Loud Tenants. Who is responsible?

Hello all,
I have a unit near me that moved in a few months ago. They are not owners, but renters. They have been loud since day one.

Slamming doors all hours, night day, day time, early starting at 6am.. waking me up. and often startling me awake with hardly 8 hours between.

Dog barking.. I have caught as has others.. the tenants sitting on the balcony. ( smoking which is allowed here ) letting the dog bark non stop.. last count was 20 minutes on our last holiday. before someone screamed at them to shut the damn dog up..

Fighting, callin the police domestic disputes. ( only once the po po ) but 2x for fighting.

I have asked our management to send the owner a letter 3 times. Afterthe fiasco with the dog I took it upon myself to contact the owner who states.. she never got any notification form our management company and I have never recieved confirmation when my complaint was called and emailed in.
The response I got from the owner was she can'tdo much about the door slamming, but can talk to them about the dog and the fighting..
Not quite the supportive answer I was hopiog for. She told me she can't stop the renters from using the pation or slamming the doorr!!

My fellow board members are apathetic to my issue, my management wont sent a notice and the owner seems to not want to deal. I have a calener with over 20 disturbances since the first of this month..
SUggestions beside documenting??

Nicole,

I suspect that the Board/MC considers this a neighbor v neighbor dispute.

You need to encourage others to contact the Board/MC about the issue (squeaky wheel type of thing).

Continue to call the police when appropriate and encourage others to do so as well.
Include copies of police reports when complaining to the Board/MC.

Neither the Board, the MC, the police or the owner of the property can control the actions of others. The best they can do is cause consequences to occur for those actions.

Laws may prevent the police from taking certain actions.
Governing documents may prevent the Board/MC from taking certain actions.
Contractual agreements may prevent the owner from taking certain actions.

It's possible that the best you may achieve is an agreement from the owner to not renew the lease to these individuals.

I came across a section in our declarations that pretty clearly states that the HOA can begin eviction proceedings on the renters if they continue to violate rules and owner does not take action. Anyone have any experience with this? I never thought it was a possibility until I came across that.

The owner is responsible for his tenant's conduct that's in violation of your governing docs, Nicole. You're been on the board for quite some time now and I think you know this. This is not simply a neighbor -to-neighbor dispute

If your documents, probably your CC&Rs for your condo's HOA, have a clause against nuisances in general and noise nuisances in particular, why haven't you placed (by requiting it in writing) this on an executive session agenda for your board to discuss? Again, you have a lot of experience. How do directors get matters on an agenda? Larry is right your peaceful enjoyment and probably that of others is being violated.

At least file a written complaint with the board so that the PM (if part of his/her job) sends the owner a warning letter to direct her tenants to stop the noise nuisances. (You cannot stop them form smoking on their patio unless your HOA wants to make a rule about that).

Your phoning the owner is not the correct or legal procedures to get Owners to comply with your rules & covenants. Follow the procedures in your own documents and those at davis-stirling.com (which we've recommended to you in the past). Submit your documentation with it and make sure you have a witness. Keep the heat on the owner where it belongs via your Board's instructions to your PM. Richard's citation is a good one too.

If a warning letter doesn't work, call the owner to a hearing in writing for a possible fine and to withhold common area privileges (if your docs permit) such as pool & gym use. You do have a fine schedule in your HOA, right?

Fines and withdrawing privileges DO work in controlling the bad behavior ("actions") of any residents.

Don't know if boards may evict tenants legally in CA, Mike. I don't think so. Ar you sure OH law permits that?

I'm curious Nicole, how many live in this unit? Is it just the patio door that slams?? It's virtually impossible to slam doors in our condo bldg.

JohnC, as Larry noted, re: peaceful enjoyment, and I did too, condos almost always have rules against excessive noise. I'd say 80% of the alleged violations of our rules in our condo buildings involve noise nuisances from partiers on balconies or dogs barking.

The only thing the complainer needs is a witness. The violators are sent a warning letter by our PM after the first corroborated complaint, which usually is all it takes. But the issue is, as I also noted above, between the HOA & the Owner. I'd say, though, that a wise PM will copy the tenant any warning letter as a, um, courtesy. And, of course, the worn should try to discipline the tenant, but if the Owner fails, the HOA via the Board can & will discipline the Owner.

I'm surprised you had no such rule in the townhome community you live or lived in!

Kerry

Just to clarify. We are standalone, individual homes, and some duplexes where two adjoining homes share a common wall. We have no townhouses. The only noise I have ever heard is a party in one's backyard thus noise has never been an issue here.

While we have a general nuisance clause in our Covenants which does cover excessive noise. Our leasing restrictions say a renter must acknowledge a copy of our docs and abide by such. I suppose this could allow the association to go after a renter but my suggestion would be to go after the owner. What does a renter care about fines and liens?

I would also be sure any action is in writing so the owner has a copy to show the tenant and the owner might need such to terminate the rental.

My first line of defense would be if someone believes their neighbor is noisy and no one else is complaining than I chalk it up to a neighbor to neighbor issue and tell the complainer to call the police. If others chime in than I say the association has to get involved.

To many people believe the association is responsible for everything. Dog pooped on my lawn. I will call the association. A car sped past my house. I will call the association. Someone slammed a door. I will call the association. Someone coughed in the elevator. I will call the association.

The closer the living arrangements and the more things shared (hall, elevators, parking lots, etc.) the more complaints there will be but not all have to be dealt with.

John, Mike is quite correct as far as Ohio Condo law goes. The Board can initiate eviction proceedings if the homeowner drags their feet on the matter.

5311.19 Compliance with deed restrictions, declaration, bylaws and administrative rules and regulations.

(A) All unit owners, their tenants, all persons lawfully in possession and control of any part of a condominium property, and the unit owners association of a condominium property shall comply with all covenants, conditions, and restrictions set forth in a deed to which they are subject or in the declaration, the bylaws, or the rules of the unit owners association, as lawfully amended. Violations of those covenants, conditions, or restrictions shall be grounds for the unit owners association or any unit owner to commence a civil action for damages, injunctive relief, or both, and an award of court costs and reasonable attorney's fees in both types of action.

(B)

(1) Except as otherwise provided in the declaration or the bylaws, a unit owners association may initiate eviction proceedings, pursuant to Chapters 5321. and 1923. of the Revised Code, to evict a tenant for a violation of division (A) of this section. The action shall be brought by the unit owners association, as the unit owner's agent, in the name of the unit owner.

(2) In addition to any procedures required by Chapters 5321. and 1923. of the Revised Code, the unit owners association shall give the unit owner at least ten days written notice of the intended eviction action.

(3) The costs of any eviction action brought pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section, including reasonable attorney's fees, shall be charged to the unit owner and shall be the subject of a special assessment against the offending unit and made a lien against that unit.

I know that Richard, which is why I posted the relevant OHIO Statute. If you'll take the time to read the post, Mike an OHIO resident stated what was in his documents, John and Kerry both questioned him on it.

Would you mind posting THAT exact section?

Kerry

Herein lies one of the several differences between your operation and most others:

So, in our high rise condos, if someone complains to our security staff about noise, the staffer confirms the noise & contacts the unit to quiet down or go inside. If the occupant fails to comply, the officer writes it in his report. If the same unit violates in this way again, the officer again phones the unit to quiet down and if the occupants fail to comply, the officer will advise the one who complained to call the police.

This only has happened couple of times in nine years. In one case the owner was called to hearing a few times and before he knew it, his fine had risen to $1,600 (original $100 can be doubled upon further occurrences). The partiers finally moved out saying, well, they guessed they weren't cut out for condo living.

I do not believe many associations have a security staff and procedures. What most have is an irate owner calling the MC and or the BOD Members at all hours, stopping them in the street at all hours, knocking on their front doors at all hours, complaining at Annual Meetings, writing letters, etc.

I wish we had a Security Force with the first order to shoot them dogs crapping on other people's lawn......LOL

5311.19 Compliance with deed restrictions, declaration, bylaws and administrative rules and regulations.

(A) All unit owners, their tenants, all persons lawfully in possession and control of any part of a condominium property, and the unit owners association of a condominium property shall comply with all covenants, conditions, and restrictions set forth in a deed to which they are subject or in the declaration, the bylaws, or the rules of the unit owners association, as lawfully amended. Violations of those covenants, conditions, or restrictions shall be grounds for the unit owners association or any unit owner to commence a civil action for damages, injunctive relief, or both, and an award of court costs and reasonable attorney's fees in both types of action.

(B)

(1) Except as otherwise provided in the declaration or the bylaws, a unit owners association may initiate eviction proceedings, pursuant to Chapters 5321. and 1923. of the Revised Code, to evict a tenant for a violation of division (A) of this section. The action shall be brought by the unit owners association, as the unit owner's agent, in the name of the unit owner.

(2) In addition to any procedures required by Chapters 5321. and 1923. of the Revised Code, the unit owners association shall give the unit owner at least ten days written notice of the intended eviction action.

(3) The costs of any eviction action brought pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section, including reasonable attorney's fees, shall be charged to the unit owner and shall be the subject of a special assessment against the offending unit and made a lien against that unit.

That is not even close to what the statute says.

Paragraph A basically says any member or the association can sue any other member or the association for failure to abide by the governing documents. It also gives members and the association the right to sue a tenant.

Paragraph B authorizes an association to evict a tenant. Most interesting is that the association must file the eviction action in the name of the unit owner and assess all their costs against the owner.

Sorry, Richard, but there is nothing in there that allows anyone to evict a board member.

Tenant

An individual who occupies or possesses land or premises by way of a grant of an estate of some type, such as in fee, for life, for years, or at will. A person who has the right to temporary use and possession of particular real property, which has been conveyed to that person by a landlord.

Notice that a 'tenant' does not necessarily pay rent.

Landlord

The actual owner of land or premises.

Your strategy, Nina, of having other neighbors write letters to unit Owner is fabulous. For one thing, it shows the Owner that it's not just a whiner who's complaining. This is really sound advice for HOA boards that are, um, "reluctant" to enforce their rules.

Real good job PIRA

You quote Ohio law to someone in California.

You deserve a blue ribbon.

But, as a ember of the board, Nicole should at last be given the courtesy of having those violations discussed in an executive session FIRST before she has to take the law into her own hands. Something similar to OH was is r probably in Nicole's CC&Rs as it is in mine. It's generally know as, I think, an enforcement clause.

Do notice that Nicole hasn't replied. But don't worry, she'll e back with another issue in a couple of months.

That issue you are talking about is still this one. I am now told I am the only unit who has complained about the noise. So, I am stuck with this situation until our next executive. session. I would like to ask.. how is it that people on this site keeps tabs of me? I'd think you'd be too busy watching your own hoa vs. this site. just sayin. I feel like I am being stalked a bit. LOL