underage drinking in common areas

Our neighborhood HOA owns a lovely pool and clubhouse hidden by thick trees and underbrush. It is not licensed (by the city) to be used at night. However, between 1 and 3 times per year, under aged drinkers from a few to a party, go there to drink and sometimes commit minor vandalism, at night. Through out the years, various boards have confronted the kids and parents and fined them and restricted (with little success)their use of the common areas. Of course the rules being broken include 1)the HOA's rules, 2)state law, and 3)federal law. I'm attempting to get some answers from our HOA management company's attorney, (as if the answer to this isn't obvious enough,) as some board members want to maintain the status quo to be "neighborly" and continue to handle infractions on their own. Heaven forbid that some of these great kids have to be held accountable for their illegal behavior! It might keep them out of the college of their choice! (Yes, this is a quote from a fellow board member.) I of course as a parent, homeowner and board member, am appalled by this, and am attempting to amend the HOA rules to require board members to notify law enforcement if they become aware or have reasonable suspicion that such a party is in progress or has recently occurred. I believe the best deterrent and liability protection for homeowners is involving local law enforcement. The "other side" thinks security cameras will adequately deter the activity, however, identifying the perps (if even possible) begs the question of how they should be punished, i.e. fines versus police.

My question for you all: Can you cite any case law in which an HOA was held liable under either host law or underage drinking law; for civil or criminal damages stemming from injury or death caused by an underage drinker who consumed alcohol in an HOA's common area? I for one do not want to serve as the first test case, and while the HOA would not have provided or served the alcohol, they might be seen, by a jury, as having fostered a climate of acceptance of underage drinking (aided and abetted) by adopting an unwritten policy of simply "slapping the wrists" of the "perps" and their parents.Thanks in advance for your opinions.

Not only can anyone call the police, the board cannot lawfully interfere with a police investigation and cannot take any action against a member who calls the police.

I do not condone underage dringking or any other illegal activity but such a 'rule' requiring a person to report an activity that you suspect is illegal is a waste of time.

How then do you plan to punish a person for not reporting something? You have a mountain of 'burden of proof' to climb to prove something was seen and not reported. Thus still no 'teeth'.

Recording the activty (cameras) to later establish someting occurred and was not reported, or better yet condoned, is a better way to deter and possibly prosecute such activity.

Pat...if your board is aware of the problem and ignores it to preserve the youth's record then the board has some liability if anything bad were to ever happen. Someone will sing like a canary about how much the board knew.

Passing a rule to make the board report is a waste of time...why not take the role of a concerned citizen and just report illegal activity. You don't need your boards permission.