How to get notice to tenant refusing it?

An owner in my small condo assoc. has been taking the faceplate off of and disconnecting new lighting that serves his stairwell; these lights were obtained at considerable expense to our community - tampering with electrical fixtures is clearly against our bylaws and the behavior is also exposing them to the elements, creating a fire hazard. I've asked our MC to mail him notice, and have also posted notices to his door - these are later found in the garbage and unread. Would the police be able do anything about serving him? How else should I proceed, if not?

I concur... also, while it may seem "overkill" you do need to make sure that you report to local police department, so that a report is on file. Also, contact your insurance carrier, in today's litigious society, you often have to product the idiots from themselves. Just make sure you cover the HOA from any exposure to liability (I know, I know, he is tampering with the electrical, but we all have heard the "dumbest lawsuits" stories).

Obviously the tenant doesn't like the lights. Has anyone investigated why this is the case? Are the lights too bright or shining directly into his windows? Maybe relocating the light or installing a light shield will also solve the problem. Maybe lighting the stairs instead of the whole stairwell is the answer. (check out darksky.org)
As for notice, I have heard here in Florida that mailing to the address with a regular letter and a certified letter are considered acceptable notice before imposing a fine or lien. I know the county will post notice on the property before doing work and billing the owner, but they don't serve a summons. In what state are you located? It seems like undue burden on the HOA to have to hire a summons server or equivalent.

Well, I was trying to be sympathetic, but I have to agree with you Ron. This guy has vandalized the lights. Yes, I can understand why he might have done it, but that is still no excuse. On the legal issue, I stand corrected.

An HOA is not a social club, in many ways' it's a mini government (and I don't mean this in a bad way, it provides services for the community that the government has declined to do such as roar and common ground maintenance, lighting, recreational facilities, etc.).

This person is vandalizing the property of the association (and its members). If he came onto your property and disconnected your porch light multiple times would you go visit him and ask him if it bothered him or would you call the police? If he vandalized a city streetlight or stop sign would the police or a judge ask if he did it because it bothered him? There's no difference here, it's vandalism.

And more than likely as a county official you would hold public hearings where people would have the opportunity to come and explain why, or the people who kept disobeying the traffic signal would have the opportunity to explain themselves in court.

In this case the person has the opportunity to explain the problem by coming to a board meeting to discuss the issue, but by refusing the notices he is giving the board members no options. With no way to get input from this person, their only recourse now would be to take legal action.

This actually reminds me of a situation that I was in several years ago where somebody was vandalizing lights on my property. I had installed landscape lighting next to the steps leading up to my elevated front yard. For some reason, somebody started dismantling the lights. They would leave the parts there and I would put everything back together, but every couple of days I would find that the lights had been dismantled again. In my case I had no idea who was doing it and I was getting very frustrated. I finally called the police, but without evidence of who was doing it, there wasn't much that they could do. What they did do though was have an officer come out to "investigate". He basically stood out in my front yard for about an hour talking with me any anybody who happened to come by, taking notes and generally being very visible. After this visit the problem stopped. Simply by being visible he got the word out that this could be a serious problem, and I guess whoever was doing the vandalism decided that it wasn't worth it anymore.

Maybe this situation could be handled in a similar manner. If a police officer comes out and just asks questions about the lights being dismantled. If he sees that the police can get involved if he continues, he may finally get the hint.

Who is saying this? I don't read that anywhere in these posts.

Ok Kevin. So how would you suggest that the OP "investigate" this situation? The OP has tried to contact the person who is dismantling the lights. He has sent letters, posted notices on the door, all with no success. Getting both sides of the story is fine, but you can only do that when both sides are willing to share their side. Since one side doesn't appear to want to communicate at all other than to vandalize the lights, how would you suggest that the OP go about finding out why this person is "fighting against" him?

And would you care to explain what is so "silly" about a city councilman holding public hearings? Or more pertinent in this case, in the Board inviting the person to a Board meeting to explain why he seems to have a problem with the light?

Okay, I'll bite one more time, Dwight.
You don't have to talk to the person to investigate.
1-Check the lights when they are on at night. Check for those things I mentioned like buzzing, improper wattage, etc.
2-Talk to a neighbor or other resident who has the same installation. Since this is a condo, it is probably a cooker cutter installation and the exact situation exists in more than one place.
3-You had a good idea, invite him to a meeting. But you also said he is not communicating, so that probably won't work.
4-Step 4: Well, I'm out of ideas, but at least I made some kind of attempt to investigate. That is all I am trying to say. But you, and Ron, and now Brad are convinced I am somehow sticking up for this guy's behavior. I am not sticking up for him. I am not condoning his behavior. I am not saying the association is at fault. I don’t see where I made any comment about “helping” this guy. I don't know how else to word it. You seem to be reading a whole lot more into my words than what is here. The situation is this: Someone is vandalizing the lights. If you want to shoot first and ask questions later, or ask questions then shoot, then by all means go ahead. But at least ask questions at some point.
I don't agree with considering the situation closed by calling the police. This is not normal vandalizing like kids do when they break out street lights or spray paint walls. This is an adult who thinks he is somehow justified in what he is doing. I believe it would be in the best interest of the community to do some kind of investigation into why this happened to see if it can be prevented from happening again. Something as simple as making sure the lights aren't buzzing. This is not fostering an environment that vandalism is okay. Calling the police shows the association’s position just fine on issues of vandalism.

I agree with Brad.

As association officers we are charged with protecting the property of the association. This person is vandalizing association property and it needs to stop. Also, he should be charged for the costs of repairs to the vandalized property.