Pest Control

Ours is a small (40 unit) PUD. I am the president. We have a management company (not on site).

We are adjacent to a large open area (a not very well maintained golf course) which is occupied by gophers, ground squirrels, coyotes and rabbits and they infiltrate our common areas as we have lots of grass in our landscape.

A pest control company services our common areas monthly and baits for gophers and ground squirrels as well as the usual ants etc.

Our members seem to think that we should call out the pest control every time a new mound appears near their home. We do call out the pest control company quite often for extra service but they would be out here every day if we responded to every request. It takes time for bait to work and with our proximity to that open area, and the reproduction habits of those creatures, they will likely never be eradicated. They are driving our poor manager crazy with the demands for immediate service.

One member believes these creatures are undermining her house, have caused cracks in the patio and thinks they are burrowing under the slab and damaging her walls and stucco. Today she threatened our manager that she would sue the association for the damage.

We feel we are doing everything we can to deal with the pests, but the best we can do is try to control the problem.

How do other boards deal with residents who (in my opinion) have unrealistic expectations of what we as a board, and the management company, can accomplish in this regard?

I say when it comes to your home, it's your responsibility for pest control. The HOA is only interested in the shared property it owns. Plus have the pest control come to a meeting and explain their "plan of attack".

We had railroad tie walls behind the homes filled with termites. Plus people used landscaping materials that fed the termites. A member wanted us to take down those walls and replace them with concrete. The pest control said that was a bad idea. It meant we took away the "feeding area" of the termites. Which then would turn them into eating the homes. We did put up a warning about what type of mulch to use but we still were not going to supply or remove it. At some point YOU are responsible for the decisions you make.