Restraining orders and the HOA.

I had this conversation with another homeowner. / board member. I wondered if an HOA ever had to pursue an restraining order for a resident or owner who kept doing what they were doing despite fines, hearings and cease and desist letters..

We've never done it, although there was one occasion where several homeowners and a few tenants renting out their units came to a board meeting after we established a towing policy. I was at my part time job at the time, but later heard it wasn't pretty - the reason no one went off was because our security officer (an off duty cop) was also there. The meeting was later canceled, and the officer told everyone to git and they did.

In your case, it depends on what the homeowner's doing. For example, if this person is harassing a board member for whatever reason, the board member should notify the police, because that's a criminal issue, not an HOA issue. The HOA could tell the homeowner he/she cannot attend meetings for frequent bad behavior, but they should have documented all those incidents.

Simply disagreeing isn't the issue - the concern should be with threats (verbal and otherwise), perhaps harassing the board member(s) at their homes, such as standing outside and causing a ruckus and refusing to leave when asked, etc. There should also be a record of previous conversations, letters, etc. Finally, the association shouldn't take action without running this by the association attorney.

If the behavior is related to abuse or misuse of the common area, and the owner still violates community rules, you'll have to talk to the association attorney about filing a lawsuit. If there was damage, the homeowner should be ordered to pay for it, as well as the association's legal expenses incurred in pursuing this.

I think a court order for "injunctive relief" is what you mean. E.g. HOA member Jack Jerk displays signs saying, "Legalize Marijuana" from his condo's windows. The covenants prohibit signs in windows. The Board uniformly enforces the covenant; no exceptions. The HOA could seek an order from a judge telling Jack Jerk to take down the signs. In California, I believe statute or the covenants allows the HOA to recover its attorney's fees (assuming the HOA prevails in court). Also, a properly prepared fine schedule would keep building on the fines. When the fines get large enough, and if the state's statute allows, the HOA could foreclose. In California, this appears to be possible. See https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/Collecting-Fines

Our situation is going down this road. Most owners only need a violation letter to fix something. THis individual who is an owner is defacing HOA signs with snide remarks. Its been an issue for months. It’s on CCTV. He has gotten a letter, a cease and desist from our attourney a few weeks ago and he is still posting his home made signs all over our common area and on top of our HOA CDC guidelines that was posted. He has no issue knowing he is being filmed.

The sad thing is he is trying to intimidate and bully his neighbors who are only trying to follow social distancing guidelines and wearing masks for protection.

Has the HOA reported this to the police? I would think this vandalism is one HOA issue in which the police would become involved.

For what it is worth, here is California Penal Code's section on vandalism:

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§i594.

Some sites report that vandalism that results in destruction of property costing $400 or more is a felony.

I suggest the Board ask the manager to tally up the total cost to date.

Hopefully this video documentation shows the guy destroying HOA property.

In my California county (Contra Costa), the person filing a restraining order can specify the distance in yards they wish the harasser to stay away. The restraining order request form also asks the following question:
"If the court orders the person [harasser] to stay away from all the places listed above, will he or she still be able to get to his or her home, school, or job?"

In short, the threats would have to be quite severe for the court to force the harasser to move out of an HOA community. The court most likely would approve a smaller distance that could allow the harasser to stay in their unit.