boards job

Is it the boards responsibility to make sure that cars are not broken into in this community? Isn't that why there's a neighborhood watch?

Your opinion. What is the board's responsibilty?

Dawn, the Board is responsible for governing the association. Following are examples of powers and duties, provided by one set of By-laws, necessary for the administration of the affairs of the Association:

a) administer and enforce the covenants, conditions, restrictions, easements, uses, limitations, obligations and all other provisions as set forth in the Nonprofit Corporation Act, the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act, the Declaration, these Bylaws, and the Rules and Regulations;
b) procure and maintain insurance coverage as may be required to comply with the Declaration and additional insurance which the Board deems prudent after evaluating cost versus risk, insurance may include liability, property, fidelity, and broad Directors' and Officers’ insurance which covers the Association, current and former Directors and Officers, Management Company, Agents, Committee members and other persons performing for the Association;
c) adopt and publish rules and regulations governing the use of the Lots, the Common Areas, the Common Interest Community, or any portion thereof, and any facilities thereon and the personal conduct of the Members and their guests thereon, and to establish penalties for the infraction thereof;
d) enter into, make, perform or enforce contracts, licenses, leases and agreements of every kind and description. Acquire, hold, encumber and convey in the name of the Association any right, title or interest to real or personal property, provided, however, that Common Areas may be conveyed or subjected to a security interest upon the consent of Members to which at least eighty percent of the votes in the Association are allocated and in accordance with C.R.S. § 38-33.3-312;
e) provide for maintenance, repair and/or reconstruction of the Common Elements, other parcels of real property, and Improvements, as more fully provided in the Declaration;
f) cause to be kept a complete set of records of all its acts and corporate affairs, financial records shall be maintained in accordance with generally accepted accounting practices, records shall be reasonably available for copying and examination by an Owner or such Owner’s authorized agent during working hours upon requesting specific records and the purpose of the request;
g) as more fully provided in the Declaration, to:
1) determine the amount of the annual assessment against each Lot, from time to time, in accordance with the Association operating and reserve budgets, and revise the amount of the annual assessment when necessary if such budget is rejected by the Owners;
2) collect all assessments as levied by the Board of Directors from the Owners as are authorized in the Declaration and foreclose the lien against any Lot for which assessments are not paid within one hundred eighty (180) days after the due date, or bring an action at law against the Owner personally obligated to pay the same;
3) impose late charges and interest for late payment of assessments, recover reasonable attorney fees and other costs for collection of assessments and other actions to enforce the power of the Association, and, after Notice and Hearing, levy reasonable Individual Assessments and Fines for violations of the Declaration, Bylaws, and Rules and Regulations of the Association in accordance with the Declaration;
h) cause to be issued at a reasonable charge, upon demand by any Owner, a Certificate of Status of Assessment, which shall be conclusive evidence of such payment as to all persons who rely thereon in good faith, and the Certificate of Status of Assessment shall include a request, that upon title transfer, to provide a copy of the new deed and a copy of the Seller’s disclosure statement which has been signed by the Buyer as specified in statute 38-35.7-102(1)(b);
(i) elect a Member to the Board to fill a vacancy on the Board, and to declare an office of the Board to be vacant in the event the Member holding that office is absent from two meetings of the Board in any twelve month period;
j) hire and terminate a managing agent or other contractors as they deem necessary, and to prescribe their duties. All of the powers and duties granted to the Board hereunder may be delegated to a managing agent; provided however that such delegation shall not relieve the Board of Directors of responsibility thereof;
k) supervise all officers, agents and employees of the Association, and see that their duties are properly performed;
l) provide for Architectural Design Review and approval of all modifications within The Planned community and for the enforcement of restrictions as set forth in the Declaration and Rules and Regulations;
m) enter upon a Lot when necessary without being guilty of trespass in the performance of its duties as outlined in the Declaration;
n) institute, defend, or intervene in litigation or administrative proceedings in its own name on behalf of itself or an Owner on matters affecting The Properties;
o) borrow money, providing such security as is necessary, providing that such borrowing has the prior written approval of Members who are entitled to cast at least sixty seven percent of the votes in the Association;
p) exercise any other powers conferred by the Declaration, Articles or Bylaws; and
q) exercise all other powers necessary for the proper governing and operation of the Association.

The full extent of these powers shall not be restricted by implication, nor shall any enumeration or description of powers, obligations, duties or procedures, or any other provision of the Declaration, Articles, Bylaws, Rules and Regulations or other applicable documents, limit or restrict the full extent of the powers unless expressly and specifically identified as such a restriction or limitation.

Dawn,

It's not the board's responsibility to make sure that cars or homes aren't broken into. Unless each Board member volunteered to watch a street 24 hours per day, there's no way that they can accomplish it.

If crime is running rampant in your neighborhood, then the Board should be looking at ideas to increase security, such as the neighborhhod watch you mentioned. If your streets are public, they can use crime statistics to request more frequent police patrols. If the streets are private, they should consider raising the dues to hire a private security patrol or increase the amount of patrols if you already have such a service.

Good luck

Mike:

Great post, that happens at least once a year with us, it is a great idea, but ideas need people.

And no the board is not responsible for cars getting broken into. Although I would be concerned about the crime why is it my responsibility as a board member to keep your stuff from getting stolen. Park your car in a garage or get a security system on it.

Thanks for the good after work laugh

Brian, someone emailed me this but it seems to fit with your post on HOA rules regarding children.

ASSOCIATION RULES REGARDING CHILDREN:
Homeowners spend the first two years of a child's life teaching them to walk and talk and then ask the Board to pass rules telling them to sit down and shut up.

Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your own children. The Association's rules do not address such issues.

Some homeowners believe that the main purpose of holding children's parties in the clubhouse is to remind themselves' that there are children more awful than their own.

Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you should not have said. For this reason most owners have stopped bringing their children to Board meetings.

Parents of teenagers now know why some animals eat their young. The Board discourages such activities in the common areas.

Many owners have childproofed their homes but report that their children still get in. The Board does not have a solution to this problem.

What state are you in?? You have to be careful about the word "security". Some states require licensing and yearly "training" to be called security.

My .02 cents....

In regards to community watch....

The neighborhood watch committee’s primary responsibility should be to research what it feels are the most effective ways to accomplish the goals of the community watch and make recommendations to the Board of Directors and carry out Board sanctioned tasks and/or activities.

The Board’s primary responsibility is to facilitate the effective deployment of a community watch program based on the information gathered from the watch committee, information it collects from its membership and information the board acquires itself.

Having said that....

I believe the primary goal of a watch program is to serve as a deterrent to would be thieves or criminals. The best way to accomplish a deterrent effect is to openly advertise the community watch program. Signs at the entrance and signs carefully placed thought the neighborhood may help accomplish this goal.
If the program fails to make everyone aware of a watch program then program looses it’s potential to act as an effective deterrent.

The secondary goal of a watch program is observation. The community should be made aware of specific security issues and should be told how best to assist local law enforcement in the event that someone observes unusual or suspicious activity.

I didn't read all the replies so if some/all of what I said was already posted...well you get it.

I would think that your management company, being local, would be in the best position to provide options for security services.

To go back to the original post, associations have been held liable in some cases where a security risk was known and they failed to take any action. It is the responsibility of the board to take some action if they are made aware of crimes or other security problems. For example, if there were a number of car break-ins, then they should make the owners aware of the problem, and begin considering possible areas to reduce the risk, i.e. increased lighting, more frequent police drive-bys, etc. If they decide that increased lighting is the best potential deterrent, then they could take it to the owners for a vote (capital improvement). If voted down, they will have at least mitigated the potential liability.

Keep the owners filled in.
Look to see if its a problem that could be repeated.
Look to see if there's something the association can do to help.
Dont' promise security (in fact, make sure you have disclaimers about anything even remotely considered to provide security, i.e. gate)
See if the owners really want do something.

Basically, if the board is aware of a problem, it has a "Duty to Act", it can't just wish it would go away. To what degree you act, is up to you and the owners.

Joe