Anonymous Complaints to Management Company

We are currently using a management company, and a homeowner submitted a complaint, and told the management company they wanted to remain anonymous. Do we the board have the right to know who complained? Does the management company have the right to keep that information from us, since the management company works for us?

I am on Board, and the management company is telling me that they cannot divulge that information to us(the board)

Danny

Is the complaint valid? If so, the source does not matter. Correct it.

In 'my' HOA all communications / complaints to and from the BOD must be written and signed.

Anonymous would equate to nonexistent as per our CCRs.

Simply INFORM your employee (the management co.) of the same policy.

Problem? What problem?

I agree with John – if you’re ballsy enough to accuse someone of doing something, put your name on it. If things escalate to where legal action is necessary, the complainant’s information may be needed in court. If there’s a concern about retaliation, the complainant should tell the board and they can figure out how to address it (this doesn’t include complaints of possible or actual criminal activity, which need to be referred to law enforcement anyway).

Tell your property manager, the management company works for the association and takes direction from the board – and then blast the information out of them. You can meet with the complainant in private to see what his/her issues are and why he/she wants to remain anonymous. Depending on the type of complaint, you won’t need to name names if the board can substantiate the complaint independently, but if it’s a dustup between neighbors, the association should stay out of it altogether and tell the homeowner he/she needs to work it out, as the association will only get involved in damage/abuse to the common area is involved or several residents have the same issue with the subject of the complaint. At least that’s how it works in my community.

As for the manager, you might want to meet with the company’s executive management to drive home this point. Ask for a new manager if this one can’t/won’t cooperate and if that’s not possible, you may need to consider replacing the company altogether.

LOL ... I do not accept anonymous complaints. For the HOA to properly address ANY complaint it MUST be proved to the Board of Directors that it is from and Owner in the HOA. If you have an honest complaint ... you need to step up to the plate!!!

For complaints, I think it is important to have documentation, in the event things start getting 'legal.' This would certainly include a properly completed complaint form. Also if there is an "accused party" involved, then "due process" requires that the accused be allowed to know who is accusing him or her. At my HOA, the accused gets a copy of the written complaint form.

As others are conceding, having to put one's name on a complaint makes it hard to submit a complaint. People do not want to be seen as complainers. Still, it's what HOAs are stuck with most of the time.

My HOA's attorney also declared recently that complaints do not have to be in writing for the HOA to take action to resolve them. To me he was saying that a failure to take action on a matter that is huge could result in liability to the Association. E.g. suppose one of the landscaping crew (contracted for by the HOA) walks into a member's home and makes sexually demeaning comments to the owner's teenage daughter. She screams at the intruder, who leaves. The daughter then calls the police and also, near simultaneously, reports this to the HOA by phone. At a minimum, I would expect the HOA to speak with the vendor and take some action, even if there is no written complaint.

But also, time and again and sadly, I meet residents where I live who are afraid of retaliation. from neighbors, the Board and management. My former HOA had a serious conflict between neighbors that yielded violations of the covenants. One party wanted a meeting with the board without filing a complaint. I said he had to submit a written complaint and go through the process as laid out in the CC&Rs. Why? Because it looked like this was going the direction of a restraining order. Documentation was important for all. He would not do so.

In another instance, the manager tried to shake out of me who had complained about a severely unkempt and unsightly patio. On privacy grounds, I refused, even as a director. The manager went to the patio and saw the issue with her own eyes and agreed that the HOA had to and would take action. She had no need to know the name of the original complainer.

As others have said, if the issue being complained about can be resolved easily, then were I on the Board, I would tell management to fix it and not tarry over the issue unless maybe there is a repeat occurrence.

The management company works for the board, under your contract with them you give them the right to act in your behalf and as such you the board would also be liable for any wrongful acts that the management company engages in. If an association member contacts the management company and requests non disclosure of their name in a complaint, they are in fact contacting the Board of the HOA, and requesting that the board or its agent not disclose their identity to others. If the management company is refusing to disclose the identity of the complainant to the board, then simply terminate the contract and hire a management company that will comply with your wishes.