Forced Entry

I will try and make this as clear as possible.i am disabled .in June,I was awakened by loud banging on my new door..my nurse had gone for the day.i was weak and not going to answer my door.i could hear laughing and very loud voices..I sat and continued to listen for about 10 minutes..I finally got up and was listening through the door and was thinking who had the nerve to show up here drunkhad a personal note on my door for my guest and company.who ever this was was making fun of the note on my door..after a few minutes,I jerked door open and ask who are you and what do you want?one of the men stated there was a leak occuring below my unit.the one guy asked me to go look in my air/heat return closet to see if it was wet.i went and looked and went back and told them it was dry.they left.about 5 minutes later,bang bang bang again.this time I heard a woman's voice,stating they were coming in.they were going to the office to get a key,if that didn't work they were going to call law enforcement.they knew I was in here.i was going to be sent a big bill for damages..this continued on.finally after about 40 minutes of this,I jerked my door open and the two men and now a lady whom I did not know started backing me up in my home,I raised my arm to hit this lady and at that point she started backing out.i went to slam my door and this lady blocked me from shutting the door.i was finally able to shut and lock the door.i was shaking so bad I had to wait a few minutes before dialing 911.when the law got here she told them they had to give me 24 hour notice before coming in.the timeline through email,began at 2:50 to office about how unprofessional the 2 men were.so from 2:50-4:37 they were beating on my new door that was now damaged.that behavior continued for one hour and 45 minutes..the next morning at 9am.one of the guys came back and asked if they got in touch with a plumber,could they come early.i said yes.and who was that woman and who got her involved.he said she was the building captain and she came at the presidents orders.oh my god..I sent the president a message and told her I could have blown this woman's head off.and next time I would..it took her 13 days to respond to me as to why they would enter a unit by any means necessary.i demanded this lady resign from building captain,and the president responded back to me stating her heart was saddened at my unwarranted accusations of her and that she was a good neighbor and good volunteer,etc.i haved lived here for 21 years.am not behind in regimes.because I have voiced my rights,they have now sent a $1000 fine.placed parking violations on a friend's vehicle who had brought my groceries,when he was parked exactly where he was supposed to be.in a unmarked spot in front of the tennis courts.a member on the board sent me a email making fun of my disability.i found through public records,he was a former physician who surrendered his license to avoid trial.the lady in office was a former real estate agent who had her license surrendered to also avoid trial.i let her know at some point about her license,only to have recieved a copy of my background.she then told a non homeowner and a friend of mine who lives here that a background check had been run on me to "prove a point".the president has discriminated me on several occasions,and this is continuing today.i have been blocked from accessing our website.etc.they are trying to run me out of my home..I need help...

Many condo governing documents have language in them permitting the association to enter a unit in order to address an emergency situation. If the owner is not at home or won't open the door, the association can force entry (or more commonly have the fire or police department force entry).

We've had to do it in the past Examples: broken water pipe in an empty upstairs unit was flooding the unit below it; family member couldn't get a hold of their relative who lived here, and the fire department/EMTs forced entry to do a wellness check. EMTs do it all the if they receive a 911 call and the person who called can't/won't come to the door.

Certainly if we had a situation where a resident whom we know to be disabled and confined to their home does not answer the door and we couldn't get a hold of the person's emergency contact, that would probably justify a wellness check. If there were some emergency going on, that would doubly justify it. (The advice about dealing with elderly residents comes from our attorney. Ir can be tricky - an association has to balance the person's right to privacy and "quiet enjoyment of their home" with the association's obligation to remedy unsafe conditions that result in the the place burning down.)

As for paying for the repairs, condo (and HOA) governing documents usually also contain language giving the association the right to pass on repair costs to the owner responsible for the damage. Rule of thumb: If it's a case of the person not answering the door or refusing entry, we would very likely pass on the repair costs to that person since it was a choice and a violation of their obligations to allow such entry. If it's not a deliberate choice (as with the empty upstairs unit), the association eats the cost.

It can be hard if you're the person you receives the bill, but think about it: how would you feel about having to pay for damage caused by a neighbor's negligence? The others in your community feel the same way.

You must not have read full text.

I read it as I did not open my door because as I did not want to. It was then everyone else that is wrong and I am the victim so feel sorry for me or I will whine you are horrible people.

I also saw where it was an emergency leak in a neighbors unit below who had hired professionals to fix it. You denied them access due to your behavior not theirs

If this had been a criminal act you call the police not the HOA. The HOA did their job whether it was at your convenience or not.

Sometime we have to stop playing the victim to get what we want. Otherwise you eat a lot of cheese and whine

Do we really have enough details of what that letter said? Plus was it by a neighbor who happened to be on the board?? Not official HOA correspondence.

This is pretty much the way I understand it.

There is proper channels for everything.thats what the courts are for.

Dawn, once again, can you please use paragraphs and separate your sentences.

Your posts are very difficult to read and understand.

Because you might get sued for not allowing a repair that can only be made to your unit's piping et cetera to stop damage to another owner's unit.

I get that, given how poorly you feel you have been treated, you do not care about anyone else's problems. But the law sees things differently. Ya gotta operate in reality and not in some dream world where "justice" is how you define it.

DawnL6, I apologize for MelissaP1's stupidity when it comes to fair housing law. I would bet every other long-term member of this forum agrees this director who made the horrible remarks about your disability was way out of line.

You have a legal right to enjoy a housing environment where no one, and especially the board, leads others in making fun of your disability.

You should also submit a fair housing complaint to HUD specifically about what I quoted above (and nothing more). No rambling about all the other stuff. Focus on where the association has expressly failed to accommodate your disability or made fun of your disability. Keep your complaint short and to the point.

Yea,I see why you are not a current board member,only a former forgotten about one.

Another major point,I did call the police as I stated in my topic.i done what was asked of me .people puts their hard opinion out there when they haven't read what exactly was put out there.

Dawn, are you in a position to have installed a Ring video doorbell camera or like intercom device on your door so you do not have to get up and answer your door.
This would qualify as a reasonable request for your disability and a FHA violation if the HOA refused you to install it.
This device would help you so you can answer calls to your door without opening it.

Like the others have said, the HOA has the authority to make entry to check for water and gas leaks along with other emergency situations that involve neighboring units.
You have a duty to allow such inspection per your governing documents, and Yes I feel your HOA agents were way out of line. File that complaint with FHA.

I did call 911..officer told them they had to give 24 hour notice..they should have thought about entering my unit before they entered under false pretenses a couple years ago when they claimed a leak when in reality they entered to cut water off to my unit and injunction was ordered for the board to cut water back on 4 days later,and that lawsuit I walked away a winner when my association iniated it to start with.

Ok, so the water was not originating from where they ask you to check or your unit. That doesn’t mean the HOA is not permitted to enter your unit and investigate the issue.

The golden rule applies here. If your unit was flooding you would expect another owner to fully cooperate to resolve the issue.

The police were called by me,after forcing entry,damaged a brand new glass door,and the police made them leave.police said they had to give me 24 notice before entering,since after all,there was no leak from my unit..
So why did my neighbors and the association not sue me?
Cause they didn't have a leg to stand on.

3 year old thread.

Hopefully the issue has been resolved.