Security Committee

We've got a couple of homes where there's illicit activity going on. We know this because a couple of homeowners have been in contact with local law enforcement about the problem. These renters, however, are not violating any of our covenants or rules, so the HOA can't really take action against the owner/landlords. The HOA has stayed out of it and the owners who are in touch with local LE do so in their role as concerned homeowner citizens.

Now we've got a new board and a president who absolutely has to know everything and be in everybody's business. She has proposed a "Security Committee" whose members will be appointed by her and whose activities will not be shared with all homeowners. She was told last year to "stay our of it" when she was pressuring one of the knowledgable homeowners to fill her in on what was going on, so the purpose of this committee is clear. At least it will be tomorrow night when the board is scheduled to vote on it. She intends to insert herself, and maybe another couple of people, as the "Official HOA Liason to the Sheriff's Department" in the matter of the unsavory tenants living in the community. That way she'll know what's going on and can pester the sheriff to "do something" about it.

This is a bad idea, right?

Yup. Y'll need to get control of this president -she cannot set up any advisory committee by herself. If however, she wants to set up a neighborhood watch, she needs to do it right. agree with Tim this shouldn't be sponsored directly by the HOA because of liability issues - have her call the police department and talk to whoever helps communities set up a neighborhood watch. The rest of the board should remind her of that in no uncertain terms and if she will not listen, they need to consider appointing another president.

She might also want to be reminded of what neighborhood watches are for - it's not about "spying on people" but to encourage folks to look out for each other and their property, knowing signs of crime, making sure people are in the know as to what's trending, etc. You don't necessarily need a formal committee for that - encourage encourage everyone to keep an eye on their property and each other - when you see suspicious activities, you can call the non-emergency number of the police department (if there's a crime in progress, call 911, but you already know that).

A Committee has to be established by the Board.
The Board creates a resolution or charter to outline the purpose and duties of the committee.
The Board appoints those to serve on the committee.
State Statute requires that the committee meetings be published to the membership.
State Statutes requires that the committee meetings be open to the membership
State Statutes requires that minutes of the committee be kept and made available to the membership for inspection (if requested).

Time to point out the proper way to do things and, if the President doesn't want to do it that way, time to make a motion to remove that individual from that position and have yourself appointed as President.

Your current neighborhood watch is doing exactly what most neighborhood watches are supposed to do (this is how it works in our city).

You may want to check with the police department's neighborhood watch coordinator and possibly your association attorney, but I don't see how merely informing people of possible criminal activity would put the HOA at risk. People can choose what they want to do with the information - pay attention or not. If something happens (as life often does, regardless of what you're told or what you do), I would think they'd be hard pressed to blame the HOA.

I understand your concern about homeowners not know who's on the committee or what it's doing, and that's why I have to wonder what's wrong with the rest of your board. If you're on it, it falls to you to speak up and say something - at least one board member should demonstrate he/she uses his head for more than a hat rack. If you're not on the board, go to the meeting and say something during the open forum or write a strongly worded letter to the board. Sometimes, all it takes is one person to jump start the brain cells of everyone else...

This alone is concerning enough let alone whatever this new committee is to be doing in secret. You have an HOA/Board-endorsed "Neighborhood Watch Committee". All it takes is one wrong move from anyone on this committee to create significant issues for your Board and HOA at large. Take a look at the articles Tim posted and ask if the increase in risk and liability is worth it. Good luck.

Thanks. No one on the committee is under 75 years old so the chances are low, I think, that any of them will do something really stupid. But it's still a concern.

Great, Geno! I though ND's remarks made a lot of sense.

I also agree with your Owner who says we never should use the words "safety" or "security" as names of anything in our HOAs. Our Mgmt. co. has told our board that and we do call our officers by a different name that downs' include either of those words.