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HOA responsibilities

Started by RaghuramA • 10 replies • 693 views

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RaghuramA (Texas)
Posts: 26
Posted:
Does HOA has any responsibility or obligation to intervene in the following:

a) If one resident or his visitors park their car in front the mail box of their neighbor

b) Haloween... Educating residents that they should not knock on the doors where the resident has not put on the lights.

One of the resident is constantly sending me SMS on the above stating that HOA should take some action on the above points.

Please advise

Thanks
Raghu
MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836
Posted:
Parking a car in front of a mailbox isn't HOA it's the public. Call the police. You can't park in front of mailboxes or fire hydrants. Of course mailboxes fall under federal laws, so the Post office may need contacted for options.

Halloween it's a "Known" thing one ONLY knocks on doors with lights on. It's NOT an HOA thing. It's just how Halloween works. If people are knocking on the door of someone who doesn't have a light on, then they may be doing it on purpose to tick the person off. Plus the owner can freely call the police NOT the HOA. They just need to keep lights off and lay off the decorations. Kids see decorations and may think they may give candy.

So both of these are NOT HOA responsibilities. You don't live in a bubble in a HOA. You live in the real world with police officers and postal inspectors...
Former HOA President
RaghuramA (Texas)
Posts: 26
Posted:
Melissa

Thanks for quick reply

Regards
Raghu
RichardP13 (California)
Posts: 3,868
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By MelissaP1 on 10/13/2018 9:03 AM
Parking a car in front of a mailbox isn't HOA it's the public. Call the police. You can't park in front of mailboxes or fire hydrants. Of course mailboxes fall under federal laws, so the Post office may need contacted for options.

Halloween it's a "Known" thing one ONLY knocks on doors with lights on. It's NOT an HOA thing. It's just how Halloween works. If people are knocking on the door of someone who doesn't have a light on, then they may be doing it on purpose to tick the person off. Plus the owner can freely call the police NOT the HOA. They just need to keep lights off and lay off the decorations. Kids see decorations and may think they may give candy.

So both of these are NOT HOA responsibilities. You don't live in a bubble in a HOA. You live in the real world with police officers and postal inspectors...

it is not against the law to park in front of a mailbox. If you think it is, then cite your source.
BillH10 (Texas)
Posts: 1,217
Posted:
Raghu

Melissa is correct, neither is the responsibility of the HOA. However, there can many times be a middle ground approach.

For example, we have an owner who is designated as the village communicator. She uses e-mail to send messages of community interest, reminders of activities, notices of upcoming construction projects which would affect access to the association area, and the like. Official notices are never sent using the village communicator, although reminders of upcoming Board meetings, association social activities, etc. are. Exception: in Texas an owner can opt-in to receive official communications via e-mail, those who do opt-in receive official communications from the management company, not the communicator.

The communicator, at the direction of the Board, has sent friendly reminders to the owners from time to time regarding 'stuff' which is not the responsibility of the association but which we (the Board) see as an opportunity to address issues. Your parking in front of the mailbox situation is a prime example.

Since we are in Texas, it may begin with "All y'all" and go on to say something Texas/folksy/tongue in check like "Remember, it is not neighborly to park in front of the mailboxes.(We have individual masonry mailboxes at the curb.) Our carrier is super efficient but having to dismount to put mail in a blocked mailbox slows her down. She especially doesn't want to have to get out in (insert your climate condition).

On the other side of the middle ground, we had a bobcat problem a few years ago. Pets were being attacked, people were frightened. Some owners demanded the HOA take action. We consulted with experts and animal control and communicated to everyone what they as individuals should do, what the HOA could not and would not do, and the reasons why. Some grumbling ensued about "why do we have an HOA then" which is best just ignored. We have found going two steps beyond to explain why the HOA is or is not responsible helps keep down the negative comments.
ArtL1 (Florida)
Posts: 140
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By RichardP13 on 10/13/2018 9:28 AM
Posted By MelissaP1 on 10/13/2018 9:03 AM
Parking a car in front of a mailbox isn't HOA it's the public. Call the police. You can't park in front of mailboxes or fire hydrants. Of course mailboxes fall under federal laws, so the Post office may need contacted for options.

Halloween it's a "Known" thing one ONLY knocks on doors with lights on. It's NOT an HOA thing. It's just how Halloween works. If people are knocking on the door of someone who doesn't have a light on, then they may be doing it on purpose to tick the person off. Plus the owner can freely call the police NOT the HOA. They just need to keep lights off and lay off the decorations. Kids see decorations and may think they may give candy.

So both of these are NOT HOA responsibilities. You don't live in a bubble in a HOA. You live in the real world with police officers and postal inspectors...


it is not against the law to park in front of a mailbox. If you think it is, then cite your source.

You'll have to check local laws/ordinances, but in many places it is illegal to park in front of a mailbox other than your own. i.e. Someone else can't park blocking access to your mailbox. In FL, we also have state and local laws prohibiting parking in front of / directly across the street from the entrance to a driveway. I've helped with a dispute over the latter, and the simple/quick fix was a call to the city police, who sent out an officer to explain to the person in question that he needed to move his vehicle, and that if he parked that way again, he'd be ticketed.
JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265
Posted:
Rag

Keep ott of neighbor to neighbor complaints. They can bog the BOD down and cost money.

Look up "Benign Neglect". A useful tool for the BOD.
DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,046
Posted:
If you have a newsletter or other avenue of communication (website, email blast), you might want to consider putting reminders in there, otherwise I agree with the others that these are not association concerns unless your governing document make either of these the responsibility of the association.
Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.
KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550
Posted:
I agree entirely with Douglas.
KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550
Posted:
I agree entirely with Douglas.
RoyalpitA
Posts: 195
Posted:
the HOA should not assume the role of "NANNY"

it should merely assume its corporate duty of MAINTENANCE

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