New York State

I should add that this is a Townhouse condo community

As Augustin said, your governing docs are a good place to start regarding your enforcement ability. State law might also come into play. If you doubt the PM's advice, then getting a lawyer's opinion based on your docs and state law would be a good next step. They can let you know if you can fine, and if you can lien or even possibly even foreclose for unpaid fines.

Our documents do not give us the right to fine, but it DOES give us the right to fix what is wrong on your property and then lien you for that charge. Sometimes there are workarounds.

You could start by Googling New York homeowner association laws and then scroll through to see what it says.

As far as talking to your attorney, I assume this wasn't the homeowner association's attorney. If it was and you're on the board, you should be talking to him or her about enforcement.

As for the property manager's comments, I suspect he/she said that because many HOA boards don't always have the stones to enforce the rules. It's true that without enforcement, rules don't mean much, but people have to be willing to follow them, and when they don't, it's ultimately up to the board to drop the hammer.
You know how we humans are - we scream for rules about this and that, but then scream bloody murder when someone has the gall to try and enforce them against US (because rules apply to everyone else EXCEPT us!)

Everyone in the community - the HOA board members and regular homeowners are all neighbors, and as you know it's not always easy to go to your neighbor and tell him/her, the music's too loud, the dog keeps pooing on your lawn, his failure to keep the trash can lid closed is creating a plague of flies, and everything else.
You also watch the news and have seen some of the more tragic things that happen when neighbors get into conflict. that's why some people would prefer the property manager do the dirty work, but the property manager takes his/her direction from the Board. Once the property manager sends the violation letters and advises the homeowner of the fine, what will YOU when he/she/they tell you to kick rocks?

So your real beef is with the board - if you're a member, time for all of you to have a conversation about rule enforcement. Some people won't violate the rules, others will fix it once they're told their in violation and the rest will push back, scream about "this is my house dagnabit - you're not the boss of me!" What will you do about that group (ans yes, court action may need to be an option)? Make up your minds how you will do this, educate the homeowners about how and when this will happen, begin by targeting the most obnoxious problems - and stand your ground when people resist. Our HOA attorney told us that a renewed interest in enforcement is almost always hard the first few years, but when people see that you mean business, most will fall in line. Have fun!

Please fully review your CCRs, Bylaws and state statutes governing HOAs prior to refining your question.

Starting with a perjorative term like “garbage” is not as helpful as researching your issues.

Ok, so I get using the term "garbage" seems harsh, but I am in a position where my community is small and gets bullied by a group of people. One is a sociopath - really I am not just being mean. He is on our Board. I am also on the Board. I got on this Board because of the bulling going on with my family and other community members. We have made a huge difference. One of these horrible people resigned from the Board. But the sociopath remains and reports back to his minions. one of the minions, is my neighbor- who is performing all of the violations. Now that the PM has announced in front of this Board member that we can not enforce the violations for the community- this board member will go back to my neighbor and have them release themselves on my family.

I have a litigation attorney waiting in the wings when/if that happens. But, the reason why I use the By-laws as garbage is because every time the four of us try to enforce the by-laws the PM says things like above. But it is a double edge sword because this Board member is trying to lay the violations via by-laws to Bully another neighbor. See several years ago, when these minions were the majority vote they put all of these fines on this one owner who is bi-polar.They pushed and pushed her. It was horrible. She hasn't paid the fines. But now, about four years later this Board member is pushing to get more aggressive on her. The problem is that we have an election in a couple of months and this group of bullies are trying to make us look bad. So if we are not careful what we say and do they are posting things on FB and talking badly about us. On things that have to be confidential. The one that resigned purposely is doing this. It is really a bad situation. I have been attacked verbally in the parking lot and another board member was attacked via phone. But the PM (which is new because the old one was working personally with this group) seems to not want to get involved or doesn't know how. We four Board members keep asking for direction and we are told that we basically cannot do anything.

We cannot go to the Board attorney because then we will have to pay him and that will go on to the books and this sociopath will tell the community that we are spending the community's money neglectfully.

I agree with you about growing a pair. The minions are not scared. Maybe I used the wrong word.I do not know how a horrible group of people found themselves living in such a small community and are as evil as they are. They all follow the same dark path. I know it sounds like whiny crazy talk, but I tell you it isn't as easy as just growing a pair. That is why I need legal backing and proof to show PM to help us enforce. We pay the PM to help us Enforce so yes they are supposed to. Says every lawyer, police officer, and town tell me. The problem is that the Board is afraid to discuss with the Board lawyer (we have no money also). I will look up NYS law and see if I can see anything there. Thanks

Tara,

Have you read your CCRs and Bylaws?

Can you post applicable portions here - please don’t post the name of your HOA or neighborhood.

I would say yes, with the caveat that "common charge" and "common expense" may have a distinction that the defendants will cling to. Foreclosure aside, to me it appears clear that the HOA can take violators of the covenants to court and the court "shall" award the costs of the HOA's attorney and other costs. Your manager sounds clueless. I think a lot of HOA managers are high school graduates at most and not sharp. They exercise control to feed their ego and pretend to know what they are talking about but often do not. What to do about such a manager is the stuff of another thread.

So when the property manager says you can't enforce, do you ever ask WHY?

I see a lot of threads here saying "why would the PM say..." Instead of just...asking the PM.

Your governing documents may say the Association can foreclose for unpaid fines - does the state have any laws about HOA foreclosure? Some states only permit foreclosure if the owner is delinquent on assessments, not fines. That may be what your PM means when she says you can't do anything about it - maybe they mean practically speaking, you can levy a bunch of fines but you can't force the owner to pay them. But then, the only way to know for sure is to ask the PM.

Well then, there's your answer. Apparently your PM believes that NY law does not allow an HOA to lien or foreclose for unpaid fines. You said yourself the lawyer you previously contacted was not versed in HOA law, so you probably shouldn't take his word as gospel.

You can certainly research NY statutes yourself. You can also ask them PM what section in the law they are referring to.

You could also ask the rest of the Board members to get an opinion from the HOA's attorney.

The PM and the Association attorney will take direction from the Board as a whole, not from individual members. If you can't get a majority of the Board to go along with whatever it is you want to do, there's nothing anyone on this forum can tell you that will fix your problem.

Tara

Do not confuse the right to foreclosure based on unpaid fines versus unpaid dues/assessments. Typically all states allow a foreclosure based on unpaid dues. Few allow a foreclosure based on unpaid fines.