Child causing issues in community

This past weekend in our community, the child who lives in one of our units (with his parents, although it is unclear whether they rent or own the home they are in at this point) was playing with matches and set a brush fire on the edge of our community and the adjoining community. Homeowners living near the fire put the fire out, and the fire department did arrive. The mother of the boy came to retrieve him and said that she and her husband would be disciplining him.

Now we have several homeowners, especially those who live near the site of the fire, asking the HOA what we are going to do to ensure this child does not set any more fires. We are not sure what rights our association has in this situation. The fire was contained to a small area of community property and was put out. As far as we know, the police did not respond, but the fire department was filing a report.

Is there really anything we can do except continue with our neighborhood watch issues and continue to have discussions with the parents and possibly the police if his behavior continues? I'm inclined to think that's all that is within our rights, but maybe you all have knowledge on this that I don't know about. I have only been on the board a few weeks, but I have found this discussion forum to be very helpful and informative.

Thanks, Tim. That is kind of my thought on it. We can attempt to recoup expenses from the damage, but there's not really anything we can do as an association to ensure that someone living in our community doesn't set fires. We just have to be diligent with the neighborhood watch. If it is a renter, we can go back on the homeowner, who may or may not have the authority to break the lease, depending on their agreement. I know I wouldn't want a renter who played with matches living in my home.

But should say your son who is not a renter be treated any different then a renters son. I would be nervous with any fire setter, renter's son or owner's son.

I smell renter bias/distrust here.

renters get a bad rap i believe...i was once a renter and a very good one. There are good and bad of both renters and owners.

Kids who play with matches don't get enough of a bad rap...they end up burning things down. Watch him like a hawk and call the cops next time

The HOA, as suggested, should follow up with fire/police departments so that your knowledge of the situation is documented.

Other then that, it's a Community Watch/ Fire-Poice Department issue.

You could put a positive spin on things. I'm thinking of this because we all tend to be lax on emergency preparations. When we were living in a condo community we tried to get people interested in earthquake preparedness.

The fire might be a good opportunity for you to request a special meeting with the fire department and/or police department on emergency preparedness for fires or natural disasters. A lot of times, such presentations are free. We had one at my workplace and included people who would give special discounts on emergency supply kits. In the case of a condo community, you might be able to get suggestions on how to prepare as a community, including emergency training. I had the CPR training and for my workplace we had designated people with designated duties.

The police department might also give you tips on security and safety issues.

That's just a suggestion.