Dealing with resident harassment

Started by KerryW • 16 replies • 1888 views

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KerryW (Tennessee)
Posts: 6

Posted:

Has anyone had to deal with residents harassing the board? We are a 300+ single family residential community. A previous board member and spouse has been harassing our board since he left the board. I am inclined to just give them the duties they are harassing us about, however, our other volunteers will not work with these people. We have had board members resign over the harassment and in general it just threatens the volunteer organization I am trying to setup. We may get dozens of emails from these particular residents during the day complaining about everything from brown spots in grass, mulching, how much we are spending on water, 2 years old financial reports, etc...

Any advice on how to take care of this before I lose more board members? We have an outstanding group, but most of us have fulltime jobs and can't respond to emails all day. I am inclined to autorespond to their emails to speak with the property manager and tell them if they feel there are financial improprieties going on then they need to lawyer up. I am trying to be civil but I am afraid I am at my wit's end.

Thoughts?

KerryW (Tennessee)
Posts: 6

Posted:

It's bad enough that I hesitate to post this here with my display name (wish I could change this) because they are known for googling all the board members and talking about whatever they find to other residents (who immediately come and tell me what was said).

AugustinD
Posts: 5,144

Posted:

1.
Consider checking with the HOA attorney on how to respond and whether, for egregious harassment, a restraining order is appropriate.

2.
Instruct these two members to email only the manager. Subsequently all board members are to ignore their emails.

3.
The manager should address concerns that are obvious violations of the covenants. For all other concerns, once a month, the manager should advise these two members to come to a board meeting to ask their questions.

4.
Anything done by these two that appears to be either violent or criminal (such as showing up at a board member's home and screaming at the board member) should be instantly reported to the police.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

Auto responding could work - they might calm down when they realize the constant emailing isn't doing any good. If it doesn't, you might need to invite him to an executive session where you can discuss his behavior. You should cite specific examples of his foolishness and lay down the law - if he has SPECIFIC concerns about maintenance, that should go to the property manager, otherwise, you cannot and will not respond to each and every email about whatever's on his mind. As far as financial monkey business goes, note that if he was on the board two years ago, he should be aware of what on at that time - any improper behavior that blows back on the board will engulf him as well. Unless he has specifics, you will not address them. If he wants to lawyer up, let him - give your attorney a heads up and see what happens.

There are some homeowners who will bombard the board with nonsense if they can get away with it, so you may want to establish one email where people can send messages to the board and not have individual accounts clogged up. The secretary could have a look ever two or three days to forward whatever needs to be forwarded. If there's a trend, such as several neighbors are complaining about the same thing, that could become an agenda item. Remind everyone how emergencies need to be handled and tell everyone what issues the Board cannot and will not handle because they're not association issues. All of you should learn to distinguish everyday bitching from real concerns.

One more thing - is this former board member off because he got voted off or was forced out? If he wants back in, he can always run again. Or give him something to do - perhaps he can chair a committee to look into an issue everyone's concerned about and make recommendations to the board. If he's game, remind him of the board's expectations regarding behavior and if problems develop, the board may have no choice but to relieve him of his post.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

KerryW (Tennessee)
Posts: 6

Posted:

No, this particular board member chose not to run again. In fact, he specifically chose to not run again this year. So there really isn't malice, it's mostly just bureaucratic stuff (why doesn't the contract have this, what are you going to do about this, what did you spend this money on). I would call it meddling more than anything (though my fellow board members would probably disagree). The sticky part is that I have a decent relationship with this individual but do not know the proper time to escalate it to hostility (my fellow board members would say now). I receive most of the correspondence so the other board members don't know the half of it. They have contacted vendors to such a degree that they have started blocking their emails.

KerryW (Tennessee)
Posts: 6

Posted:

I am really stuck between a board member that oversees the landscape that refuses to work with him and the resident. Other landscape volunteers have specifically stated that they will not work with them (to their face). In a recent survey to the residents common area landscaping was rated the highest in "The board does a good job managing and maintaining...". So it's not like the landscape committee is not doing a good job.

ND (PA)
Posts: 792

Posted:

FYI . . . click "My Account" above and you can edit your screen name, location, and other things.

In addition to doing much of what others have already posted, you could also create a new HOA email address and disable your old one such that any emails they sent would get bounced back to them as undeliverable. Same for other Board Members. And then ensure those new email addresses remain among the Board and the only one the HOA's members have access to is the Community Manager. If it gets out and you didn't release it, then you need to identify how that happened.

CjS (Maryland)
Posts: 21

Posted:

We created ONE gmail address for the Board that was checked by one person. That person then disseminated all emails to the rest of the Board. That way, only one email address was out there.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

We have a 40-hour-on-the- premises property mgr., and no residents email us board members; they only email the PM with the kinds of things your harasser is emailing. Tell him that now.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

We have a 40-hour-on-the- premises property mgr., and no residents email us board members; they only email the PM with the kinds of things your harasser is emailing. Tell him that now.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

Define "Harassment" please. Some people say that word when it's not necessarily falls into that category. Real harassment is a legal matter. Annoying behavior is just something you deal with as a HOA board member.

Former HOA President

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

I disagree that we directors must deal with repeated & constant "annoying behavior," Melissa, especially if there's a PM.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

I forgot about the HOA PM bubble... Or the fact if your in a HOA the world can't get you in one...

Former HOA President

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Kerry

We call them CCO's. Chief Complaining Officers. We know who they are and our typical response is:

Thank you for the information and the BOD will take it under advisement.

Google Benign Neglect:

an attitude or policy of ignoring an often delicate or undesirable situation that one is held to be responsible for dealing with. As in: Thank you for the information and the BOD will take it under advisement.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,062

Posted:

Hi Kerry,

Welcome to the forum.

Every Association has a CCO (chief complaining Officer).

How you respond is important. I'll offer suggestions on the items you identified:

Complaint: "why doesn't the contract have this"
Response: It was a board decision. If you would like us to consider this in the future, please give us some pros and cons for the service for the Board to consider when the contract is up for renewal.

Complaint: what are you going to do about this
Response: The board was not aware of the issue. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. We will discuss it at our next board meeting. What do you think should be done about the issue?

Complaint: what did you spend this money on
Response: Our budget was provided at the annual meeting. If you would like another copy, I'll ask the Property manager to email one to you (or it's available on our website).

Regarding contact with contractors, send a cease and desist letter (or have your attorney send it). Explain that any complaints, concerns or comments about contractors are to be directed to the PM.

Basically, you need to acknowledge but not necessarily respond. That's part of the Boards job.
When responding to complaints ask how they think the issue should be resolved.
When responding invite them to the Board meeting to raise the issue personally (most won't take you up on the offer).
If they complain about a decision, explain that it was a decision of the Board and if they would like to be part of the decision process you will gladly place them on the next ballot (most won't take you up on this offer).

JohnH38 (South Carolina)
Posts: 100

Posted:

eRogue & dysfunctional board members are quick to complain about harassment: does simply receiving too many emails (how many?) constitute harassment even if the email content is proper and relevant?

I always email or Fedex the spouse(s)of the board member(s)... I find it is more effective and word is passed around faster than light speed!

Hasta luego mi amigo, John

JanetB2 (Colorado)
Posts: 4,219

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By TimB4 on 04/26/2017 8:02 PM
Hi Kerry,

Welcome to the forum.

Every Association has a CCO (chief complaining Officer).

How you respond is important. I'll offer suggestions on the items you identified:

Complaint: "why doesn't the contract have this"
Response: It was a board decision. If you would like us to consider this in the future, please give us some pros and cons for the service for the Board to consider when the contract is up for renewal.

Complaint: what are you going to do about this
Response: The board was not aware of the issue. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. We will discuss it at our next board meeting. What do you think should be done about the issue?

Complaint: what did you spend this money on
Response: Our budget was provided at the annual meeting. If you would like another copy, I'll ask the Property manager to email one to you (or it's available on our website).

Regarding contact with contractors, send a cease and desist letter (or have your attorney send it). Explain that any complaints, concerns or comments about contractors are to be directed to the PM.

Basically, you need to acknowledge but not necessarily respond. That's part of the Boards job.
When responding to complaints ask how they think the issue should be resolved.
When responding invite them to the Board meeting to raise the issue personally (most won't take you up on the offer).
If they complain about a decision, explain that it was a decision of the Board and if they would like to be part of the decision process you will gladly place them on the next ballot (most won't take you up on this offer).

I'm with Tim ...

Essentially I empathize with owners in understanding how they feel (this generally takes the wind out of their sails and reduces perceived anger), but then ask them how they would FIX any perceived issue. Essentially I take a stand of do not come with just a complaint, but be willing to offer a solution. Most of the time they cannot offer a better solution and will drop the complaint.

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