ARC Penalties - No ARC approval

The topic is just developing in our single family Florida HOA but wanted to get a jump on opinions.

How would you handle a ARC request that would have been approved but the homeowner did the work and never submitted a request?

The early opinions are a fine and getting the form submitted to no fine and just getting the form submitted after the fact.

What have other's done?

Thanks

We usually sent a letter asking them for an ARC form so we can keep it on file - and we also remind them of the correct procedure.

Regular education is a must - in fact, now that spring may be springing in a lot of areas, this is a good time to post an article in your newsletter or on your website, quoting the relevant section in your documents, and explaining why it's important (and what you risk if you don't do it). Tell your homeowners how the board will enforce the CCRs, appeal rights, and consider repeating all this in the fall, as some people finish up home improvement projects before the winter. If you have a website, you can post all this information once and it'll be available as people need it.

You might also keep track of changes by having your management company do a drive-through to identify changes every other month or so (depending on your budget and the size of your community). Keep in mind some companies charge extra for this, so get the numbers and decide if this is something regular assessments can cover or if the board would like to do it themselves, perhaps b dividing up the community and doing a walk-through. Be sure to have cameras with you that can time and date stamp the photos.

We have a $50 fine on the books. Hasn't been applied in over a decade.

I think the problem for us would wind up being lack of consistency.

The comment about the Board not fining is simply a statement that the present nor past Boards wanted to follow their governing documents. At what point will the issue be so egregious that the present Board will fine someone. What is that tipping point? Fining an owner and in particular a friend is not easy, but being on the Board is not supposed to be easy. Conflict resolution is a skill that all Board members should have and having critical conversations with each other and with the owners, is part of the job.

Reasons for not properly submitting the ARC request could have been various . . . owner didn't know the process, owner knew the process but didn't think it applied to them, owner intentionally ignored the process, etc.

If it would have been approved anyway and this is the first instance of this owner not following procedure, simply remind them of the procedure, require them to submit documentation and get that approval officially to keep record-keeping accurate (even though improvement is already done), and let them know that future occurrences of not following procedure may result in a fine.

The HOA is not a money-making enterprise, and in general (I would hope) seeks to establish community, obtain and maintain a neighborly/positive atmosphere, and provide help and guidance where needed. Implementing a fine does nothing but sour the relationship between owner and Board and put cash in the pocket of the HOA for no real reason. Generally when someone breaks a "rule", there is first a warning, a period where the owner can have a hearing before the Board, and a period where owner is allowed to come into compliance . . . all before a fine is applied. Going straight to fine with this situation skips the whole "forgiveness" period that happens with other document/rule violations.

Also, the suggestion of requiring removal of an improvement that would have been approved anyway (simply because proper procedure was not followed to the T) is downright absurd, cruel, and unnecessarily vindictive.

As others have suggested, and with spring on the horizon, use this as an opportunity to remind all owners to follow procedures and submit ARC requests before doing any work.