Resident complains about board member.

We have a resident who sent a letter to the board complaining about another boardmember and his delivery and speaking to her regarding a loose dog. Is it the board responsibility to do the dirty work and say something to a board member? Shouldn’t the resident be encouraged to come to the next meeting and discuss it openly rather than remain anonymous?

Forgot to add I'm not a fan of anonymous complaints at all. If you're going to be ballsy enough to accuse anyone of bad behavior, you should be man or woman enough to confront that person. Otherwise, I get the feeling you're just spreading gossip. I do understand some people are genuinely concerned about retaliation, in which case, there are ways to investigate the matter while keeping the person's name out of it. If the board can verify something happened on its own, it's probably not necessary to bring the complainant into it.

That said, it depends on the type of complaint - if it's a personal beef, I'm not wasting my time. If it concerns abuse or misuse of the common area, you better come up with names, dates, and other specific information. You should also understand that while your name might be kept confidential as the investigation starts, all bets are off if the matter escalates to legal action, because you may need to be subpoenaed to come to court and testify as to what you saw and did. At that point, it's too late to worry about anonymity anyway.

Such is life in a country where the Constitution guarantees the right to confront one's accusers. It's not there to work at your convenience and while people shouldn't be discouraged from filing complaints if there's a genuine concern, they also need to understand they're setting serious activity in motion - no one has time for petty stuff.

I agree with Sheila: the board should stay out of spats between owners. However, if the letter was intended as a complaint about a violation of your restrictions (a dog running loose probably is a violation), then the board should take action and go through the normal violation procedure for your community.

It will be uncomfortable for the other board members and may cause other issues for them. But far too many board members ignore the rules and are never called on it. That will lead to something called selective enforcement - the board gets away with stuff that other homeowners don't. And if Joe Homeowner goes to court over selective enforcement, the court is likely to find in his favor. This can make a restriction unenforceable altogether.

So deal with the violation if any, and deal with the immediate fallout. It will prevent other problems down the road. And homeowners are more likely to cooperate when they see that board members have to play by the same rules.

Oh, yeah - forgot - make sure to allow time for owners who wish to get their 3 minutes.

Florida has VERY limited occasions for Executive Session - personnel (employees) and lawsuits - and attorney must be present to qualify.

Sounds to me like the COMPLAINING HOMEOWNER is the one who sent a letter to the board about a BOARD MEMBER's WAY OF SPEAKING to the complainant. Apparently some others aren't reading it the same way I am.

I think it rises higher than a neighbor-neighbor dispute if the director starts waving around his/her position to intimidate or bully a homeowner.

I'm reading it like Geno is. I think, but am not sure, that the owner/director was berating the woman for HER dog's behavior.

Oh my gosh, this same thing happened in our community. If the complaint is about a well liked board member within the board, the board is likely to say "meh".
If the complaint is about a board member who is not well liked on the board, the other board members are likely to try and make a mountain out of a molehill.

I'm really tired of people using the term "harassment" as a scare tactic. Being an as* is not harassment. If someone feels harassed.. tell them to go to the police.

Hi,

This does sound like a personal matter between the owner and board member. Keep the letter in case the problem does escalate, but not much can be done right now if the homeowner just didn't like the way he spoke to her. There's no way to prove that the board member acted improperly.

If this becomes a pattern and the board member habitually speaks to people in an unprofessional manner, then action should be taken.

-- This is a gossip-y subject.

-- I think making such conduct into a violation of the governing documents will be, at a minimum, strained.

-- I agree with SheliaH's counsel.

-- Any owner the problem has with another owner must be made by formal complaint, including a citation of exactly which rule the neighbor (a director) is violating.

-- This is a gossip-y subject (sic).

I think that the complaint being anonymous is irrelevant. If the board member violated some rule that the board has control over, then take appropriate action. If the board member did not violate any rule, there is nothing to do.

Normally, a board has little control of what a board member does. They are owners and have the same rights as every other owner.

The tipping point for me is whether the Board member approached the owner about a violation, not whether the Board member is also an owner.

I suggest that the Board create a policy (or rule if you want to call it that instead) that sets limits on what a Board member can approach another homeowner face-to-face about violations.

IMO, it's a very bad policy to have Board members go face-to-face with other homeowners about violations. I've seen enough screaming matches out on the street to know that it is appropriate for the Board to put some controls in place and expect the Board members to comply - no matter what their personal opinion is.

Perceived authority is an important issue. As soon as the Board member says "you are in violation" the perception is that the Board member is speaking with the authority of the Board. This kind of behavior should be managed.

I agree but as does any person have the right to call him out. I suggest you report him to the BOD and let the fining commence.

My point was that we should not ignore a complaint simply because it was made anonymously when it involves an actual violation of some rule. The main question being, did the director violate any rules. If not, the whole thing is moot.

I agree that if the director denied anything happened then nothing could be done with an anonymous complaint.

I disagree. At the federal county, city and state levels, unless there is a safety issue, anonymous complaints are not accepted. In my opinion, the reasoning behind this is partly legal and largely common sense.

-- Thank you for the update. Thank you for trying to do the right thing.

-- Is this a condominium or non-condominium?

-- I would look at FS 720 (non-condo) and FS 718 (condo) to see what they say, if anything, about publicizing complaints about owners (it does not matter if the owner is also a director). Some state statutes say this can only be done in executive session.

-- The board, thanks to letting the President pull this, is flirting with a possible defamation action by the director, in the worst case. Intermediate responses may be a letter from his/her attorney to the HOA/condo attorney, costing all members.

-- I think CathyA3 expressed well the major problems with an anonymous complaint.

We had a homeowner doing something prohibited in his common area garage. It turned out to be an insurance hazard. This particular owner is very opinionated. Has an answer/ argument for everything. No one in the Board wanted to address his behavior for fear of his attitude. He's gotten into arguments with our contractors, pissed off maintenance agents etc. Long story short I witnessed him committing the violation and told him to send a letter to the board to discuss the violation. He immediately wrote a complaint accused me of things that did not happen. Luckily I had two witnesses. Now he continues the violation despite a letter from the board and is targeting me. Making complaints about me, photographing my unit posting lies on social media. I've had 3 nails in my tires in the last 3 months. Pretty coincidental. That's just for starters. The entire Board is tired of these bullying tactics but do not want to be targets themselves by speaking out. Its like being alone on an island. How to handle being a lone board member fighting the good fight?

It is hard. Thank you for the advice. I've been on the Board for 6 years. This homeowner has been in the community for 8 months and has just reeked havoc. The problem is now we have a major insurance violation occurring that could cause us severe financial harm if an accident was to happen. I can't locate anything in the CCNR'S about handling exigent circumstances and we have always been fortunate enough to work with homeowners to fix violations. We very rarely even fine anyone or issue violation letters. We have always just worked together and solved problems without doing that. We are contacting our HOA Attorney this week.

Joyce

You BOD needs a spine.

Sorry, too, for your plight, Joyce. It's better though to start a new thread tha to detract from an existing one.

Seeing an HOA attorney is the right thing to do. BTW, Do your CC&Rs profit hazardous materials or behavior?

Sorry about that, I can delete. How do I delete?

Sorry about that, I can delete. How do I delete?