complaint anonymizer for HOAs with no MC?

Started by MichaelH34 • 17 replies • 391 views

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MichaelH34 (North Carolina)
Posts: 179

Posted:

For those of you without a management company, how are you handling complaints when they might involve directors or officers?

That's one advantage I see to a MC but we don't have one and I certainly don't want our lawyer fielding those at $350/hr :-)

I don't think complaints should be fully anonymous since that can easily be abused but there should be a filter that keeps the subject of a complaint out of the loop until the appropriate time. Much like a complaint about a boss goes to their boss or HR rather than to the boss of the person making the complaint.

HenryS6 (Arizona)
Posts: 111

Posted:

Complaints presented to the board should not be anonymous. This is awkward if someone is complaining about a board member, but such is life. if they are really mad they can file a lawsuit.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

It depends on the complaint, but generally, anonymous complaints shouldn't be allowed. It's one thing if someone complains a homeowner made an exterior change that isn't allowed in the CCRs - the board or property manager can investigate that by going past the person's house. If the change is apparent and there are no ACR requests on file, the association becomes the complainant and the violation process can begin.

If the complaint concerns possible criminal activity, property managers and board members aren't cops - the complainant should call police (use the non-emergency number if there isn't a crime in progress). The police may also be able to help if the complainant is genuinely concerned about retaliation (everyone knows how twisted that can get if you're dealing with the wrong people).

If someone has beef with another homeowner for whatever reason, stay out of it unless the situation concerns misuse or abuse of the common area or if several neighbors are also ticked off.

Beyond those exceptions, if you're ballsy enough to complain, you need to be ballsy enough to tell the neighbor about him/herself. Some people "complain" because they didn't like to be called out, although it was justified. That said, complaints against board members can get a little tricky.
Depending on how objective your property manager is, I suppose he or she can take the complaint and then suggest to the board president that an executive session be held to address the matter (assuming the president isn't the subject - if so, refer it to another officer or at large board member). Executive sessions can't be held unless someone makes a motion and it's seconded and approved.

At the executive session, the property manager can forward the complaint to everyone at the same time, including the subject of the complaint, and then leave - what happens next is up to the board.

There could also be some sort of oversight committee made up of homeowners to review complaints against board members - I might suggest they be elected by the homeowners and serve for a certain period of time. If some sort of sanction is warranted, that could be forwarded to the board for further action. I realize there may be some other things that would have to be worked out, but I'm bringing this up as a possible option.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

Our rule of thumb is that if it's not in writing and not signed, then it's not a complaint and we will not do anything about it. Our action form asks if the complainer is willing to testify in court, which should indicate that this is a serious process. And our attorney strongly discourages us from acting on hearsay.

I get that people worry about possible retaliation. On the flip side, anyone should be safe from anonymous or frivolous accusations. HOAs/COAs have their own form of due process, and if boards try to take shortcuts, they'll compromise their ability to successfully enforce their CC&Rs.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

We differ some what. When we get an anonymous complaint we will have a BOD Member investigate, observe, whatever and if valid the BOD notifies the MC and the MC begins the process. If no MC, the BOD becomes the official complainer.

Member of the BOD or not, a violation is a violation and should be dealt with.

BenA2 (Texas)
Posts: 1,273

Posted:

Our complaints are handled by the Architectural Control Committee (ACC) and, in Texas, members of the board cannot serve on the ACC. Of course, that does not solve the problem if someone made a complaint against a member of the ACC.

To answer your question, complaints against board members or ACC members should be handled like all other complaints, except that the member should recuse themselves from voting on any decision that involves a complaint against themselves.

If state law or your governing documents require confidentiality then you could set a policy where complaints can be submitted to an alternate person if the person normally receiving complaints is involved. In reality, it would be hard to keep the complainant's name secret from a board member. I personally think that complaint records should be open to all owners. That would solve the problem.

MichaelH34 (North Carolina)
Posts: 179

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By SheliaH on 10/21/2021 11:29 AM
Executive sessions can't be held unless someone makes a motion and it's seconded and approved.

Is this an Indiana rule, or one in your CCRs? I'm pretty sure that's not the case for us based on our CCRs, bylaws and NC law. But only "pretty sure."

Quote:

There could also be some sort of oversight committee made up of homeowners to review complaints against board members - I might suggest they be elected by the homeowners and serve for a certain period of time. If some sort of sanction is warranted, that could be forwarded to the board for further action. I realize there may be some other things that would have to be worked out, but I'm bringing this up as a possible option.

I hope we won't need that and honestly with such a small HOA, 22 units, I'm not sure we'd be able to fill such a committee.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

It was one of our association's procedures and protocols, which addressed the conditions under which we'd call executive sessions. It's also addressed in Robert's Rules of Order. For us, such sessions were RARE and board member discipline was an example when we'd hold them.

The oversight committee was simple musing on my part. Depending on the politicking in your community, it could be tough to bring a complaint against Board member A to the rest of the board - although he or she is only one vote, some of these folks tend to dominate and so suggesting they're doing something unethical or just plain wrong may fall on deaf ears. A separate committee, perhaps made up of former board members and other homeowners who are fairly competent, hard to manipulate or threaten, and behave in an ethical matter, might be able to do a better job of evaluating the matter and finding a way to resolve it without all hell breaking loose.

Since you have a small HOA, I suspect if someone complained about a board member, most folks would figure out pretty quickly who's beefing with who, so the objective should be to act like adults and focus on the behavior surrounding the complaint instead of the personalities. That said, if one or both people are jackasses, you have another problem. In any case, I wouldn't address an anonymous complaint unless there was a compelling reason to keep the complainant confidential. That's why I like Cathy's suggestion that the person be willing to testify in criminal or civil court if things escalate to that point - you'll find out quickly who's serious.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

MichaelH34 (North Carolina)
Posts: 179

Posted:

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'm also going to be encouraging our board to go with the "if a complaint isn't in writing, it's not actionable." approach though I do have one further question.

If a homeowner brings up an issue during a board meeting, we have a "homeowner input" period, how would y'all treat this?

I'm thinking that because there will be several witnesses to the complaint being made, being BOD members and possibly other homeowners, that adding it to the minutes should satisfy the "in writing" requirement.

Granted, things can still be fuzzy as when the complaint involves "nuisance" behavior that may have happened in the past vs an ongoing violation of the CCRs that can be independently verified.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

How can an alleged violator (director or not) be charged with "nuisance behavior that happened in the past," Michael?

If an Owner in open forum alleges a particular alleged violation at a particular address. A couple members of the board might agree to or volunteer substantiate it. Th then, would ask the secretary to write whatever the first step is in your HOA to handle the alleged violation. A courtesy letter? I f the alleged violator doesn't cure the violation, th secretary would take the next step and call the person to an executive session hearing whether or not a director.

MichaelH34 (North Carolina)
Posts: 179

Posted:

The quote button seems to be broken...

"How can an alleged violator (director or not) be charged with "nuisance behavior that happened in the past," Michael? "

That's kind of my point with the "fuzzy" comment. They really can't, IMO, unless the complainant can quote dates and times and is willing to go on record with the complaint.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

Regarding your question on a homeowner bringing up an issue during a board meeting, it would depend on the issue. I think you should start with reminding homeowners of the ground rules before you start. Assuming this comes up during the resident forum, homeowners should be told at the onset the HOA usually doesn’t have any jurisdiction on disputes between neighbors unless the common area is involved – otherwise, they have to quash the beef themselves.

That may quiet down some of the homeowners, but others may need to be reminded the board cannot and will not make decisions based on one side – photographs and witness statements are fine, but those need to be reviewed carefully and there’s no time to do it properly during a board meeting because there are other issues on the agenda that need to be addressed. As you noted, the complainant needs to provide specific dates and times and be willing to go on the record because if the issue escalates to legal action, he/she may be called as a witness. That alone should make people think carefully about what they want to be done and how far they will go to see it through. People who’d rather light a match and watch stuff explode aren’t very helpful.

Regarding complaints against vendors or a question regarding a board action, they should be able to discuss that, but not all night. The person gets 2-3 minutes to speak, and the board should take notes so it can be discussed during the next meeting. Depending on the situation, the matter may be referred to the property manager for follow-up. The homeowner should receive some sort of written acknowledgment of his/her concerns. Something like “thanks for coming to the meeting and expressing your opinion about X. We will research and get back to you before the next meeting” – and then do it. If you already have a response, put that in the letter and encourage the person to contact the board with additional information if necessary.

By the way, what IS a complaint anonymizer???? Is that a word?

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

MichaelH34 (North Carolina)
Posts: 179

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By SheliaH on 10/25/2021 11:50 AM

By the way, what IS a complaint anonymizer???? Is that a word?

Thanks for the feedback, that's very helpful.

"Anonymizer" is a term commonly used in IT security for something that strips off personally identifiable information (PII). In that field the PII usually is completely thrown away so that it can never be recovered. The feedback here has led me to the conclusion that anonymizing complaints like that not only isn't a thing in the HOA world, it's not a good idea.

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MichaelH34 on 10/25/2021 8:49 AM
Thanks for all the replies. I think I'm also going to be encouraging our board to go with the "if a complaint isn't in writing, it's not actionable." approach though I do have one further question.

If a homeowner brings up an issue during a board meeting, we have a "homeowner input" period, how would y'all treat this?

I'm thinking that because there will be several witnesses to the complaint being made, being BOD members and possibly other homeowners, that adding it to the minutes should satisfy the "in writing" requirement.

Granted, things can still be fuzzy as when the complaint involves "nuisance" behavior that may have happened in the past vs an ongoing violation of the CCRs that can be independently verified.

The point of having complaints in writing is to have the person who witnessed the violation on record. Having others witness the accusation and put it in the meeting minutes is *not* a written complaint - for all you know the person may be making it up and trying to get others to do their dirty work for them.

MichaelH34 (North Carolina)
Posts: 179

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By CathyA3 on 10/25/2021 12:36 PM

The point of having complaints in writing is to have the person who witnessed the violation on record. Having others witness the accusation and put it in the meeting minutes is *not* a written complaint - for all you know the person may be making it up and trying to get others to do their dirty work for them.

Yeah, in which case they'd have to come to the meeting with more than just an accusation. But I take your point. If they are that prepared for the meeting, they should do their final homework and put what they have in writing.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

I have always and still maintain that no matter how a BOD hears about a complaint, they owe it to themselves to investigate. If one exists, the BOD or the PM should put the complaint in writing and address. Yes, I say even anonymous complaints should be looked at to see if valid.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnC46 on 10/26/2021 10:05 AM
I have always and still maintain that no matter how a BOD hears about a complaint, they owe it to themselves to investigate. If one exists, the BOD or the PM should put the complaint in writing and address. Yes, I say even anonymous complaints should be looked at to see if valid.

Because of due process, I'm always a little skeptical on anonymous complaints - I believe there's something in the Constitution about due process and confronting one's accusers (although some people in this country seem hellbent to change it or limit it to certain people). In my experience, I've also found most anonymous complaints are long on accusations and short (really, really short) on specifics. Dates, times, complete descriptions, paper trails, etc. are useful, especially if the accusation is something that may land someone in jail.

If someone's genuinely concerned about retribution, I can work with that because I'd rather have the information and look into it rather than ignore what may be a big problem. That said, that anonymous complainant better spill hisor her her guts with details - names, dates, photos, etc. If they can't or refuse to, they need to think harder about it and then get back to me.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By SheliaH on 10/26/2021 11:20 AM

We assign one BOD Member, typically me, to investigate. I report back to the BOD and if we agree, I inform the MC to begin the violation process. If it gets to the point where one wants to confront the complainer, I am more then willing to stand up and take the hit. After all, I investigated and documented the violation so I am simply reporting it. Also if it came to a hearing in front of the BOD, I would recuse myself.

Remember situations can be different. As we are standalone patio homes our violations are not he said, she said types. They are typically in your face type violations. Also easy for me to be cavalier as we have never had one progress to a hearing......LOL

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