HOA work and the law

Started by ThomasD2 • 3 replies • 1142 views

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ThomasD2 (California)
Posts: 208

Posted:

Related to a previous post about meetings.
I'm in Los Angeles, 22 units in our HOA, I am the treasurer.
One HOA member owes a great deal in HOA fees. We were very remiss in not dealing with this a while ago, but are starting to now. Won't be easy!
But my real question: A board member said they felt very strongly that we could not do any other "regular" HOA business until this matter was resolved. They were quite adamant about that. Mainly repairs we have been discussing, (We do have the budget for the items. ) I said I did not think such a policy was a good idea, or ethical. But more importantly I also said I thought it was against the law. Is there a law addressing this?

CarolR11 (Colorado)
Posts: 2,563

Posted:

Your board at a duly noticed regular meeting needs to decide how to proceed with maintenance items. No individual director gets to make that decision.

I'd say that since the items are in your budget, go ahead and do them. More important, your board must remember that a crucial part of its fiduciary relationship with owners is to protect and maintain the common areas of your HOA.

This requirement for the board probably is stated in your CC&Rs, which I urge you to read. You could copy the specific passage to give to other directors at your next regular meeting.

Since you're meeting with an attorney about the delinquent owner, ask the attorney about the board's obligations to maintain the common areas.

Is yours a board of three? Or?

RussH3 (California)
Posts: 1

Posted:

Hi Thomas, I would thoroughly read your CCRs and Bylaws. If they compel the board to defer all other HOA business until the delinquent dues are addressed then fine. I doubt they do. In which case, there is no reason not to conduct regular business. In fact, it might be negligent to not conduct routine business - insurance, fire alarm testing, pay utility bills, etc. Generally such cases are first turned over to a collection agency, or attorney working on behalf of the HOA. The fees charged by the agency or attorney for collection of delinquent dues are all billable to the delinquent homeowner.

In California you can eventually foreclose on the owner, and / or garnish wages up to I believe 25% of the person's salary. By if the owner declares bankruptcy that can have an impact on how much the HOA collects.

If the HOA doesn't have a professional management company retained then the board needs to at least retain an attorney conversant in property / hoa / community law immediately. This is a good place to start: www.davis-stirling.com

Good Luck, Sir!

ThomasD2 (California)
Posts: 208

Posted:

Apologies for duplicate post

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