Harassment from self managed condo HOA

My daughter and I co own a condominium that is self managed. Unfortunately, we live next door to the Board President that does not uniformly apply the rules and regulations. We get picked apart constantly and residents that live out of her direct line of vision, seem to do whatever they want. I feel like I have no recourse! They have been particularly unfair in regard to applying a back ground check requirement. The Bi Laws state that anyone that stays in excess of 7 days per month must submit a background check. We have complied for my daughter, prior to me finally putting her on the deed. We have complied for my daughters boyfriend. Now they are claiming there is a woman staying there that requires a background check. We are completely lost! I have no idea what they are talking about, but I feel I have no recourse. I am also disturbed about the lack of repairs and maintenance and would much rather find a professional management company as the self managed group is NOT keeping our dues lower as they profess. Can anyone give me some light on this? I WOULD SO MUCH APPRECIATE IT. I AM AT MY WITS END.

Ann,

Note that even with a management company the board still controls the association. The MC works at the direction of the of the board, assists with day-to-day details, and can advise the board. So hiring an MC is not necessarily a panacea. Your best long term plan might be to try to replace the board by getting new people (possibly including yourself) elected.

Michele,

Unfortunately, most jurisdictions don't have any office that acts as HOA police, or even ombudsman to help homeowners deal with problems with their HOA. I don't know about DC, I don't think we have many DC posters here so you might need to do your own searching. The CCRs/deed restrictions that form the association are essentially a contract between the homeowners, so dealing with this via the courts might be your only option. If you can get enough support from other owners you might consider a board recall. The procedures for your association should be outlined in your docs.