Homeowner has allowed his lot to become overridden with weeds

We have three homeowners who have allowed their lots to be completely and very densely covered in weeds. We are planning on sending a letter to each of them to clear their lots, and since not all of them live in this area, we are going to provide a short list of vendors they might contact to complete the task. The board member responsible for gathering the information on vendors, has obtained a quote from one of the vendors in excess of $6,000 to clear, dispose of the weeds, and apply weed control. We are basically self managed, but we have a property manager who is available on a fee for service basis to help us with certain decisions. Her recommendation was to obtain quotes for the services of various vendors. I don't thing we should send the quotes, just a letter with the list and let the HO know they need to follow up. Second issue to this, is that the board member is suggesting the HOA should pay to have the lot cleared and bill the HO directly even though we are fairly confident none of the HOs will repay the HOA for the work. For all three lots, that would be about $20,000 and we clearly don't have that much in our coffers. Even if we paid to have one lot cleared, at $6,000 it would be a major drain on our resources. I'm curious of the experience of others in a situation like this, and what other suggestion might be offered to get the HOs to actually clear their lots. One lot, is very visible when walking or driving through our neighborhood, the other two are back off the road with other property directly in front of them.

Paula,

I would not recommend any vendor unless the member asks for recommendations.

I also wouldn't bother dealing with the issue. Instead, I'd contact the local health department and let them deal with the issue as they have much more authority then the Association.

Send the letters and leave the rest up to the owners. Don't try to micromanage the situation. If they ignore the letters it's time to get the attorneys involved. Make sure your documents and/or state statutes allow you to recover your legal expenses and attorney fees if you prevail.

Send the violation letters if you want to see if this will correct the issue.

However, if it does not, don't waste money on an attorney.
Expecting that the weeds are 2 feet or taller, contact the health department.
We contacted the health department on one owner.
The next day, a large notice was plastered to their front door giving them 24 hours or the State would move in and do it for them. It was resolved within those 24 hours.

I'd still contact the health department - send them photos (date and time stamped), if you can, and keep track of their response. If there isn't one, find out who the department heads are and nag them until something's done. Meanwhile, you could send the owner a violation letter and if he ignores it (which he probably will, if he hasn't done anything before now), then take legal action against him and get the lien, as Melissa suggested.

I might even notify the newspaper or local TV station, showing them the HOA's efforts to try and fix the problem. Maybe bad publicity will get this owner off his butt.

Check the county codes. Call the code enforcement office. You are really asking for problems by doing anything more than fining the owners. You may feel you're being helpful, but you're setting yourselves up for some real problems.

I just got off the phone with various state and county agencies, each one referring me to another because nobody wants to answer questions. In Hawaii County there is no agency who can or will be involved with this situation. There is no agency who will contact such a homeowner, or fine the individual if requests to clear the lot are ignored. The County leaves that to the HOA to enforce CC&R's, if then ignored it becomes a civil matter. The exception would be if the weeds present a danger, or the lot is overridden with vermin, then there is a health and safety issue. So we are back to trying to get the HO to take care of the lot, then going through the court system if he continues to ignore us. Why are people such pains? I don't know why this particular person even purchased this lot - it's an investment of over $300,000 in Hawaii, he lives in Boston and likely hasn't been here since he bought it.

Paula,

You need to research the statutes about how tall weeds can be.
You may need to contact the media to get the government agencies to do their job.

If the weeds are 15 feet high, I understand the high expense now. Someone will have to first walk the lot to make sure a mower doesn't run into old car parts, etc. that could damage the mower. Then if they find anything, they have to remove it (which may or may not be easy).

How can you be so sure there is a code violation when they said it is not? It is not unusual for local governments to not have strict laws on maintaining empty lots.

In the county I live in now they have to show a health hazard before they can take action, and leaving a lot in its natural state is not necessarily a health hazard. I live in an unincorporated part of the county now but the last town I lived in had pretty strict ordinances about keeping grass and weeds down but they did not apply to empty lots in their natural state.

http://www.nchh.org/Policy/National-Policy/International-Property-Maintenance-Code.aspx

http://www.bremenvillage.com/ipmc.pdf (the actual code)

Paula, based on your description of the conversations you had with the county and state offices I'm wondering if the way in which you phrased your question(s) elicited a correct response to your question but not the answer to the question you really wanted answered.

You said no agency would assist in enforcing the association requirements regarding weeds, that it was up to the HOA. That is true but why bring the HOA into the conversation? Did you ask whomever you called simply if there is a property or health and safety code requirement regarding the height of weeds on developed or undeveloped property? If you mentioned the HOA, it may have confused matters.