HOA venting thread.

JoeD14 (Washington)
Posts: 14

Posted:

Would be improper to start a tread of common
Hoa issues ? Our HOA is maybe unique.
We have a private 50 some acre man made lake in
Washington state. One side of the lake uses a private water
System. The other side of the lake everyone has private wells.
One side has private roads, the other side a public road
The folks running the water system seem to be running amuck
Each board member gets free water, and pay themselves.
After telling them they are fired. The battle began.
Three years and a mumber of lawsuits. The folks on the
Water system voted again to get rid of the present board.
The turn out to vote today. 32 votes to get
rid of the old board . 2 votes to keep them
Im sure they will fight back,, who wants to give
free water and a paycheck ? Cant wait till monday
to see what the old board does. Freeze the bank account
Im sure.
They pulled that with the last Lake Community vote they didn't like

We seems to have a few trouble makers hoping
To develop the properties and becomd rich

How do other HOAs deal with things like this ?
This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Joe
Stuck in the hills with a bunch of foold
P.s.
We have one clown that shoots off a cannon
every time he losses a battle

JoeD14 (Washington)
Posts: 14

Posted:

Sorry for thd typos its late and i have fat fingers

JoeD14 (Washington)
Posts: 14

Posted:

Sorry for thd typos its late and i have fat fingers

KellyM3 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2,239

Posted:

Joe,

This forum is not designed for venting against Homeowners' Associations. If you are a board member who is trying to bounce ideas off experienced HOA board volunteers/officers, this could be your place. Granted, the forum's quality has diminished over the years, but you will not receive good information or dialogue by simply posting complaints that need to be kept at the local level where your energy and service can result in real changes to your neighborhood.

MichaelH34 (North Carolina)
Posts: 179

Posted:

Kelly, I think your response goes right to the heart of one problem with this forum.

Most of the time it appears to be un-moderated. Do you happen to know if that's truly the case?

AugustinD
Posts: 3,698

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JoeD14 on 03/12/2022 9:51 PM
Would be improper to start a tread of common Hoa issues ?

I think the forum as a whole represents a "thread" of common HOA issues.

Quote:

Posted By JoeD14 on 03/12/2022 9:51 PM

Our HOA is maybe unique.
We have a private 50 some acre man made lake in
Washington state. One side of the lake uses a private water
System. The other side of the lake everyone has private wells.
One side has private roads, the other side a public road
The folks running the water system seem to be running amuck
Each board member gets free water, and pay themselves.
After telling them they are fired. The battle began.
Three years and a mumber of lawsuits. The folks on the
Water system voted again to get rid of the present board.
The turn out to vote today. 32 votes to get
rid of the old board . 2 votes to keep them
Im sure they will fight back,, who wants to give
free water and a paycheck ? Cant wait till monday
to see what the old board does. Freeze the bank account
Im sure.
They pulled that with the last Lake Community vote they didn't like

We seems to have a few trouble makers hoping
To develop the properties and becomd rich

How do other HOAs deal with things like this ?

Good questions. If possible, break up your concerns into individual threads with appropriate subject lines. I think doing so helps maintain focus.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

There is a moderator on this forum. There have been a few posters on here that have been banned and/or posts removed. You can report those that cross the line. We get a few advertisers. Posters with attitudes. Spammers. The "regulars" on here may have those posts removed before some may see them. It is why may not have access to the page at times.

Otherwise I don't mind someone coming in and "venting". We all need that when living in a HOA. We don't all have to ride in with our White horses and "rescue" the poster either. Sometimes just venting and putting it out in the universe helps. I know have vented a few times and it helped me take a breath to go back into it.

Former HOA President

KellyM3 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2,239

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MichaelH34 on 03/13/2022 9:11 AM
Kelly, I think your response goes right to the heart of one problem with this forum.

Most of the time it appears to be un-moderated. Do you happen to know if that's truly the case?

This forum is largely self-moderated, so personal self-regulation is the best approach to engaging here. I don't think there should be censorship in the sense of judging "appropriate topics" for HOATalk, but this forum is generally focused on creating better boards of directors and better leadership.

This thread ponders if HOATalk needs an "HOA Venting" thread....it does not. The people here generally want to help and, above all, learn.

JoeD14 (Washington)
Posts: 14

Posted:

Sorry " venting " may not be the correct term. Yes i am a board member
I stepped down from the vice president position. I got fed up with same people
Calling and trying to pick fights. I wont bore you with the details.

I posted, well venting i guess. Im hoping to get feed back on how others
deal with " grade school playground bullys "

Your right,, subject of thread should be more specific

Joe

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

I am one for letting people hang themselves from their own rope approach. Had a neighbor whom came over to complain about my "barking" dogs. They were not barking. Most of the time it was his dogs. He came over at 4 am after I had ankle surgery. Was on crutches. My back door was left open for the dogs to go in/out as I could not get up. So I know they were not barking until he knocked on my door.

He then threatens me he is going to come over every time he hears my dogs barking. Going to knock on my door. I looked at him and said "Okay" and closed the door. The look on his face was priceless. Why? Because HE was going to have to get up at 4 am, put clothes on, trudge across wet grass, to knock on my door. He stopped.

So sometimes you just got to smile and nod. Stupid is as stupid does...

Former HOA President

BillD16 (Texas)
Posts: 971

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JoeD14 on 03/13/2022 11:08 AM
Sorry " venting " may not be the correct term. Yes i am a board member
I stepped down from the vice president position. I got fed up with same people
Calling and trying to pick fights. I wont bore you with the details.

I posted, well venting i guess. Im hoping to get feed back on how others
deal with " grade school playground bullys "

Your right,, subject of thread should be more specific

Joe

I’m sorry to be “that guy”, but: stepping down from the Board doesn’t seem like a move that will help guide the situation towards a positive, successful outcome.

I guess it’s fine if indeed you just want to vent.

BillD

HOA Board ex-President
Austin, Texas USA

“You can’t put too much water in a nuclear reactor”

JoeD14 (Washington)
Posts: 14

Posted:

BillD
True , but at the time i dealing
With illness and then death in the family
My last visit with my sister i was getting
Calls . Wanting me to drive the 6 hours
Home for meeting.

Every election ends up in court.
Mainly because no one votes for
The bad guys. The judges keep throwing
Out the lawsuits.
Can't wait to see what they do about
The election that was held on Saturday
It promises a new water board. Knowing how
The bad guys play,, bank account will be frozen
Plus a lawsuit file filed.

Joe
At the lake

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

You need to learn the phrase okay see you in court. Btw suing your HOA is suing yourself and your neighbors. So if you want to talk let us know. See ya.

Former HOA President

JoeD14 (Washington)
Posts: 14

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MelissaP1 on 03/14/2022 10:59 AM
You need to learn the phrase okay see you in court. Btw suing your HOA is suing yourself and your neighbors. So if you want to talk let us know. See ya.

Any advice would be great. Not sure how much i want to air
On here. One clown who appears to be at the bottom of this.
Seems to brag that he need all the legal fees for tax write offs.
Want everyone to think he's rich.

Ive sent a few folks here at the lake a link to this
Board.

It seems the goal of the bad guys is to just stall and disrupt

They see property values are going up. I think their goal is to
Chase everyone out .

Joe_Dickinson

JoeD14 (Washington)
Posts: 14

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MelissaP1 on 03/14/2022 10:59 AM
You need to learn the phrase okay see you in court. Btw suing your HOA is suing yourself and your neighbors. So if you want to talk let us know. See ya.

Any advice would be great. Not sure how much i want to air
On here. One clown who appears to be at the bottom of this.
Seems to brag that he need all the legal fees for tax write offs.
Want everyone to think he's rich.

Ive sent a few folks here at the lake a link to this
Board.

It seems the goal of the bad guys is to just stall and disrupt

They see property values are going up. I think their goal is to
Chase everyone out .

Joe_Dickinson

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

Property values are based on real numbers. It what houses have sold or foreclosed for in last 6 months. HOA job is to keep the property Attractive to potential buyers.

Legal fees can be tax write offs only if used on rental property. Can not be if live in it full time.

Former HOA President

JoeD14 (Washington)
Posts: 14

Posted:

Home sales in the area are becoming
Pricey. I think the value of mine has thripled
In 4 years. We still have a number of
Weekend cabins here.
Number one clown brags that he plans
Crash the HOA.

[email protected]

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

Just about every community has a few folks like that. Our attorney refers to them as Vocational Dissidents. They thrive on conflict and controversy, and HOA boards are favorite targets.

The key to dealing with them is not to play their game. Rules of thumb:

* You want to eliminate the emotional payoff they get from confrontations.

* All communications in writing. "If it's not in writing, then it's not a valid complaint," to quote a former board president in my community.

* Written responses from the board or the property manager need to be factual, brief, bland and boring. Avoid unscripted communications.

* No back and forth arguing. They get one response that answers their questions, and then you're done. Further fussing from chronic complainers about the same issue should be given "we have received your communication of {date}" and nothing else. (This advice came from our attorney.) Do not revisit settled issues unless some new info comes to light and the board would have made a different decision if that info had been available at the time.

* Do not accept phone calls unless you don't have a property manager and you're the contact person for emergencies. If it's not an emergency, tell 'em to put it in writing and send it through proper channels.

* Do not communicate about association business outside of proper channels. A single director does not speak for the board. Especially do not use social media!

When you bump into one of these folks when you're outside, it's "hey, how are you, oh is that the time, gotta run". You can appear friendly without engaging. And frankly, they deserve nothing more if they've been abusive in the past.

Even kind and sensible neighbors will run you ragged if you let them. You're not obligated to accept this. Put limits on your time and your availability. And develop a thick skin - it will serve you well.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

The first thing the new board should do is issue 1099-misc for the pay and cost of water.
One 1099-misc for each year every prior board member was on the board.

The IRS will be interested.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By CathyA3 on 03/14/2022 12:11 PM
Just about every community has a few folks like that. Our attorney refers to them as Vocational Dissidents. They thrive on conflict and controversy, and HOA boards are favorite targets.

The key to dealing with them is not to play their game. Rules of thumb:

* You want to eliminate the emotional payoff they get from confrontations.

* All communications in writing. "If it's not in writing, then it's not a valid complaint," to quote a former board president in my community.

* Written responses from the board or the property manager need to be factual, brief, bland and boring. Avoid unscripted communications.

* No back and forth arguing. They get one response that answers their questions, and then you're done. Further fussing from chronic complainers about the same issue should be given "we have received your communication of {date}" and nothing else. (This advice came from our attorney.) Do not revisit settled issues unless some new info comes to light and the board would have made a different decision if that info had been available at the time.

* Do not accept phone calls unless you don't have a property manager and you're the contact person for emergencies. If it's not an emergency, tell 'em to put it in writing and send it through proper channels.

* Do not communicate about association business outside of proper channels. A single director does not speak for the board. Especially do not use social media!

When you bump into one of these folks when you're outside, it's "hey, how are you, oh is that the time, gotta run". You can appear friendly without engaging. And frankly, they deserve nothing more if they've been abusive in the past.

Even kind and sensible neighbors will run you ragged if you let them. You're not obligated to accept this. Put limits on your time and your availability. And develop a thick skin - it will serve you well.

Sound advice. Do not let the bastard wear you down.

ThomasP13 (Ohio)
Posts: 87

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnC46 on 03/14/2022 2:41 PM

Posted By CathyA3 on 03/14/2022 12:11 PM
Just about every community has a few folks like that. Our attorney refers to them as Vocational Dissidents. They thrive on conflict and controversy, and HOA boards are favorite targets.

The key to dealing with them is not to play their game. Rules of thumb:

* You want to eliminate the emotional payoff they get from confrontations.

* All communications in writing. "If it's not in writing, then it's not a valid complaint," to quote a former board president in my community.

* Written responses from the board or the property manager need to be factual, brief, bland and boring. Avoid unscripted communications.

* No back and forth arguing. They get one response that answers their questions, and then you're done. Further fussing from chronic complainers about the same issue should be given "we have received your communication of {date}" and nothing else. (This advice came from our attorney.) Do not revisit settled issues unless some new info comes to light and the board would have made a different decision if that info had been available at the time.

* Do not accept phone calls unless you don't have a property manager and you're the contact person for emergencies. If it's not an emergency, tell 'em to put it in writing and send it through proper channels.

* Do not communicate about association business outside of proper channels. A single director does not speak for the board. Especially do not use social media!

When you bump into one of these folks when you're outside, it's "hey, how are you, oh is that the time, gotta run". You can appear friendly without engaging. And frankly, they deserve nothing more if they've been abusive in the past.

Even kind and sensible neighbors will run you ragged if you let them. You're not obligated to accept this. Put limits on your time and your availability. And develop a thick skin - it will serve you well.

Sound advice. Do not let the bastard wear you down.

One's cell phone can make a good prop for getting past someone with only the briefest of acknowledgment of his existence.