BOD/landscaper want to kill our grass in our HOA

Helllo,

I live in a Florida HOA that includes landscaping. We have NO common area.

ThreBOD hired a new companylawncare company that willt start next week. We all recieved a letter yesterday telling us they are going to kill the grass around our homes and mailboxes because they can't guarantee they won't damage our property iwith the weed trimmer. If we refuse to authorize this they're telling us we will have t sign a waiver.

They also to,d added in the letter the board said it is ok for US to add mulch or rock.

I have written and said they are not authorized to kill my grass and have no intention of signing a waiver. However, I request a copy sent to me for my review

I have so many issues with this that i wont bother you with all of them but I would love your feed back on a few of them.

1. There is nothing in our documents that allows the association to make alterations to our property or require us to do so. They can make repairs if we are negligent. I think the board overstepped it bounds.

2. The letter came from the lamdscaper. A landscaper certainly has no authorization to kill my grass and tell me I have to add a flower bed, rock or mulch. If any one chooses not to do this then they'll be left with dirt rather than grass. That isn't very attractive.

3. The contract is with the association not the homeowner. They don't answer to me and I don't answer to them. If anyone should sign a waiver releasing them from liabilty it should of the president of the board. However, that does not release the board from liability to damage to my property that their contractor created.

4. Waive them from liability? Why would our board EVEN enter into a contract witha company that can't guarantee they'll be cautious enough to not cause damage and not repair it if they do?

My analogy is if the landscaper keep scratching car parked in he driveway am I going to be told I can't park in my driveway. This is the wrong resolution!!

Your thoughts please?

First off your common area is the landscaping. That is your common area that your HOA maintains. Which means your HOA is responsible for providing lawncare to maintain. Any damages the lawncare CONTRACTOR does is their responsibility and NOT the HOA's. So if they hit your light post with their lawnequipment, they are responsible for repairs NOT the HOA. The HOA would turn your complaint over to them.

So to limit hearing complaints or risking damages, they have requested killing the grass/weeds around objects that may be damaged in doing their work. Don't get all carried away with not parking in your driveway. Howeveer, if your parked in your driveway while they are edging/mowing/weedeating your vehicle could be at risk for a loose rock or debris hitting it. The HOA isn't limiting your rights to own objects in your yard but limiting the damages that might be done to them by normal work process of lawncare.

I think people often confuse "exclusive use" property around their home as "private". It is not. It is area of the common area the owner can use for their exclusive use but it is still subject to approval/rules.
In my HOA we own the house and the lot it sits on. Everything else outside of it is considered "common property". This means all of the owners have a vested interest in that property. This allows the HOA to provide the single lawncare contract provider access to all common areas.

It sounds like a similar setup with the OP here to me here. The HOA is just sending notice to the owners that the contractors they hired prefer to kill grasses around problem areas instead damaging them. I have seen lampost taken down by weedeaters not because of the weedeater but the rusty conditions of the pole. Who is going to get blamed then? The owner who did not maintain the pole or the lawncare who hit the pole? Hence why the HOA is prefering lawncare contractors who will not risk that scenerio.

Here is a clue... Someone else complained. If you only heard the constant complaints a Board hears on lawncare almost daily, you would know why. The squeecky wheel gets the cheese. Believe me after I fired our long term and resident lawncare person and opened it up to new contractors, it was great you got rid of him but the new guys do this and that. Never good enough for everybody.

You may have seperate homes just like us. However, to allow lawncare to take care of all the properties it was all considered common. That allowed us to do the lawncare and let contractors enter properties. You may still have common property it is just around your home. It does not mean a park or an amenity. The grass around your homes can be that,

This is not the way the documents read in the "maintenance free" section of the developments I looked at a few days ago.
The owner has given rights for the Association to enter the property to perform lawn care maintenance, which is a service (similar to trash service) that the CC&Rs require the Association to provide to the membership.

The property being maintained is not common area or limited common area. It is private property.

MellisaP1,

Please open your mind a little and stop comparing our community to yours. And here is a clue back to you. I was on the board for 9 years and the president for about half of them. i am aware of what complaints are recieved. We never had one complaint about weed trimmers causing damage. I'm. It disputing that there may be some but nobody ever complained. If there was ever damage to irrigation heads or anything done by the landscaper the resolution was to fix it. We never told the owner you have to make alterations to your property because we want to hire a company that isn't careful.

Thanks KevinK7,

I wrote a letter and recieved a reply yesterday. They are saying I misunderstood the letter from the lawncare company and that they were not "telling" me they were goihng to kill my grass but that they were asking permisson. Misunderstaning? No. Poorly worded? Perhaps. You decide!!

"It is our position that we will establish a perimeter around the mailboxes and homes by killing the grass in these areas in order to protect your property".

"If you do not desire for us to establish a perimeter around your property then you of coarse have that right but we will respectfully request that you sign a waiver for any property damage that may result from this decision".

In the letter they also said that if we do not sign a waiver then the lawn care company will not trim around certain areas on our properties. I'm going to write back and tell them that's fine with me that XXX company doesn't do it. Just let me know who the association will be sending to do the work, since it needs to be done by someone, so that I know who to expect on my property.

sigh - ignorance is the downside to HOA's

jonD1, I don't understand your comments. I am not the bad guy because I don't want my lawn torn up and left with a dirt perimeter. My neighbors feel the same way.

I'm not an unreasonble person (maybe my venting on hear seems that way). I'd be willing to have borders installed around my property at the associatin's expense (did I mention that we are 38 homes and they have overcollected about $40,000,in 12 years, that is sitting in the bank and tied to no projects?)

If they communicated with the members that it's in the best interest of the association and owners to create perimeter and would use association money to fund the project as long as mutually agreed upon that would have been great.
They wouldn't have a bunch of homeowners calling them "idiots" right now. Their words not mine.

My point is that our board has a fudiciary responsibility to provide ALL lawn care maintenance. They have no authority to change my landscape. They've entered into a contract with a company that will not satisfy our by-laws. They legally have to find another way to provide the service. If the landscape company says they won't provide the service if a waiver isn't signed that doesn't relieve the association from their obligations. The association still has to provide it whether the waiver is signed or not. Even of he waiver is signed it won't hold up in court because you can't contract away negligence in the state of Florida.

Michelle

I agree the BOD handled it badly. I consider it a degration of services and at worst, a departure from expectations based on past performance. Also maybe allowing people to do as they wish with the burned strip versus setting standards, continuity, etc. Potential tmake the place look hodge-podge, etc.

But when you say:

My point is that our board has a fudiciary responsibility to provide ALL lawn care maintenance. They have no authority to change my landscape. They've entered into a contract with a company that will not satisfy our by-laws. They legally have to find another way to provide the service. If the landscape company says they won't provide the service if a waiver isn't signed that doesn't relieve the association from their obligations. The association still has to provide it whether the waiver is signed or not. Even of he waiver is signed it won't hold up in court because you can't contract away negligence in the state of Florida.

You are playing "outhouse" lawyer and as such your arguements would get no where with me. Also I doubt your Bylaws call for a specific level of service so again this would fall on deaf ears.

I suggest you mount a group of people and go after the degration of services, radical departure, lack of guidelines, etc. aspects versus play "outhouse" lawyer.

Hope this helps.

I can read the future post title now......"Suing my HOA." I've never seen that one on this forum.