common area clutter

correction,, The owner has not yet hired a lawyer. He sent a letter to the board with the appraisal and wants the hoa for the value of the desk.

Forgot to mention, in my condo association, one person finally moved her junk after the third notice in which we said that we would remove the items at her expense. And we've towed a junk vehicle that had been abandoned (we are a tow-away zone, with appropriate signage at the community entrance).

I'm afraid your HOA is going to have to compensate the person for the value of the desk - it's probably less than paying the lawyer. The board messed up by not following proper procedures.

I would just offer an apology ...does anyone really think the owner is going to hire an attorney?

Nice a formal apology is offered, then wait them out.

If it goes to court, once the owner has paid for their attorney, fold early, and offer and apology, again.

Years sitting in the walkway?

If it turns out the Manager is the one who instructed the desk be thrown out.

I'm sure she's going to respond that she didn't know whose it was.

Does the board itself have any authority to garnish a portion of each paycheck until the owner is paid off.

If not and the manager just ignores the owner and doesn't pay for the desk..

then what.

Is the hoa responsible for the manager's mistake made during the course of their job. They were acting as the manager, however, they had no authority to have something thrown out without property notification etc.

You wrote that, at the time of disposal, the desk was in a limited common area. A limited common area is typically assigned to an individual owner. Whose limited common area?

Is the manager an employee of the HOA, such that the HOA issues the employee her paycheck every two weeks (or once a month)? Or does the HOA pay a management company, which in turn pays its employee every two weeks (or once a month)?

The manager is a legal "agent" of the HOA. As an agent of the HOA, and As CathyA3 and KerryL1 wrote, I believe legally, the HOA can be held liable for mistakes made by the manager. I also think the Board should inform the HOA insurer of this mistake. If push comes to shove, and the owner goes to (small claims?) court, I believe the right legal course of action, when it comes to naming defendants, would be to name the HOA and the manager as defendants.

What Cathy said, but if this was some sort of antique, why on earth was it sitting out in the common area anyway? For several years??????? Even if no one said anything, this is indoor furniture, not a BBQ grill or a
lawn chair, or anything else you'd expect to see outside. And if it's that valuable, why not put it somewhere where it would be more secure - who's to say a stranger wouldn't stroll by, recognize it and then make off with it?

Apologize, leave a bottle of bourbon at their door, and wait for the owner’s next move.

Everyone here is being nice, but I suspect it was junk.

the area that the desk was in was a covered little cubby area that each building has.. it's about a 6 x 6 space between fenced back patios.
again. I'm not saying it's a good idea that the owner had the desk there. I'm asking if he has a legitimate claim against the hoa..
I think the manager should at the very least have notified the owner that it needs to be moved. There are several of these 6 x 6 spaces throughout the property that other owners have stored larger items .
I know they shouldn't be there. but the fact that the board never enforced this rule. I don't see how we can say, we decided to start enforcing it and didn't tell anybody and by the way threw out your item.

You mention that the desk in question was in a common area and moved to a limited common area, correct? At no time was this ever on private property? If the desk was never on private property then the owner is SOL. PERIOD. I am quire confident your governing documents are quite clear on debris left in common areas and the associations right to remove them.

It would be one thing if other people kept stuff in the common areas for a long period of time with no consequences, and there's no indication that happened here. To me, the primary issue here is that the HOA didn't send the man an ultimatum - remove the desk from the common area within X number of days or it'll be removed and placed in storage at his expense. Not addressing the issue for several years doesn't help the HOA either - why was it seen as a problem now and not several years ago when the desk first arrived?

Of course, the counter to that could be - you parked this desk in the common area for years and years - it doesn't take that long to refinish anything, so when were you planning to actually do it? If that was your intent, why didn't you just put it in storage or somewhere in your own home?

CCR enforcement can be a tricky thing - some things may become more of an issue at various times for various reasons, so just because a specific rule hasn't been enforced doesn't always mean it's rendered unenforceable. Perhaps there was no reason to enforce that rule because it wasn't seen as a problem at the time. In this case, the issue started when the man's neighbor asked about the desk because he was trying to sell his unit and a prospect asked about it.

This is why if CCRs go unenforced and a new board decides enough is enough, I think the best approach is to tell homeowners (1) everyone agreed to comply with this rules when they purchased their home (2) it's true enforcement has been lax, none-existent or selectively enforced in recent years (3) this is about to change because the CCRs exist to preserve the overall look of the community and we all want to live in a clean, safe and attractive one with rising property values. Effective (X date), there will be more CCR enforcement, especially in the areas of A, B, C. Here's how we'll do it, here's how you'll be notified of violations, your appeal rights and what happens if you don't comply.

That gives people a chance to clean up their act, ask questions or even start a conversation about updating the CCRs - perhaps some are outdated, unenforceable, don't address new issues, or simply need a tweak. From there, the board might commission an advisory committee to look at some or all of the CCRs and make recommendations homeowners could consider before voting to amend the documents.

Apologize, scotch instead of bourbon.

Wait it out.

Appraisals of junk happen all the time. If bit was left out that long, it was junk.

Move on.

I would be concerned about the wasted time continuing to talk about it.

Place your bet and wait.

It was junk and doesn’t matter.

Thanks, Shelia.

New I can reduce the offer to cheap bourbon 😚

Surely something so “valuable” would have been insured.

He should turn it in to his insurance company as stolen.

Just like it was a bike or potted plant.

In looking at this. IF the desk was left outside for years then it must not of meant much to the owner and it must not be worth much. Or at least now it isnt cause its been outside getting damaged from the weather. that is the way I would take on this. apologize it cant be replaced and it certainly is not worth all that much. So offer a little bit of money. And if he goes to court prove it was not worth much and left out in the weather to be damaged. That's how I would handle this. And lastly either the BOD needs to follow the rues for the common areas or make rules to follow. So this does not happen again. Be fare for all.