Acceptable use of HOA Member list

Greetings - new member here.

I am a homeowner in a fairly large, single family development in Southern California. Our current Property Management Company (about 2 years now) has become fairly aggressive in enforcing Architectural Guidelines/CC&R's - but the problem is, some of these alleged violations were approved by our Architectural Committee years ago (like 10+ years)

Now don't get me wrong, I believe in law and order, CC&R's, etc - but I also think that the Property Management Company and the Board of Directors also need to follow the law...

What I am talking about is California has a 5-year statute of limitations on enforcing CC&R's. Even when brought to the Property Management Companies attention, they appear to have totally ignored it and continue to send out violation notices. Now keep in mind, not all homeowners have the original paperwork, or they may be the 2nd or 3rd owner of the property and not have any paperwork. In those cases, I would think a simple Google Earth or some other type of photo would easily prove how long ago something was changed.

5-year statute of limitations is one thing, but the reason for this post - what is an acceptable use of the HOA Member List?

I intend to ask for it, in writing, at our next open meeting, but I want to make sure my reasons for the list are within 'acceptable use' so they can't deny my use of the list.

I was thinking about addressing the 5-year statute of limitations to make my fellow homeowners aware of it. I wanted to talk about our Internal Dispute Resolution policy which is free to any homeowner and if they are having a dispute with the Property Management Company or even the Board of Directors, they can ask for IDR to meet privately with a Board Member to discuss the situation and try to resolve it. Lastly, our entire 5 position Board of Directors is up for election this spring and if we want to see any changes, we all need to vote so that we can actually meet a quorum. (usually we don't meet a quorum, and we end up with the same Board Members, who in turn just appoint people to the Board if there is an open position.) So it is important we start thinking about the election now.

Are these acceptable uses of the list?

Members List Info:
https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/M/Membership-Lists

A couple of law firm blogs discussing the 5 year statute of limitations:
https://findhoalaw.com/failure-to-enforce/
https://hoalaw.tinnellylaw.com/how-quickly-must-hoas-bring-suit-against-homeowners-for-violations-of-the-governing-documents/

In regards to the membership list, what you describe would be an acceptable use of the list, which in California would also include the emails list also. Also remember, any member may opt out of having their names, addresses, and emails given to another member.

Those were not my words but from the davis-stirling.com website and from the lead attorney.

I have read a lot of HOA court cases and I think that many of the findings are crap. Just my opinion.

You can request the list of email addresses that are provided. It does not mean it will be a complete list. Many people can opt out of providing email address.

Keep in mind the HOA address is public information. It is in every door or mailbox. Does not mean they live there but it is the HOA member address

You also can not put anything in a mailbox without a stamp on it. So be careful about how you send out notices. It is best to come from the board.

Just like with most HOA's, we have a problem with - Apathy. Unless most homeowners are impacted by something, that don't really care what is going on with the HOA.

Hardly anyone attends the board meetings and now our BOD has changed the meetings from monthly to bi-monthly which only makes things worse. I have previously asked if we could record, stream or use Zoom for the open portion of the Board meetings and they have refused. My plan is to email all the members and try to get some interest stirred up and at least push for hybrid meetings. Also, our current Property Management Company appears to be straying from the CC&R's for certain things but I need to look into it further.

Regarding voting - I think our quorum is similar to yours, around 25%, but for the last two years, we haven't met quorum and even though we have people interested in running, the BOD is happy to keep their 'appointees' on the Board and continue as is.

We send a secret ballot and proxy to each of our owners and we still have trouble getting a quorum, even though our quorum is only 30% of eligible homeowners. We send email after email asking for people to submit their proxy and every year we just barely squeak by. It's amazing how apathetic they are. In our case we have a very small percentage of landlords and we do have a large percentage of snowbirds, but for our meeting in January they are usually mostly here.

We feel online voting (allowed in Florida if they sign electronic consent) may help. I think we're going to try it next year.

Let us start with how you would react if a random stranger started contacting you about complaints with their HOA... Do you want emailed or mailed to your house?

The last time a group of us had a get-out the vote campaign, we did it old school. We divided up the list of 200+ Units among 7 of us and each of us knocked on doors or sent emails or USPS letters urging owners to vote. You can include a few positive changes a new board could make.

As I've repeatedly advise you, James, you'll be far more effective if you can get at least 2-3 other owners to work with you

running for the Board, that is

Thanks for the reply, Kerry - sounds like good advice

We have 5 open seats because 3 years ago all the residents got together and voted in a whole new board. (Kind of out of the frying pan into the fire at this point especially during Covid). They had staggered 3 year and 2 year terms. Last summer the 2 year term directors where up for re-election and we did not make quorum, so they just continue on until we can get them replaced. The HOA is over 800, single family homes...

You may be able to help me with this question. Our reserves are well funded, and according to the reserve study our private streets were due (on paper) for major rehab - actually grind them down with new paving, not just slurry sealing. Most of the streets looked ok but the contract for the work was over $6 Million... I understand their is a life expectancy involved but could this have been pushed back a year or two? (I think it would have been nice if they asked the membership for their input on top of the recent increases of our monthly payments)

Our management company does not on their own send out fines or fine owners for violations. The mangement company will bring violations to the board's attention and for the Board to determine the next step. The management company works for the board.

In CA, Melissa, and many other states, I imagine, the Assn. provides a list of Assn members' address and each member's mailing address. I don't think anyone campaigning to get out the vote or for particular candidates would bother visiting or mailing campaign materials to renters (with certain exceptions).

Same here.

The member's mailing address in CA is NOT the HOA address UNLESS the owner specifies it. I suppose AL could be different. What is the law in AL? In your HOA, Melissa?

Again, you're clueless. You might want to check with the USPS and their policies. Where do you pull this crap out if?

What does the Postal rules have to do with anything? The ADDRESS is the ADDRESS of your HOA property which is on the TAX records. It is the ADDRESS of what makes you a HOA member. If you live somewhere else that is up to the policy of the HOA if you need to report that or allow it to be released. Otherwise police actions, lien/foreclosure, and other legal transactions are geared toward the HOA address. The names may change but the address stays the same.

Not ALL HOA's require an owner provides their residence address or if they are renting their HOA property. Each HOA is different. Just don't assume if you mail something to an address it is delivered to the intended parties. Especially if you put on there "To Whom it May Concern" or something in General terms.

When I was growing up we had a P.O. Box in a different city. That was because my dad worked there and it was convenient for him to pick mail up there. Our mailbox was down a long driveway. Mail got delivered to the P.O. Box but when registering for school we used the address we lived at.

Also of note: When a warrant is issued to a home it can't be delivered to a P.O. box. It has to be delivered to an address with a mailbox. Plus the house/property has to match the description on the warrant. So if someone gets word the police are coming to their "White" house. If they are quick enough, they can paint it "Blue" before warrant arrives. Making it so they have to get another warrant. I bring this up as an example of what other things your address does outside of getting mail.

Do you mean cops don't stand outside the PO box waiting to arrest someone?

Again Kerry not all HOA are that way I do not assume or presume anyone's operates the same way.

Plus there have been many HOA homes foreclosed on based solely on the HOA address. One owner tries to sue the HOA for foreclosing on theirs as they did not live there. They lost. The property is what being foreclosed on and that means the address on the tax record.

I'll have you know she took a class in college.

8 out of 10 having an Email address is about the same for our 112 owners. I think it is a good amount.

I heard she took two.

Kerry - regarding that mailings, that is something I need to think about, although I would prefer that the management company made an effort to get more email addresses. They recently sent out a survey regarding an issue and from what I understand, the response was dismal...

Max - good info, but let me ask you a question if I may, regarding Architectural Approvals that didn't make the transition from one management company to the next.

What happens when the current management company believes a homeowner didn't receive ARC approval for something, but the house was 'like that' when they bought it from the 1st owner, 8+ years ago - and don't have the original paperwork?

And to add to it, the 'issue' is clearly visible from the street and old Google Earth photos can document when the change happened? (I am alluding to the 5 year statute of limitations)

Thanks for the reply - but what about the statute of limitations? How can a management company just ignore that?

I am really surprised by your answer. Who is going to be the plaintiff in Civil Court? The current management company/Board of Directors or the actual HOA?

A situation similar to my example happened to my neighbor. The 1st owner was approved for RV access on the side of his home and installed a wide, metal gate that was approved by the ARC at that time. It was very nicely done but shortly after the new owner purchased the property, over 10 years later, the gate was now a 'problem' for some reason and the new owner did not have any paperwork...

The gate was clearly visible from the street and in Google maps. The area is inspected at least once a month by the management company. I really don't see why a new board or management company would make a difference? In the 20 or so years this development was built, we have had a 4 different management companies.

New management company and the clock starts over? I don't think so...