Providing Method for Owners to Communicate Among Themselves

-- I agree with the owners that the three methods the Board/HOA is offering does not adequately provide a method for owners to communicate "among themselves." To me, this means without board interference.

-- You're clear that the Board may interfere with what an Owner says at a board meeting, e.g. by cutting off discussion among members.

-- Communications to the Board are not communications among owners.

-- For the bulletin board, I object to a requirement that owners sign their name. I do not think this is allowed under the statute. I do think the HOA might be able to require that owners state they are a lawful owner in the HOA.

-- The private Facebook group prohibits HOA discussion, so it does not count.

-- The bulletin board seems the most promising.

-- Defamation concerns make this really tricky. In my opinion the Board has the duty to remove any posting on the bulletin board that is potentially defamatory to another person, lest the HOA be held liable for the defamation. But what if the posting is defamatory to the corporation?

-- I would consult the HOA attorney.

I agree with others about the risks of providing a forum for owners to communicate among themselves. I also wonder what lawmakers were thinking.

* Anybody can create a Facebook or other social media page. It's free. There is no need for an HOA to provide this.

* The HOA/board is legally accountable for anything that appears on HOA-owned, which is why many attorneys strongly recommend that community associations *not* allow homeowners to post freely. Websites such as this one, where users are allowed to post, have extensive Terms of Service agreements to protect the site owner from legal liability. Any site that you provide would also need Terms of Service (which need to be written by a lawyer skilled in this area) that the HOA would need to enforce - failure to enforce may result in loss of protection. This will amount to censorship of users' posts or even outright bans of those who repeatedly violate the Terms.

* Homeowner-provided information is frequently incorrect. Providing a platform is simply spreading misinformation, in addition to the defamatory comments, privacy violations, copyright violations, flame wars, and other things that make social media so special. These things can poison a community's atmosphere and create conflicts where none would have arisen without the provocations coming into people's homes.

* Also, board members and manager should not be engaging in discussions with homeowners one on one, aside from answering simple questions. These discussions by definition would be outside of the normal channels of communication.

* Strongly suggest you talk to your insurer about the resources you do provide. Labeling them as "outside" will not protect your from liability. Also run this past your HOA attorney - lawmakers have put you into an impossible situation, and shame on them. You have a choice: follow the letter of the law or protect the HOA from liability. I know which one I'd choose, given my fiduciary duty to the association.

Thank you for your responses. Anyone in VA have any experience improving communications among and with the board to hash out community issues? Sometimes these discussions are just a learning process. I would like to point out that this very forum is a good example of people exchanging ideas and learning.

ND
Thank you. I know what the issue is, but how to allow more communication is, oddly, difficult. It really comes down to how much individuals want to participate and develop groups on their own, it seems.

Why does the board need a specific method at all? What's wrong with people simply walking around the community, introducing themselves and commence to talking? It sounds like people are confusing that with communicating with the board, which isn't the same thing.

The board has several ways to communicate with it, but this doesn't mean homeowners can't send emails to each other or setting up their own Facebook group, as long as they make it clear this isn't official association communication.

CathyA3,

The https://basecamp.com/ is a legitime website.

just throwing my $0.02.....your HOA has a membership roster. Most state laws and governing docs require the HOA maintain a list of current members names and addresses and it shall be accessible.

Boom. you have a reasonable, effective, free method to communicate. Here's a list of members and you can go knock on their door to communicate or you can drop a mailer if you want to send them a letter.

-- Many owners rent their home or unit. Knocking on doors won't work.

-- Mailing costs at least 50 cents per letter. So mailing fails the "free" requirement. Plus where the HOA/COA is large, that's a lot of money and work (envelope stuffing) for each mailing to members.

-- Granted, I think the whole point of the many statute sections and bylaws that require making the members' list and members' addresses available to any member who asks, is to facilitate communications among members. On the other hand, the form of communication contemplated back in the day is hardly the way people communicate today.

-- I also wonder whether a bulletin board fails the "among themselves" test. Anyone can read the bulletin board. But what if the person distributing information yada only wants to speak with certain folks, while say she or he is running for the board?

1.5 cents

Augustin's mention of the requirement that the method be free to homeowners reminded me of something.

The social media platforms are free to those who use them (because the users aren't the real customers, they're unpaid content providers whose information will be sold). Any other online platform (such as a community website that hosts a discussion area) is not free - the association has to pay for the website, so there's a non-obvious cost even to those who don't choose to use it. And anything online will require that homeowners have internet access, which also is not free.

This may be splitting hairs, but I think that the VA law isn't clear enough about what lawmakers had in mind, or it wasn't thought through enough (ha!). Because I can't think of any method that is truly "free" - there are always costs somewhere even if they're intangibles such as the loss of privacy for your info.

Heh. Even the bulletin board has a maintenance cost and would be a capital asset, requiring maintenance and replacement at some point.

When the HOA is sued [wink] for not ensuring the bulletin board or web site is "free, I think the HOA attorney would point out that many government services are advertised as "free" but are not truly so. E.g. below a certain income, one can report to IRS-partnered tax preparation services and have their taxes done for free. But of course, one pays taxes to support government institutions like the IRS. So these IRS-partnered "free" tax preparation sites are not really free.

Or how about municipal events that a city organizes on summer nights? "Free admission" the flyers say. And the admission is free. But of course, one's tax dollars are paying for the event.

Said HOA attorney says that, in statutes and the like, the meaning of "free" has never truly, existentially or otherwise, meant "at no cost." The HOA attorney says that he thinks a reasonable interpretation of the statute is that "free" means there is no direct billing to an owner for any communication he/she posts on the bulletin board or internet site.

Here where the temperature finally hit double digits in mid-day --

I think a HOA serious about this statute section is stuck with a kiosk-bulletin board on the common area accompanied maybe by an internet site, well-moderated. Then let the chips fall where they may.

BH

I say you could do several things to meet the requirements:

1. Provide an Email address that all mail sent to gets distributed to each BOD Member automatically. GMail has this feature as we use it.

2. Provide and opt out list of owners, their address, their phone number, and Email to each owner.

3. Provide an informational only (info from the BOD/MC) web page.

I say all 3 show openness and that is what people/courts want.

Thanks to all who responded.

1. Just to clarify, I was not asking "how" to set-up a communications platform. I am aware of the many whys to use technology (or USPS or flyers) to enable a group to communicate. And special thanks to the moderators for catching the advertisements that probably got people talking about the "how."

2. The vagueness of the VA law is a good point. I will pursue that with our representatives.

3. Comments about not encouraging member communication shows a "belief" that we are trying to tamp down. We want a way to debate / educate members through interaction. In fact, this very forum makes my point. Yes, there are few side-ways comments, but that occurs in all forms of communication. Trust most people and moderate carefully and fairly.

4. We now have some awareness of like-minded groups establishing a e-mail group. But "like-minded" is the issue. These groups appear to be sounding-boards for people who are not open to other's opinions and then the group devolves into a few influencers that take the group into more extreme views (i.e., not self moderating). Therefore, a HOA sanctioned forum may get more of a rounded following and debate on both sides.

5. I will pursue the legal liability. Sometimes these are "presumed" and we have noticed "fear of being sued" often clouds good judgement. We have been lead wrong by an attorney before.

6. As of now, the bulletin board seems to be how we are meeting the vague VA law. But as pointed out in a rather funny exchange: "So you expect me to post my comments on the bulletin board and stand by in 20 degree temperatures and wait for someone to stop in their car and discuss the subject with me." Point taken.