required to live by the HOA rules as they are NOT members of the HOA's they manage. They work for money not the people.

I think my concern is lost in the weeds above.

The issue that I have is the Board appears to be strong about sending the initial compliance letter, then wants to roll over and acquiesce to the homeowner when the homeowner comes back with a neat excuse.

I'm fine with being weak on compliance, however, let's be weak on compliance in the beginning and not send out letters.

Otherwise, we are enforcing the rules on those who voluntary comply with the rules, and not enforcing the rules on those who argue.

Another example:

Wee sent out dozens of letters to homeowners on garbage cans being visible from the street. About 2/3 complied, about 1/3 did not. Board decided to stop enforcing rule on garbage can visibility to avoid confrontation.

I can't keep up with what the Board wants to enforce or does not want to enforce. We need to decide that in the beginning and then stick with our guns when the going gets rough, or decide not to worry about compliance in the first place.

If the Board does not want to enforce a rule then get rid of the rule.

And dually trucks are one reason why some choose to live in an HOA.

Ouch!

Yes, I sadly concur: that’s some BS. (I’m assuming that the owner did a reasonable good job of it). Ihave to wonder how someone even decided that was worth writing up.

BillD

2/3 compliance after one letter is an extraordinarily successful rate.

Maybe your board members need a reality check. You don’t give up after sending one letter.

In my experience most people toss that first letter straight into the garbage, unopened. Most violations take at least 2 letters to move the needle. My longest time from first notice to resolution has been 5 years.

That said, if they don’t want to deal with the drama of covenant enforcement you don’t have any way to compel them to do so. You could argue that is their duty, that they make it harder for future board members by setting this precedent, that they need to be consistent so owners understand expectations, and that an owner could, in theory at least, sue them for failing to enforce the covenants.

But still spend some time working on accepting what you can’t change.

How much did you or your group have to pay an attorney to get some cooperation from the rogue directors?

How much pressure was due to you or your group hiring an attorney to show the rogue directors the error of their thinking?

I'll repeat: The rogue Board NEVER admitted their lies or errors. We rebels worked on our own to discredit them and win an election. Needless to say the rogue majority threatened us with defamation charges or some such, but they never followed through. And, poof, 3 were defeated and the 4th resigned.

I do appreciate that some very boards we've seen at this site would be harder to defeat if they're permitted get away with running a crooked election or have a PM who's willing to support such behavior.

I know they were weeds. because i'm the one who planted the actual living plants and flowers... (see previous post from 2021). The board not only has failed to maintain the common grounds of the property. Any attempts by owners to volunteer and make some kind of improvement.(nothing that changes an existing element. nothing that gets in the way, just some kind of improvement) will be met by fines and attorney letters claiming the owner was damaging property.

NO ONE on the board bothers to investigate whether the accusations of the property manager are true or not.

bs notices can be either nitpicky ,, karen type notices.. (your garage was still open at 9:15 in the evening, the rules say 9 pm. fine sent). instead of common sense consideration that the owner was emptying the trunk from a shopping trip and closed the garage at 930)

bs notices can also be abuses of power by the board or property manager. Abusing the statutes that do allow for enforcement of valid violations. Manufacturing offenses that he knows won't be verified by anyone.

So, where was your management company and attorney when all these supposed lying or errors were happening?

Out Property Management company does not have the authority to send out fine letters or any other negative type of letter, without Board approval. We are only 84 units, and the Board President will speak with the unit owner before any potential violation is brought to the Board.

I wanted to follow through with OP's example about an owner having a small "bus" for their multiple kids. Let's say they are a family with 6 kids with 1 of them having special needs. The bus is the best source for them to transport their kids to school/doctor appointments/activities.

Are you going to be the person who tells this family that their "bus" does not fit the "rules" of the HOA? What are their options? They have to get rid of the bus? Can they paint it to look non-school bus like? Do they need to "hide" it behind a fence in the backyard? The HOA just going to make them pay fines on it?

Are you going to claim they are hiding behind "excuses" because they could drive another type of vehicle you feel is "nicer looking" or less "commercial"? There is a point where the HOA needs to NOT cross into lifestyle of their members/owners and stop enforcing rules that make no sense in the long run.

Yeesh. He already said it was just an off-the-cuff example, and admitted it wasn’t a particularly good one. Why are you continuing to beat up on him?

FWIW - if it’s a case of special needs / disabilities, there are all kinds of mechanisms for getting exceptions via the ADA and others.

BillD