document in owner file of verbal threats

Started by BjW1 • 7 replies • 1621 views

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BjW1 (Florida)
Posts: 24

Posted:

I am a Bod and while working on a road restoration project which required removing a tree that was uprooting the road, I was told (in front of witness) that if I proceeded to remove tree (the city permit was filed and the city engineer was making a determination) they would file a law suit. I told city to cancel my permit request and backed away from the project (cowardice) should I put this in writing (everyone in the neighborhood knows by word of mouth)tom document
my reasons for waiting on this project?

PaulM (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 1,347

Posted:

Bjw:
I am confused...wouldn't the tree that is uprooting the road
be the municipality's or developer's problem to handle? Was it the city who was actually threatening you?

Why wasn't the tree taken care of prior to the developer and city engineers working together to develop the community itself?

BjW1 (Florida)
Posts: 24

Posted:

We are a 20yr old (no developer) self managed neighborhood in Florida where you must submit for a tree removal permit
on Oak trees on Community property. They determine if the tree needs to be removed for whatever reason or not. the law suit threat came from a Homeowner. We the Bod do not want to remove the tree but were advised by both arborist and cement contractors that the tree could fall in a few years if we just lowered the root system lifting the road
and poured new cement. so we applied to the city for them to make final determination. I feel that we are failing the
homeowners by not correcting this entrance road but do not want to be threatened by another homeowner if I proceed.
I called the city and canceled request for permit from them. should this be all documented for all homeowners to be aware of why project was halted? Can the homeowner who threatened to sue say he was slandered by us repeating this information?

BradD2 (Florida)
Posts: 418

Posted:

I would certainly document it yes and if it is true it is not liable (slander is spoken).

Under what grounds is someone claiming they are going to sue?

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

BjW1, the tree needed to be removed; was approved by the BOD; and a permit was issued by the City which allowed removal of the tree. So why back down? Were homeowners allowed to attend and speak at a BOD meeting prior to their vote on removing the tree? That was their opportunity to complain.

Lots of people make threats of a suit. Very few take it to court. If your BOD did their job properly and have insurance I would ignore such threats.

BjW1 (Florida)
Posts: 24

Posted:

As this would be a maintenance issue and safety issue where the concrete is broken we did not have a Bod meeting before doing the leg work on how to repair.
At the annual meeting with this Homeowner in attendance it was then revealed
our findings and that we had summited to the city for their decision about the remove of the Oak tree. You are right that we are backing down, it just seems that when you try to do right by your community (as a volunteer) you don't also want to face such hate and threats. It is time for a new election and we the current board have put in two years of great accomplishment that is being erroded by this issue so have chosen to stop getting beat up and have a new election. Maybe some new energy will be able to prevail. Just had not thought about putting this writing for the Bod as a reference until now and wanted to know what you all thought would be appropriate. Thank you for help

JM2 (Oregon)
Posts: 439

Posted:

Hi Bj:

I would suggest that your BOD make a motion, second, approve to go forward with the tree removal, since you have done all the leg work and it needs to be taken down. The go forward with the process, if everything is in order. Line up every duck as needed for the process.

Is the tree on association-owned or association-maintained property? If so, then the BOD has an obligation to remove a tree that is a safety or maintenance hazard. If it's on a privately owned lot, and the HOA has no maintenance responsibility, then it would be up to the Lot owner to have it removed, but the HOA could insist on it if either required by the city or if the street is private and HOA maintained.

JPM

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

If I had a dime for everytime someone threaten to sue me, I'd be in the bahamas right now drinking margerita's. Please! Giving into a threat of a lawsuit based on what exactly? What were the damages? You have to have damages before a lawsuit has any basis. Even if they did sue, the HOA could countersue which is much cheaper for the HOA. Plus suing the HOA is suing yourself. It's going to cost the homeowner alot more than the HOA in the end when they lose.
You have all the right paperwork and the right to do what you were doing. Backing down from this was a BIG mistake. You lose some credibility. Going back and doing this all over again is going to make it much harder. Atleast this time around, see if there are any improvements that can be made with the plan.
Maybe find out about how to get the tree removed without killing it and transplanting it.There are companies out there that do transfer big trees such as this. However, the price is extradordinary. The nearest contractor to me is over 2 hours away. If this is an issue of a tree hugger who doesn't want to lose their tree, this may be an option.
I did a similar tree project a few years ago. It wasn't because of uprooting the road but other issues. I had several bradford pear trees and one large tree that were on lots not big enough to support them. One house the bradford was the entire yard! The owner wouldn't sleep in the bedroom when it stormed for fear it would fall on their house. The cost of the project was about $2K.
It was a struggle at first to get some owner's to agree to the project. I explained until I turned blue in the face the reasons. I also looked up many options and had a degreed tree specialist come out to evaluate. I was able to finally get the project completed in about a week. After the trees came down and the grass replanted, the owners that objected soo much, turned around. Although we missed the trees (I am a tree hugger myself), it made a HUGE difference in our landscape. The lawncare people appreciated it because it was much easier to mow. The owners liked it because it showed off their house more. Made it easier to sell.
So you can get this project done. Just stick to your guns and don't back down. Explain the process and the reasoning. The project isn't done until the landscaping is done. So make sure you have made provisions for replacing the grass and any other damages that may occur. This should help assure the owner, this isn't a willy nilly plan.

Former HOA President

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