Non-Owner threatening and menancing board members

What can we do about a live in who is not an owner who has approached board
members and threatened or tried intimidation tactics. He will not leave us alone
or stay out of owner/board business. Some board members would like to have him removed from
the property. Is this possible if he lives with an owner but is not one himself?

Beth, I agree with Harold here... also you should have language in your governing documents that address "Owner's family, guests, etc" with regards to nuisance or the owner's responsibility to "control" his/her guest to the HOA's private property. All else fails, contact the cops, as Harold suggested.

One never wants to get into the the subject of who is allowed to have a voice in their community. ALL residents of a community should be treated equally. The person whos name is on the deed may not even live in the association. All people who live there should be heard; whether it be the owner, the spouse of the owner, the adult child of the owner, or the renter. That "live-in" may be paying all the bills and the maintenace fees; the "owner" may be the only one on the deed and contribute nothing financially. It's none of the Board's business what people's financial/living arrangements are. Don't treat the "live-in" as a second class citizen. Try listening to what he has to say, and speak with him as if his opinion matters, first.

BethS1: It is possible to look beyond the body language and tactics to determine if there is any 'truth' to what he/she is saying? It is important for the Board to define just what this person is angry about.

What has happened in HOAs to prevent people from sitting down, reviewing the governing documents and talking things out?

When this sort of thing has occurred in our neighborhood, the "unwrapping" or "truth" behind the situation is this: the homeowner or property has been in some sort of violation and the homeowner, or the spouse or "significant other" has taken it upon his or herself to bully the board into either dropping its position or retaliate.

Do not engage the bully. If he has "beefs," "complaints," "concerns," "questions," whatever, encourage him to write them down and submit them officially in that format.

Once he has done that, reply. In writing. Thank him for his concerns.

Address those that you can, and for those that you can't say, "we will check into that."

We had a resident who held onto his assessment as a "punishment" to us for not addressing our correspondence properly to him and his girlfriend. She was the homeowner of record and our policy has been to address the official assessment invoices to the deed owner of record. Somewhere between the date we sent out the notice and the date the assessment was due (about a 2-month period), they got married. When we sent out second notices, not being aware of this, the letter was addressed as the first one. He threw it away. When we sent out the notice of lien pending, he threw THAT away too. It wasn't until they got the notice from the county clerk's office of the lien that he contacted us and went ballistic.

He wanted to force us to ONLY accept the assessment amount, not the penalties and late fees, because in HIS mind, we erred by not sending any of the notices to both their names.

He harassed us through emails (each board member received no less than 5 emails a day with threats and intimidating language); he would corner board members out working on their yards and rant at them; he even parked behind the driveway of one board member and would not let the guy's wife out for about 20 minutes. Yes, she did call the police.

We told him to present his protest in writing and gave him a 10-minute period on our next agenda for him to present his case as to why we should waive the late fees and lien penalties.

The board heard him and still voted no. He didn't stop until our attorney wrote him to cease and desist or we would get a retraining order.

Harold, not sure what the "amazement" at the comment should be, or how it adversely affects an HOA?

If the person has made threats, and seeks to intimidate anyone in the community (which does include board-members) a restraining order would suffice, and would be in order.

Barring a person who has proven to be "threatening and intimidating" from a meeting, property is commonplace in today's society. When a person acts in a perverted manner, he/she does not warrant continued participation in that community. To me it is no different than removing the neighborhood drunk from a private stoop.

I beg to differ with those who stated that the board should listen and try to ascertain the "unwrapping" of the person's comments to see if there is any merit involved in the complaint. Don't HOA's have enough work to do, then to be "translaters" of bad behavior? What happen to working with a board, and addressing your NEIGHBORS in a dignified and respectful manner? It seems that the "crutch" to be used by many (concerning interactions with HOA's) is that you CAN say what you want in any manner possible, and there will be no responses.

Can someone please "explain" to me how demanding to be treated in a respectful manner as a board-member is somehow "overstepping" the boundaries of your role?

Harold, I believe that we are in agreement on the scope of what an HOA can and cannot do with regards to membership. However the posted question suggests to me that the non-resident is disruptive, threatening, and intimidating to board-members and owners alike. This behaviour is not acceptable in any community (HOA or not). Just because one lives in an HOA, that does not automatically remove rights of personal safety from the equation, nor does it ensure that everyone will "magically" behave in a manner society deems appropriate. The board-members who felt "threatened, and intimidated" have the absolute right to have the non-member person removed from property IF those actions are deemed to be valid by local authorities. As I mentioned a simple restraining order would suffice. It would prevent the non-resident from attending a board meeting (which there is NO right of a non-member to attend), and it also would prevent the non-member from approaching the board-members in the community. Further, it is the responsibility of the member to control his/her non-member guest when they use the community's private property (common elements). So yes, it is well (IMHO) within the scope of an HOA to remove a disruptive, threatening, and intimidating non-member from the community, so long as those actions are done with the appropriate local law enforcement as the enforcer. Can a board, unprovoked prevent a guest of a member from the community... NO. However someone who has violated either the covnenants of the community, or the covenants of society, (in such an extreme manner), can be removed and barred from the community.

Jade - can you show me in your documents where your HOA has the power to physically remove someone from a home in your community because they are disruptive? Restraining orders, etc of course can be requested and enforced, with the police doing the actual removing (arresting), and even they can't stop the person from returning to the home without a court order. But actually the HOA being capable of banning them from the home and community? I don't think so.
If that were allowed, boy o boy I'd start a list today of who I wanted out of our community. LOL Harold

BethS1: With all the responses you have had, some advising to call local authorities, others to try to 'reason' with the person to get to the facts of his/her threats...what details can you offer on the actual non-owner (but resident) situation?

Rarely does a non-member have any right to voice opinions and certainly no right to attend any meetings. Just explain that you are intersted in hearing the issues that he brings up but that he needs to have an owner/member bring themup for him. You can ask him to leave any meetings and if he refuses to leave, simply ask the local police to remove him.
If you allow his harassment to continue he is winning his battle. Folks like that need to be stopped at the first sign of any issues.
Check your CC&R's and your by-laws. It is doubtful that there is an exception simply because he resides on the property.
Our HOA has a number of rentals - these folks who rent have NO say in HOA business and are not allowed at any meetings.
Never let non-members/non-owners stick their foot in the door.

Beth:

As to your original question, if he is harrassing/intimidating, call the police, and let them remove him from the property. They will give him a free night's lodging (and maybe more) at the "Graybar Hotel." If you're lucky, he'll get a parole violation or something like that.

Beyond that, I would check with the association's attorney regarding what other legal steps may be taken. The "Nuisance" clause in your documents may cover this, but check with the attorney on that, and it might be worth having the attorney write any such letter.

J. Patrick Moore, CMCA