Help Understanding what the Board can do

We are having a lot of questions on our board if we can fine residents or send letters if the sliding on the house is not secured. There is no specific language that says we can but here is what we have in our bylaws.

POWERS AND DUTIES OR THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section 1.
(a)
Adopt and publish rules and regulations governing the use of Common Area and facilities, and the personal conduct of the members and their guests thereon, and to establish penalties for the infraction thereof;

We are really trying to understand firstly if we publish a rule that someone leaves trash outside their house and we vote on a rule it cannot be left out longer than 1 month, than there will be a find of 50 dollars.

My worry is our control is only to the common areas around and facilities vs. insuring the homes are in good shape.

A bit ignorant when it comes to this. What is a CRR? We have articles of incorporation and bylaws that i know about.

Ok I will ask around if there is such a document. The issue we have is turn over in the board and it being 30+ years old. I assume this document is typically for HOAs in Texas or would be filed publicly?

Does such a rule have a basis in the covenants?

If you quote exactly what your covenants say that makes you think the Board has the authority to require the above, then this would be best.

More than likely your covenants do have some clauses about how owners are to maintain the exterior of their homes. Preserving an attractive exterior appearance of lots is one of the main purposes of HOAs.

The section you quoted indicate the board can establish rules regarding use of the common areas and establish penalties, but fines can be tricky. In my state, there's case law stating HOAs can't initiate fines because they aren't government agencies (yes, I know it's weird, but this is Indiana and they're not necessarily the most progressive state out there). Generally, you should have a fine schedule with a description of when the fine will be assessed, along with appeal rights.

If your board is going to enact rules, the first thing all of you should be doing is reading your CCRs - no one should be on the board and not know what that means. Your rules can't supersede the CCRs, but can flesh out details. For example, the CCRs might say something about homeowners being responsible for keeping their property in good order, so you could establish rules stating siding and fencing must be maintained. "Maintain" could be defined as the siding should be secured to the building or the fence shouldn't be missing panels.

If your board is new at this, go to your association attorney for some guidance - that's why they were invented, and you want rules that will stand up in court. Getting buy-in from the homeowners is also helpful - why not start with a poll where homeowners could state what type of issues really annoy them regarding maintenance and behavior - for example, is construction or lawncare racket a big problem because people start at 6 am? If you get enough people to complete the poll (20% or more is usually good), you can look at the results and identify patterns. From there, draft some rules and send them to the community for comment, and then tweak as needed. Once the board votes on the rules, send them to the homeowners with an effective date and make sure that information includes information on appeal rights, the fine schedule (if you use them) and other penalties.

Those are the basics on rule enforcement, but the main thing to remember is to be fair and consistent. Some people will bark about lawsuit, but if you document the hell out of what, when, how and why you did what you did, you may have a better chance of succeeding if it comes down to a judge. Once people see the board is serious, but fair, they may back down. Don't try to regulate EVERYTHING and use some common sense so you're not spending all your time chasing trivial things. Good luck!

With Shelia, Christopher, It seems like your Board needs to spend some time with your HOA (not some other kind of) attorney.

What size is your board? Your HOA? If you have a property manager or community manager for your HOA, that person will be able to help you & your Board

The declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions-- CC&Rs-- might be called other things. Perhaps, covenants, deed restrictions, restrictions or the declaration. No matter how old, they must be recorded. If you have a file of documents from when you bought, it may be in it. The CC&Rs take precedence over your Bylaws so you need to know what they say, if anything, about the detached homes. Often, for instance, Owners may only choose paint or siding of certain colors. That statement might be in your CC&Rs.

Are trash cans left on a curb or area that actually is HOA common area instead of belonging to each Owners?