Need Board Approval for Termite Work??

Started by MichelleC7 • 11 replies • 1668 views

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MichelleC7 (California)
Posts: 108

Posted:

Recently a neighbor brought to my attention that there is pretty strong evidence of termite infestation in our building. He claimed he called the mgnt company and they never called him back. ( Not sure how accurate that is )

I found on the outside of my unit a pile of what you'd say yep, thats termite excrement/chewed wood. It's proof our building is needing some treatment.

I got an email from our manager saying.."I will present to the board to consider treatment!"

Is this bizaare? I thought normal maintenance can be done without having to wait 6 weeks for an answer.

Our CCRS/ rules do not state one way or another regarding board approval for basic maintenance. I'd think this would fall under that umbrella.

FredS7 (Arizona)
Posts: 927

Posted:

Termite treatment is not, to my mind, basic maintenance. If you really have termites, then they could be elsewhere too, and treating the whole building makes sense. That means a contractor and a bid.

By the way, I thought that the real evidence for termites was mud tunnels running from the ground up to a wood structure. Perhaps others know better.

MichelleC7 (California)
Posts: 108

Posted:

There is that on the ground level. We are up on a higher floor.

BradP (Kansas)
Posts: 2,640

Posted:

Michelle

unless you budget every year for termite treatment in my opinion this is not normal maintenance. The board could begin the process now of looking at the situation and getting opinions but a solution would need board approval.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Expecting that termite treatment is part of the Reserves scheduled planned maintenance, and that this maintenance wasn't planned for this year (i.e. included in this years budget) Board approval would be needed to spend the funds.

You may want to attend that meeting yourself so you can express your concern in person of the need to do the work quickly.

BruceF1 (Connecticut)
Posts: 2,535

Posted:

If you are in an area where termites are common, i would think that annual termite control would be an annual budgeted expense. I once owned a home in Florida and normal pest/insect/termite control was a regular annual expense.

If termite control is not a budgeted expense for your association, then, yes, you need board approval to spend the money for it.

JonD1
Posts: 2,350

Posted:

First and foremost you have to determine just what it is you are dealing with.

That would require someone versed in insects being brought in to see the problem rather than the residents making judgments with litle real knowledge.

IF in fact there are termites than as suggested this would require seeking bids and prices to address the problem.

To what extent does the problem exist? What types of treatment options are there? Poison the soil around the entire building or a more green solution. In some cases you might wish to set bait traps to determine what area is affected.

IMO this process does require Board input and approval. And IMO this is not routine maintainance work.

While it is an issue that requires action termites don't eat a struture overnight.

If it is being presented to the Board allow them time to do the necessary research and keep yoursefl informed.

Termite treatment can become quite an expensive project.

KellyM3 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2,239

Posted:

Yes, your board needs to approve this work.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

Your MC is a subcontractor to the board. The board is the one that approves all expenses. The MC just pays them on their behalf and keeps up with them. So your board will have to take a vote on this and investigate. Which can take several weeks to months to process through. It's just the nature of the beast.

I've been through this before with pest control. Our HOA was NOT responsible for it. It was up to the owners. However, I just had 1 owner who thought it was the HOA's responsibility. Would NOT listen to reason. Wanted us to remove a wood retaining wall and replace it with concrete due to termites in the wall. An expert and best in the business (They even have a museum on pests) advised me that was NOT a good idea. As long as the termites stayed in the wall and had enough to eat they would NOT go into the house. Installing the concrete brick wall just drove the termites to the house. Which then the owner wanted to sue the HOA because termites were eating their house...By the way, the new board after me did do this wall replacement after I left and you can tell the expert was right...

Former HOA President

MichelleC7 (California)
Posts: 108

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MelissaP1 on 12/04/2012 8:21 PM
Your MC is a subcontractor to the board. The board is the one that approves all expenses. The MC just pays them on their behalf and keeps up with them. So your board will have to take a vote on this and investigate. Which can take several weeks to months to process through. It's just the nature of the beast.

I've been through this before with pest control. Our HOA was NOT responsible for it. It was up to the owners. However, I just had 1 owner who thought it was the HOA's responsibility. Would NOT listen to reason. Wanted us to remove a wood retaining wall and replace it with concrete due to termites in the wall. An expert and best in the business (They even have a museum on pests) advised me that was NOT a good idea. As long as the termites stayed in the wall and had enough to eat they would NOT go into the house. Installing the concrete brick wall just drove the termites to the house. Which then the owner wanted to sue the HOA because termites were eating their house...By the way, the new board after me did do this wall replacement after I left and you can tell the expert was right...

Ok.. this is a common area... I have no idea where I eluded that I live in a single structure. Truth is our Cape Cod style building is all wood fascia.. outside my front door, outside the patio, outside the front door.. I have looked,we have an infestation. I hope the termiters that treat this just say.. "time to tent" because it's rediculous for me.. to spot treat the places outside my door when the whole building is also being eaten up.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

It is NOT for you to decide how to best treat the area. Did not indicate you had a single structure. It was my own personal example of what it means to listen to experts. Homeowners are NOT experts when it comes to pest control.

Since you are NOT alone in this matter do you think all the owners would want a pest control person coming inside their home to spray chemicals? Most likely not. Someone will always cry "health issues". Plus most likely they pest control company will just set out baiting stations on the OUTSIDE of the homes. That is what they have done to my house when it got an infestation of termites. Which by the way my newly adopted part beagle found and tore a 3 foot hole in my back wall to find them. Who knew that Beagles have a natural tendancy to find termites and are used sometimes to do so? Nothing like a new home, a dog, and a huge hole in the back of the house to find out about termite control...

Former HOA President

JM10 (California)
Posts: 503

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MichelleC7 on 12/04/2012 11:04 AM

Recently a neighbor brought to my attention that there is pretty strong evidence of termite infestation in our building. He claimed he called the mgnt company and they never called him back. ( Not sure how accurate that is )

I found on the outside of my unit a pile of what you'd say yep, thats termite excrement/chewed wood. It's proof our building is needing some treatment.

I got an email from our manager saying.."I will present to the board to consider treatment!"

Is this bizaare? I thought normal maintenance can be done without having to wait 6 weeks for an answer.

Our CCRS/ rules do not state one way or another regarding board approval for basic maintenance. I'd think this would fall under that umbrella.

Oh, this brought shivers to my spine. Check your CC&R. I also live in California. We have two types of termites here. I tried to get an inspection, however, the board refused.

Our CC&R did have a whole section about termite control and the rights of members. In our case, the HOA was responsible for common area termite inspections. Your board should get annual inspections. Most termite companies will give members a discount if they have a home inspection at the same time the company is doing inspections of the common area.

One of the reasons I asked for an inspection was because I had lived in a house previously and we had annual inspections. Even then, we did have termite problems. I looked at the buildings around the HOA and thought to myself: Which of these buildings had termite inspections? Most of them looked they they had not had inspections in recent history.

Termites are not regular maintenance and might require further inspection. Termite inspection, however, should be part of an annual pest control contract.

I would recommend an inspection of all units. In our case, we discovered termites in the rafters of the attic prior to our sale. This might have been considered common area (roof), however, the board refused to put the termite problem on the agenda. What should have happened is all the connecting units should have been tented. It was spot treated because the board refused to meet at all.

It is likely that the termites are in the other units. Because the HOA refused to take action, they might be considered legally liable for all the damage.

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