violation procedure

I have a question on how everyone is handling violations, specifically who is responsible for issuing them. We have a 130 home community in GA with a 5 member board consisting of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and member at large. Our governing only specify that the board is responsible, but does not specifically list it as a duty of the president or any of the other officers and there are no documented procedures.

My interpretation is that this means that the board needs to agree on who takes on this role and decide if it should be done by a committee, officer or all should be reviewed by the board. This was never discussed at this year's or last years board meeting as a whole and currently the president (new to the role this year) is insisting that it is their responsibility to do so, without oversight from the board. This is my second year on the board and that doesn't seem right. How are others handling things like this?

Can you expand on what you mean by this?

IE: should they take on this role without getting board agreement that this is their role? Also, should there be any prior review done with the board before issuing violation notices? What about access to violation notices that have been sent out? Should the board, or any member be able to review those?

Committee members are appointed by the board and the board also provides inside on what to do and how to do it. It's ok for the committee to make recommendations to the board, because that's usually why they were established. So your instincts are right - the board oversees the association operations and doesn't delegate its authority to a common or property manager.

I bring up properly manager because some communities pay theirs to conduct periodic walk through to Vicente violations and issue letters. The board is still responsible for conducting appeal hearings and might tell the property manager to focus on specific violations that may be a bigger problem.

Rules enforcement can be a tacky business, but it's necessary because all homeowners agree to comply with the rules when they buy a home. The key is to be clear, consistent and fair - and If people get huffy and refuse to comply, The board needs to be willing to duke it out in court if it comes to that.

Tell this committee a change may be coming regarding its role in rules enforcement. That doesn't mean they won't be involved, but there will be more board oversight. The board can remove committee members as easily as they were appointed, so if someone has an issue, they can leave on their own or be femoved. You can also point them to the documents to prove your point and challenge them to find some that says they can do whatever without board oversight. That should make them pip down.

Lance
“Violations” must be based on written CCRs or bylaws or rules and regulations.

Therefore, they are very objective.

Your bylaws should outline the steps for issuing a violation and fines. Again - very objective.

The board should really stay away from being the police, judge and jury and tax collector.

Establish a Committee or hire this job out.

It doesn't sound like you presently have a process. This isn't something that you just decide to do and then start doing, unless you want a lot of backlash. And certainly it's not an individual responsibility; it's a Board responsibility . . . typically implemented by an uninterested party (management company or committee) with decisions being made by the Board (not an individual officer).

Assuming your docs and state HOA law allow it, start with creating a violation process. There needs to be a means for identifying and/or reporting violations against your covenants, rules & regs, architectural guidelines, state HOA law, etc.; informing the violator; allowing for the violator to be heard by the Board/Committee; subsequent confirmation/re-notification of violation; and eventual issuance of fine(s) based on severity, continued lack of compliance, and re-occurrence of violation.

Further, if your community has never really had a process, you need to introduce this slowly, methodically, and intentionally. You must relay the need for creation/implementation of the process; give homeowners plenty of advanced notice of when the process will start; and then be reasonable with identification of violations. You also must ensure violations are identified/issued uniformly throughout the community regardless of who the violator is. Unequal treatment in regard to violations and selectively enforcing rules will get you in hot water quickly. If you go full throttle on issuing violations in a short period of time, you're going to have a very upset community, and a very rough go as a Board Member.

Our MC plays the heavy in writing violation letters but he only does so at the direction of our BOD. Easy enough in SC as we can discuss them over the phone between BOD Members. We also have a published fine schedule,.

There are always arguments on "anonymous". Our BOD will investigate any and all complaints, regardless of the source, and we will then make the decision.

This may work for your community. In my community, violations are considered confidential, so having other homeowners do anything other than report them is a no-go.

You also need to be careful because a committee of this type can naturally attract those who believe that they are the cops and have the right to tell others what to do. They may also assume that being on the committee gives them the full authority of being a board member and the right to countermand board instructions, leading to unnecessary turmoil and conflict. (Ask me how I know this.) :-)

This is why our BOD does not appoint committees. We do not need conflict. We rule. We do appoint people to specific projects but they make no decisions.

FS 720 is pretty clear on the fines committee and the process.

PeggyW3 -- This is not the correct answer but an honest answer from my experience. It depends on the President, the amount of support he/she has in the community and how they feel about his/her violations. You might be able correct a popular President's behavior but it may be a Pyrrhic victory.

How do you correct a flawed process?