Quote:
Posted By JoyceE1 on 09/30/2022 10:59 AM
Our bylaws clearly state that any revision to landscaping or trees on community property has to be approved by the HOA. My neighbor chopped down a whole row of mature healthy trees alongside his house. I contacted the HOA president who told me it hadn’t been approved. It’s left a real eyesore. What kind of consequences generally ensue in a situation like this?
-- First, are you sure it's the bylaws, and not the CC&Rs (covenants, conditions and restrictions), that require revisions to trees on an owner's lot to be approved by the HOA? The CC&Rs are a bit more powerful, as a matter of law.
-- The reason the owner took down the trees may be
quite important. For example, were the owner's sewer lines experiencing tree root incursion? If so, I advise being generous. Yes, the guy should have gotten permission, but if the permission would have been granted, then wisdom says to me that ya gotta let it go.
-- Actions that could be taken (assuming there was no good reason to take the trees down) include:
(1) Formal demand by a neighbor to the owner to put in new trees. Demand says, in so many words, "Do it or else we sue."
(2) Lawsuit by a neighbor against the owner who removed the trees without permission. This would be a lawsuit alleging, in so many words, violation of the contract (the covenants) to which all agreed, and asking for the violation to be corrected. What sort of corrections are possible? The one I think a court would most like to consider is to order the owner to plant new trees (assuming there is no reason why the owner cannot do so).
(3) Demand and/or lawsuit by the HOA for same.