U.S. mail vs. hand delivered notices

Okay, once again one homeowner who continually keeps causing grief sent one of the Board members a letter stating "I've been advised that mail taped on a door is not considered legally delivered/received." Now keep in mind the BOD knows this homeowner rec'd the notice because she sent out an e-mail to every homeowner in the subdivision except the Board and wanted to know "what the special assessment was" and why the BOD was spending XXX amount of $$. This homeowner also assumed everyone in the subdivision rec'd the notice. This was a small fine specifically to only two members due to legal fees incurred when terminating the PM who was in breach of their contract. We rec'd several iquiries from other homeowners regarding the
special assessment and had to tell them there was no special assessment.

Does the HOA have to send notices thru U.S. mail to have a notice be legally delivered/received? The BOD believes no and this homeowner is wrong. Any suggestions?

The BOD is having the attorney send out the "2nd" notice.

Our by-laws state they may be delivered to the homeowners residence or U.S. mail.

Keep in mind anything put into someone's mailbox must have a stamp on it or it is a FEDERAL offense. Putting notices on doors may fall under "Solicitation" which may NOT be allowed. It is either in your HOA's documentation about solicitation or it may be a local law. We had a no solicitation sign at the front of our entrance so that sales people or those who pass out those annoying flyers could be warned.

There are several methods of notification that a HOA may use. Usually it is defined in your documentation. However, delivery in the mail is the best and most frequently used option. First Class mail for normal notices. Registered mail for legal type notification. If the HOA wants to save money and paper, then an email system can be set up and used. A website is used for some tech savvy HOA's. Our HOA was neither tech savvy or rolling in the dough, so we used the old fashioned bulletin board at the front entrance. It was a glass case right over the group mailboxes. We rarely mailed anything unless it was legal related.

So look up your local solicitation rules in your documentation and/or local statutes. Send this owner a notice referencing this as a violation. Give it as a warning. The BOD are members too and if they do choose to send out any more of their own advice to the other members they must send a copy to ALL the members. The BOD are just the elected members who are elected to handle the issues of the HOA on a daily basis and for the general membership. They aren't a "They and them". They were picked by "You and me"....

Our bylaws also state notices can be given either personally or by mail.. However we always mail the annual notices. When we had a special meeting we went to each door to get signatures and if people were not home, we left the notices (in an envelope addresed to the homeowner )in the solitication box located under each mailbox.All the out of rental properties were mailed. Our board refused to send the notices out or acknowledge the call for a special meeting, nor did they attend the meeting.

These are fine notices not any meeting or special meeting notices.

Found this interpretation of "notice".

"Notice" means notice given in writing by either regular mail or hand delivery, with the sender retaining sufficient proof of having given such notice. However, a person shall be deemed to have notice of a fact if he has actual knowledge of it, he has received a verbal notice of it, or from all of the facts and circumstances known to him at the time in question, he has reason to know it exists. A person "notifies" or "gives" a notice or notification to another by taking steps reasonably calculated to inform another person whether or not the other person actually comes to know of it.

In our situation, board refusal to mail notices. Is there anyway to make the board mail them out if you have the required signature, the volunteers spent a lot of money on copies, postage, and time walking the neighborhood for three months (205 homes). We also made remainder flyers for each house two days before the meeting. The board was removed, but now they are challenging the meeting cause they felt we did not give proper notice and they did not authorize it

I've been advised that mail taped on a door is not considered legally delivered/received. Does the HOA have to send notices thru U.S. mail to have a notice be legally delivered/received? The BOD believes no and this homeowner is wrong. Any suggestions? (Karen)

Karen,
If you'd tape a Notice on my the door, it would be just fine with me. And am sure, most normal people would not object to it either.
Do not even spend another second worrying about it and just snail-mail future Notices it to him. He’ll find something else to complain about soon, no doubt.

Let me get this straight. You have a homeowner who is known to cause problems (your description of her)and you are surprised that she is claiming that a fine notice was improperly delivered. If it had been me, I would have left it on my door until it fell off and at no time claimed to have seen it. You should have sent it first class return receipt AND by first class mail.

for a 'legal notice':

process server ($$$)

or

USPS certified mail-return receipt-'deliver to addressee only'

or

whatever your documents specify (assuming compliance with state/local law)

I've heard of a case of the HOA deciding to foreclose on an owner's property. The owner's defense was the HOA wasn't delivering the notice to their home. They actually didn't live in that home but somewhere else. Their tenant was getting the notices. They claimed they were unaware and never notified properly about the foreclosure since the HOA did not send the notices properly.

This did NOT fly at all in the court system. The HOA has no choice but to send notices directly to the HOA house address. Yes, they may know the owner doesn't live at the residence. However, it is the address of the property in the HOA. Plus, it is printed in the local newspaper for a time period. Which this is considered "PUBLIC NOTICE". Whether they read the newspaper or not doesn't matter. It was printed in a PUBLIC resource they could have access to.

Sending out notices by mail, it should be done to the property in the HOA. If the owner lives elsewhere, they should make arrangements with the HOA. It should be understood where ALL HOA communications will be delivered to. That way an owner can't claim they weren't informed properly....

Karen,

The reality of your issue is that it will only become an issue if someone wants to legally challenge something the Board did based on failure to follow procedures. If this happens, then the Board will need to prove that they did indeed deliver any notices in accordance with your bylaws. I suspect that a signed statement from the individual delivering the items and their appearance in court would be enough proof (providing your bylaws allow for hand delivery).

For proof by the U.S. mail, we purchase the number of stamps needed for the mailing and send one of those letters back to the association. We then clip the receipt for the stamps to the unopened letter sent back to the Association and keep it as an attachment to the minutes as part of our proof of notice. The other option would be via certified mail.

Proof of delivery is not the same as proof of receipt.

We had one person who refuses to pick up certified mail from the Association. In these cases, we would send one letter via certified mail and one letter via first class mail. This fact would be stated within the letter being sent. This helped to prevent the person from saying that they were unaware of what was in the letter because they never picked it up from the post office.

For your specific issue, you need to look at what the law requires, as well as your own governing documents (as they can be more restrictive then the law).

Per Washington nonprofit corporation act, RCW 24.03.080 Notice of members' meetings,

"If notice is provided in a tangible medium, it may be transmitted by: Mail, private carrier, or personal delivery; telegraph or teletype; or telephone, wire, or wireless equipment that transmits a facsimile of the notice. If mailed, such notice shall be deemed to be delivered when deposited in the United States mail addressed to the member at his or her address as it appears on the records of the corporation, with postage thereon prepaid. Other forms of notice in a tangible medium described in this subsection are effective when received."

Note: Tangible medium = a writing, copy of a writing, facsimile, or a physical reproduction, each on paper or on other tangible material.

If I was on your board, since the homeowner stated "I've been advised that mail taped on a door is not considered legally delivered/received", I would have asked her for the proof (section of law, court case, etc.) that supports this advice and, once received, the Board will consider the issue. However, it is the Boards understanding that hand delivery is in compliance with Washington State nonprofit corporation act. In other words, put the burden of proof back on the homeowner while indicating a willingness to change procedures providing proof of her statement can be provided.