vendor issues

It is that time of year for tree trimming in my community. I signed off on a couple off different estimates. between common areas and homesites, our docs say the HOA covers front of house maintenance and that is interpreted as tree trimming and removal. I have dilemma with the tree company. One owner took to social media accusing the mamagmet company of saying there are too many trees in the community and XX numbers will be removed. The tree trimmers on my street alone placed ribbons and spray painted the trunks. The owner that posted the falsehood also said that their tree was removed. I have not verified that the tree was removed, but since she possibly lied to make themselves look good, it got a lot of other owners all riled up. I did look on the estimate and this persons tree was scheduled for trimming. Also, one of my neighbors trees was removed because high winds kept taking down branches. Even though the estimate called for their tree to be trimmed, I am uneasy about moving forward with the entire project all together. The president wants to table just the removals. As aboard member, I was under the understanding that someone was to get permission from the homeowner before any tree is removed, and that they would accept liability if the tree fell and caused damage. The tree damage was a previous board issue since the HOA trims the trees the labially issue of who is at fault if a tree falls and causes damage, who would be at fault.

My issue now is, I am uneasy of signing off on any payments for these tree services if trees are removed and they were only supposed to be trimmed, I kind of see that as a breach of contract.
I sure could use some guidance.

If this homeowner isn't telling the truth, you need to investigate and let the homeowners know the truth of what happened. No need to name names - just stick to the facts and let the homeowners explain why he or she shot off his/her mouth without discussing concerns with the association first.

It's also high time for the board to determine once and for all what "caring for the front of the house" actually means - don't know why no one bothered to clarify that Until now. If these are detached single family homes I would think trees sitting in front of the yard would be homeowner responsibility - if not, you shouldn't need permission from the homeowners to maintain, plant or remove the tree. The owner would also be responsible if the tree fell and caused damage to property or person. If

Take a look at your documents and consult with your attorney. It may be the association will have to tell homeowners it took care of the trees all these years when it wasn't the association's respo, so effective 30 days hence, it will only care for trees in the common area, and homeowners will be responsible for trees on their lot. You may still be able to pre-approve requests to remove or plant specific trees if your CCRs state the association approves exterior changes to a home - ask your attorney about that as well.

If the association is responsible for trees, you should establish some sort of policy covering things like planting, trimming vs. removal, invasive species, etc. An atheist can inspect your property and assist in drafting a policy, which can be approved during an open board meeting and distributed to homeowners with an effective date.

Next, read the contract and see exactly what the company was supposed to do - you should have done that before signing anything and before the company started to work. We've had assorted tree issues in our community and always had the areas inspected first to determine which tree needed what and the contract would specify the locations of trees to be trimmed or removed - if your contract didn't indicate that, you and your board colleagues are responsible for that because someone didn't read the thing.

Sheila, It was a legal opinion a few years ago that the lawyer put the HOA on the hook if a tree fell a liable.

What I think isn;t fair is all the home owners should not shoulder the burden of any of the burden of the cost of any one homeowners tree removal. If it cost $400.00 to remove one owners tree than that owner should pay that $400. It's their tree they bought and paid for on their property. If 10 trees need to be removed from private property, that's almost $13.00 every homeowner has to pay to remove someone else's tree, that is not right.

If the covenants say the HOA assumes responsibility for trimming and, as needed, removal of all trees on xyz land, then it is "right." If you quote here exactly what your covenants say about tree maintenance, then I think this would yield more helpful advice.

Also quote what your governing documents say about the owner's right to make improvements on the 'front of the house' and any maintenance responsibility that the governing documents assign to the owner subsequent to such improvements.

Within one -(I) year after conveyance of a Lot from Declarant to
an Owner, each Owner shall install landscaping improvements on all portions of such Owner's
Lot, including, but not limited to, side and rear yards. Prior _to installation, the landscaping
improvements described herein as -well as all other landscaping improvements on any other
portion of a Lot must be approved by the Architectural Committee in accordance with Article 5
of this Declaration. Front yard landscaping shall be installed by the Declarant. After
installation, the Association shall be obligated to maintain the front yard landscaping on all lots.
Each Owner of Lot hereby grants to the Association, its agents and assigns, an easement onto the
Lot for purposes of fulfilling the Association's maintenance obligations. The Board of Directors
may establish such additional Rules and Regulations relating to the maintenance of the front
yards as may be required. Such Rules and Regulations may include a description of the scope of
maintenance, the timing of such maintenance, and any other issue that may arise from time to
time.

Thank you for posting this. Here is one approach I would recommend to your board:

Consider this statement in the covenants: "After installation, the Association shall be obligated to maintain the front yard landscaping on all lots." An owner who plants a tree in the front yard is now undertaking maintenance of the front yard in violation of the covenants. This amounts to interfering with the Association's planning, budgeting et cetera for front yard maintenance. If this HOA can document that such-and-such tree or shrub or similar was installed by an owner and not the HOA, then I think the HOA can remove the tree or shrub anytime it wants and bill the owner.

I think this is a poorly written covenant. The Board may create "Rules and Regulations" that may describe the "scope of maintenance"? The scope?! I think this is way too vague and ambiguous to bind anyone to anything.

The declarant planted the tree tho.. And I agree it is way too ambitious of a statement. As one of the board members this is a hard pill for me to swallow. I hate to beat the it isn't fair drum, but it isn't fair.
If everyone's front yard had the same square footage frontage with seeming equal amounts of landscaping then I would think fair is fair. That is not the case in this association. A portion of the houses have less than 3 feet of frontage, just a tiny driveway apron leading to two single stall garages split by a walkway leading to the front door. All of these houses have at least only 4 rosemary or sage bushes. The original model homes, since there were 3 developers 7 former homes that have an abundant amount of front landscape. The typical home has 2-3 bushes, one lantana, a sago or dwarf palm and 1 or two trees.
Some homes have half that amount of landscaping. That is why it is hard for me to have all the owners pay to remove a tree from someones home, that tree is their property, they bought and paid for it from the developer, removing the tree because of whatever should be at the cost of the homeowner. I feel our landscaping cost are going out of control, the PM wants us to go with a more expensive landscaper that will leaf blow all front of homes every 5-6 weeks instead of every 4 weeks as in the contract, and the PM's choice of landscaper would raise assessments close to $10.00 a month. how much of that is a kickback to the PM?

I personally feel this covenant needs to be repealed, because of the three bushes in my front yard, only one grows out twice a year needing a hedge trimmer. and only one tree do I need to prune so branches don't hang over the sidewalk or over my driveway. The only real labor intensive job the landscapers do is leaf blow the debris from the front of everyones yard every 4-5 weeks.

That might be my next platform for re-electon to the board.

Well, opinions are like buttholes, and You know the rest of that quote. Lawyers can and do say anything, but they can also be wrong. That's why lawsuits, judges and alternative dispute resolution was invented.

You say the owner bought the tree, so I would agree they're on the hook for damages it caused. What I'd like to know is: were these homeowners required to get permission to plant the tree? If so, did they? If not and They planted the tree anyway, how did the board respond? If it didn't do anything then, why do these homeowners think the association should be responsible for something THEY planted?

I stand by my original answer, so if you still feel it's unfair, tim for you to have a chat with your attorney. If these people threaten to sue, let them. That doesn't mean they'll win - they still have to prove their case and you can always appeal if you lose.If

And you STILL need to resolve the issue of responsibility for the front yards, otherwise this will continue to happen. Stop wrong your hands and discuss this with your board to decide what the next step should be.

The covenants also came with the house when they bought it. The covenants say the membership collectively pays for all members' front yard maintenance. If some owners feel the covenant requiring the membership to collectively pay for all front yard maintenance is unfair, then they can start a movement to amend the covenants. Until then, they should be aware that perfectly fair covenants, satisfying every person at every time in a HOA's life, do not exist; this sort of arrangement for front lawn maintenance is not uncommon; and any complaint they have is with the covenants, not anything the Board is doing to enforce the covenants.