Privacy laws and violations

Having read through past posts about privacy, I realize there are differing opinions about what can and cannot be divulged about members and their standing in the HOA. Assuming that it's better to err on the side of being private, how can a member of the Association ensure that violators are being made to follow the rules of the association, and pay fines if situations are not corrected? Hypothetically, what could stop a board president from striking violations, and stalling the process to levy fines? What is a good way to balance the interest of privacy with the application of fair and equitable treatment?

If you're talking about CCR violations, you start with the documents, which state how the common area is to be handled - at least they're supposed to. It's impossible for the bylaws and CCRs to address every single situation, so boards should work with the association attorney in setting up clear policies and procedures, educate the homeowners on what they are, why they're necessary, what are the appeal rights, when and how fines are applied, etc. Hopefully, your board is also polling the homeowners to see what’s working vs. what needs to be tweaked. You can also volunteer for advisory committees that could review certain rules and make recommendations to the board.

Homeowners (which is what Board members are) have to recognize when the board will and won't step in because not every dispute is an association issue. If you have an issue with your neighbor, sometimes you'll just have to man (or woman up), go over to your neighbor's house and knock on the door and try to work out the situation without resorting to cussing, fisticuffs or handguns. That starts by taking time to look at things from another point of view - would YOU like yourself as a neighbor, with the loud parties at 3am, grass up to one's waist and dog poo everywhere? Sometimes you can bring in another neighbor who likes both of you and thinks clearly enough to help you two work out a solution.

Another way to keep rule enforcement fair is by bringing in a third party to do some of the work – for example, some property managers do periodic walk-throughs to check for CCR violations – they’re paid to do this, but that doesn’t mean make up stuff because they don’t get extra money for that. Action on individual homeowners are usually considered privileged information because some homeowners may balk at them and enforcement may wind up in court, but again, your board should check with the association attorney on that.

As a practical matter, fairness and consistency is the goal. I’d be worried if the board isn’t addressing CCR violations AT ALL or it’s clear some people are being treated more equally than others (strains of Animal Farm). When that happens, it’s up to the HOMEOWNERS to put the board in check – or kick them out and replace them with people who will be fair and consistent. That's the hard part for a lot of people because they'd rather see someone else deal with the mess, but life doesn't always work that way.

You have to get enough owners putting pressure on the board to reveal whatever it is you think is being hidden. If the board doesn't provide any transparency there then you need enough owners to replace them.

You can vote against any board member at any time for any reason and enough of you do it, you shouldn't have any problem. You will need to make sure there are homeowners willing to step in to replace them of course, and one of them may need to be YOU. If people are really honked off, they don't have to wait until the next annual meeting - check your documents to see what it says about calling special meetings and/or board member recalls.

If you and your neighbors are concerned the rules aren't being enforced fairly, you need to rally together, as Douglas suggested and tell the board what your specific concerns are. Keep in mind it's about being fair and consistent - if someone doesn't like that he/she received a notice for something they're really guilty of, that won't work (and if they keep yapping about that, they may end up blurting out the story anyway and that would be a wrap on the privacy issue).

You should also remember rules enforcement always sounds easier than what it really is because people are emotional about their homes and don't like being told what they can and can't do with it (why they would then move into an HOA which does just that is baffling, but that's another conversation). So a little empathy might be in order as well - if people want to ensure fairness, they may want to start by - complying with the rules they agreed to follow when they bought their home.