Calling residents who complain, good idea?

Our Board of directors has chosen to return the calls of homeowners when they call with a question regarding fines they have received or calls about past due fines or dues. The calls are left on the communities voice mail so we would be returning calls.

Some examples of questions are things like;

Why am I being fined when so in so's house looks worse than mine.

I don't understand why I got this letter.

What do I do now that I have this letter.

I was fined but I have been out of town for a month taking care of my sick mother.

I think my property looks fine

ect....ect....

ALL complaints are investigated by an 7 member committee. If the majority agrees the homeowner is in violation of our CC&R's they send out a warning notice and are given 7-15 days depending on the violation to fix the item in question. Letters to homeowners CLEARLY state the reason and contain a full quote of the section of the CC&R's that was violated and the last page gives clear instruction on how to pay or on how to ask for an appeal. Letters that give fines are sent certified (these are almost always the second letter sent) and clearly show all dates and give an expectation of what the homeowner needs to do in order to correct the violation.

I want to know how other communities deal with this issue, that is calling members of the community about complaints. I have a very strong opinion on this one, but I'm going to wait until I get a few responses before I weigh in as not to bias anyone.

Thanks

Chris,
Rodger knows what he is talking about. Hire a Management Company or a property manager and let them field all of this junk that violators just don't seem to get. We also require that ALL of the complainers submit their gripes or questions in writting to the manager, either by snail mail or an e-mail address that we provide for her to moniter. NO Board member or members should have to directly answer to any violator other than at a Board meeting and given an allotted time to question. You would be suprised how quickly the number of these guys give up and accept that they have messed up.

Chris---NO, NO, NO!!! No resident or Board member should do that on any individual basis. If you can get the other Board members to agree, then set aside a time after a regular Board meeting and have the violators present their questions. Even tho a letter has been sent to explain what is the problem, these guys just don't get it. No one should have to answer to them individually.

Example of how stupid some of these questions are. We had our developement go to County Sheriff enforcement of the vehicle laws. The first day, the Deputy stopped 17 cars in 3 hours for blowing thru the stop signs. Question #1. "Do they really mean that we have to stop?" :Are they for real" I was in a hurry" It's inside our gates so I don't have to stop. See what I mean? The questions are really violators trying to get the blame moved from themselves.

OUCH!. Who decides who is nice and who is not? That opens a door for "selective" enforcement. Careful!

What ever happened to Due Process? I thought that most HOA docs contained a Due Process Section that details this process.
1 - PM sends Cease and Desist (correct condition) letter to the owner that references the exact text/section of the bylaws that are being broken.
2 - If condition is not corrected after 30 days and 1st letter is unanswered, then certified letter goes to owner requested hearing with covenants committee or BOD. If owner doesn't respond or doesn't show, they are sent another letter showing that have been 'accessed' a certain amount initially and then accessed $10 per day until the condition is corrected. Docs also specify that privileges may be revoked after a specified time if sanction fee or assessment is not paid. If assessment is not paid within specified time, then parking, voting and pool privileges are revoked.

We tried talking to the residents first and it was an exercise in futility. As far as I'm concerned, everything should be in writing. EOS.

Ok, I have to tell the truth....

This response:

"Can we agree that some if not most, in some communities, of the calls are simple genuine questions where people are really nice? Don't those people deserve a call? I mean shouldn't the community be run like a community and not like a strict business?

Maybe we could call back the people we know are nice and avoid the trouble makers?"

Was the response of the HOA president and Treasure when this matter came before the Board. They managed to sway the secretary. It's not surprising that the two that pushed for this can both remember the day when neighborhoods were more like Leave it to Beaver.

As Vice President I totally and whole heartedly disagree with talking to residents on matters that can be perceived as negative. We created a committee to make decisions and so far they have done a great job. we insist that everything be clearly defined including what homeowners can do to appeal to the BoD.

Letters to homeowners are absolutely the way to go because they depersonalize communication. This may sound like a negative, but I would rather my angry neighbor tell the Board to shove something up there you-know-what, than to tell me too. It's easier to blow off steam at an entity, than it is an individual.

Because Boards turnover so often how can you ensure consistency when dealing with angry homeowners? The first time someone perceives they have been treated differently they will scream discrimination.

Why would we, as board members want to put ourselves in a place were we might be perceived as enforcers or in any way negative?

I don't trust our President to talk to homeowners in a way that represents the opinions of the entire Board, but that is in fact what he does when he talks to homeowners about complaints.

For the simple reason there is no record of the call. This alone should be enough in todays litigious society to know that this practice is inadvisable at best.

These were some of the arguments I used, to no avail. This decision to call homeowners was passed 3 to 1, myself being the no vote (were also short a member at the moment).

I will bring the issue back up at our Public Board meeting next month as this vote was taken at a meeting called by the president in his kitchen where no one could see.

Until then.......

Thanks everyone,

Chris

Chris, we do all official notifications in writing. We answer questions when homeowners call. Regarding violations, first an information notice is sent advising on the restriction related to the alledged violation. If not corrected a violation notice is provide with a photo (when applicable) of the violation; a time limit for correction; advise on the right to a Hearing and how to initiate the request; the initial fine if not corrected; and reference to the Rules and Regulations on Enforcement of Covenants and Rules which explains the entire process including further actions which will be taken if the violation is not corrected.

Before contacting an attorney I always try to talk with the owner in violation - preferably face to face or else by phone and lastly by email.