owner doesn't follow the rules

Our association has 33 homes, and we have 1 bad egg who doesn't participate in any activities, never sends in a vote, and does what he wants. When he moved in last November, he had 2 'renters' and we don't allow renting in our subdivision. Our rule states 'owner-occupied, single-family dwelling' and since he owned the home, he said that he wasn't following the rule and that his attorney said it was okay. Unfortunately, we did not have the Rules and Regulations and By-Laws recorded with the Clerk of Court. Now we have everything recorded and have a new amendment that specifies that only the owner, the spouse or 'significant other', children, parents, and siblings may live there. Supposedly, one 'renter' moved out, so there should be only 2 occupants there now. The rule also states that no more than 4 vehicles combined may be owned by the residents to avoid parking in the street. Sometimes there are 2 vehicles in the driveway and 2 or 3 in the street overnight. A certified letter has been sent to the owner stating that on July 1st, he will be fined $25 per day for any vehicle in the street overnight and he must tell us who is living there. Anything else we can do with this 'pain' in the neck?

I am in Louisiana..........and last year, an overwhelming majority of the owners did not want renting on our street. You are absolutely correct, he does not have to participate in anything, and some owners don't. That fine and dandy....nobody has to, but if you buy a home with a HOA, then you are obligated to follow the rules and pay your dues. All the others do. He is the only one who doesn't, and an HOA attorney told us that we need to have fines that 'sting'. Our laws apply to everyone, and are voted on before they are recorded at the Clerk of Court's office. Again, it was the attorney who told us to specify exactly what was meant by 'family and immediate relatives', so we did.
There has been a silver truck parked in the street every night; a white truck parked in the street every night; in addition to a white car and a red car. He has a red truck. We have a phone list with the names of everyone living on our street and nobody minds giving us that information. We have a friendly neighborhood and know everyone.....we help one another and watch and call the police when a stranger looks suspicious. We have covenants against a group living in a home.........so we are not overstepping our bounds. Owners were only too happy to vote down renting when owners bought a home for their son and daughter to go to college here. That's when the problem started. Soon, each had 'significant others' and all of them had cars. Then a cousin moved in, and with a boyfriend, there were 6 cars. The garage was full of stuff on one side and cars were everywhere. Neighbors couldn't back out, mailboxes were blocked, garbage trucks couldn't pick up garbage and our street looked like a 'used car parking lot' because we had 3 college boys on one end, and the brother, sister, cousin on the other. When they parked in the cul-de-sac, utility and emergency vehicles and firetrucks couldn't turn around.......we had to put up a 'no parking' sign there.
Believe me, we are understanding and occasional parking is fine, but night after night for months is not 'occasional'. No, we are not interested in his dates; in fact, a significant other can move in.........but it looks like he has at 3 friends living there, and that is against Amendment 6.

you can't force anyone to give you information!!!!
5th amendment, can't force self-incrimination.

you don't have a sovereign HOA, you have to obey laws as well.

by your own admission, you don't have proof of who is living there? Otherwise, why ask them who is living there?
you can enforce parking and that's it!!!

your own rule allows family member and significant others to live there!

you are saying that your amendment 6 wouldnt' allow for a 25 year old child and his significant other to move back in with the parents for several months?

talk about overstepping your authority.

Just make sure you are following the rules on the fines. In my state, we have very specific rules in the state statute that you have to follow before you can fine anyone. We have to send a notice by certified mail of a hearing and then have to allow the owner to be heard at the hearing.

I would suggest putting together a fine schedule where you outline how much you are fining for what reasons and adopt it at one of your board meetings. That way you can say you are following your fine schedule and not discriminating against one homeowner with a fine that is different from another homeowner.

Thanks, much appreciated.

yup.

What happens if, for example:
1. Someone takes in foster children (official or not) and either the state or the parents are paying some expenses.
2. Best buddies buy together and split the mortgage. What if their spouses each move in later?
3. Someone with a disability has a live-in aide. The residence is considered part of the compensation.
4. Poly family splitting the bill. Legally only two of them can be married, but they're still a family.
5. Unmarried couple (e.g. spouses but not legally), where one pays towards the other's ownership but isn't on the title.
6. Obergefell v. Hodges is rescinded by SCOTUS, and someone married to an owner, in a formerly legal marriage, is no longer considered married.
7. Someone takes in a homeless friend while they get back on their feet, and that person contributes to the household expenses.
8. An adult child moves back in and contributes to household expenses.

Wendy's got it right. Enforce the parking rules.

you would need to update your CCR's not your rules and regulations. sounds like you have the votrs to do it, so it is ipuzzling why only the RR were upudated? RR can be updated by the board alone.

Sara

You made an Amendment or a Rule & Regulation? There is a major difference.

Thank you, Ellen, and I hope we are within our rights. There was always an 'occasional guest parking' statement for new owners, but, every night for 7 months is not occasional. As I said before, our description was done because on the advice of an attorney who teaches about HOA. Just to give a bit of info, we have had 16 of our 33 homes sold in the last 5 or 6 years; 2 are for sale now. We live near a university. If the heirs or new owners of those 16 homes were able to rent their homes to college students, we would no longer be able to have an association. It is my understanding that if more than half of the homes are rented, the subdivision would become rental property. How difficult would it be to have only potential owners at least 50 yrs of age?

Morning, Wendy........our board always gets the approval of the owners. For instance, when we wanted to restrict renting, we sent out a questionnaire asking each owner to vote for or against it. Only 5 wanted renting out of the 33 owners (the 2 who are grandfathered in from years ago) and 3 others. When one objected, we called a meeting for all to discuss the issue. We met, and when the disadvantages far outweighed the advantages, everyone voted against renting. So we are very fair and want the input from everyone. It's a great subdivision, and we help one another any way we can: pick up packages, return garbage cans to the back, get their mail when necessary, call their person listed for an emergency, water their plants, feed the pet, etc. Once, my neighbor across the street was in Florida, and water was pouring into the drain......I called her son and the water was turned off; another time my next door neighbor, who was at work, had water gushing out like a geyser, and I turned off the water.
A mistake on our part, but nobody ever thought about changing the Covenants.......because everything was just fine until recently.

SaraB3, for your HOA my impression is that either the board or a majority of owners (or both) think they can do whatever they want as long as they have a proper vote and record the amendment with the county. This is simply not so.

That you do not understand age restrictions is yet another red flag.

On the other hand, at least you are asking.

Federal law and likely state law allow 55+ communities when certain conditions are met. It is entirely conceivable that the required super majority at your HOA would vote to pass an amendment to create a 55+ community (with all its rather demanding conditions). However, this does not mean a court would enforce such an amendment. If the HOA attempted to, say, kick out a young couple with children, because they are not all age 55+, this couple would slap your HOA with a fair housing complaint quicker in an instant and would ultimately prevail, with damages (per federal statute).

You indicate an attorney has given a different opinion than mine. But this forum has also seen attorneys differing in their opinions.

This forum tries to offer education. Many times posters get it wrong.

Ditto what Wendy said about the subdivision //not// becoming rental property.

I think you or your board or both need a "HOA 101" course, explaining the basic legal structure of HOAs. You might even consider starting a thread asking "What is the basic legal structure of a HOA? What can it do? What cannot it not do?"

All of the above is true.

Why do you say this?

No, that is not what I posted. I am saying that often it is not legally okay.

The HOA would likely have to formally, legally grandfather in certain homes.

The HOA should enforce the covenants. The board should vote on a sequence of steps to be taken, with the consequences of continued violations of the covenants elevating with each repeat offense.

My point is your board needs to operate within the four corners of the governing documents. It needs to quit thinking in terms of what it perceives as "right" and "wrong" and instead, operate as the law (statutes and governing documents, for the greater part) dictate.

Just

saying.

-- Ma'am, have you never heard of a "proxy" and how it is used, by law, at HOAs?

-- Lacking a quorum for voting does not terminate the HOA. Per statute, whatever board was elected just continues.

It does take work. But this does not mean you should not do the work.

This is the price of HOA living.

:-)

SaraB3, if you can stand it, I suggest you check in on other threads in the coming weeks at this forum. It may help to learn of others' frustrations with renters. Validation and all.

This forum's posts indicate owner apathy is the rule at HOAs.

However IMO, "Owner apathy" arguably also should be interpreted as a sign that most of the community being happy with the status quo.

Regarding renters: Believe me, just about everyone and their mother agrees with you that renters are the bane of HOAs and condo associations. The subject of dealing with them effectively, including limiting their numbers to the extent that is legally possible, comes up here often.

Anyway, I feel like I am pushing you around. I am just hoping your board hews closely to what the governing documents (bylaws, CC&Rs and statutes in particular, with a dose of Fair Housing statutes) say the board can and cannot do. Because these documents are the entire and sole source of the board's authority.

Sarah,
We have dealt with similar issues. Simply put, there are people who move into an HOA and simply "don't get it'" They love that the community looks nice, but the rules do not apply to them. As one homeowner told me when i discussed the condition of his front yard (a 20'foot boat parked so long it was enveloped in trash and weeds), "Oh hoeey, we don't pay any attention to those covenants".

I believe some of it is geographical. "Up North" when you belong to an HOA and step out of the spirit and intent of the covenants, the action taken is firm and swift. It "stings" to quote your words.

In the south it seems to be a more "neighborly" thing. "well, they are nice people, really,,,,and it turns into a slog where no one wants to take firm action.

So, those are your options. You can enforce, and it will be a constant/forever task. Conversations, letters, amendments, renewed covenants and attorneys. The violators simply don't care. It is almost like they don't know enough to care. It is hard to imagine anyone being that arrogant, but the truth is that their behavior suggests that is exactly what they are.

Our HOA has sadly just turned its back. It has twisted and perverted our covenants in every manner possible in order to avoid enforcement. As such, homeowners tell them any sort of BS about whatever it is they are violating (in your example, the cars: "well they belong to my sick cousin and they will be gone by next week". Next week, as you know, never comes. So then there is another conversation, etc., and another excuse). The homeowner has zero intent of ever caring or complying.

So, while you are driving yourself in circles trying to get compliance, the truth is that you never will. The homeowners simply don't care.

Good luck. Preserve your sanity first. Eventually time will pass, people move, things happen and the wounds are self healing when you least expect it.

Your rule #1 appears to be the type of building, not who lives inside - As opposed to a duplex or fourplex.

Thanks, Kathy, we have the rental problem with only 1 of 33 owners, but I hope that it will soon be solved. On July 1, fines will be issued for abusing the "occasional guest parking in the street" rule. Certified letters have been sent out to 2 'violators', and we're hoping that does the trick. The Board gets no pleasure in handing out fines; it takes a lot of time, effort and costs. We just want everyone to follow the rules that an overwhelming majority agreed upon. "Monkey see, monkey do".........and if one is allowed to break a law consistently, then another can do likewise, or find another law to ignore. As of now, we have no property manager, but I have the name of one that I may contact. We have always been able to handle our subdivision with very little trouble until this young college graduate moved in with 2 friends to help him pay the mortgage, and we no longer allow renting. The other owner has a daughter who just got a car and 'slumber parties' are held every weekend......and lately, 4 out of 6 nights had 2 or 3 cars parked in the street overnight. Last week the street sweeper had to go around a parked car when the driveway was vacant. I think we should be able to correct this as the mother wanted to be on the Board, and was elected to serve starting July 1st. We'll see, but if 31/33 can follow the rules, and one has 3 teenagers and never parks in the street, then why can't everyone, except for special events? Many owners gladly offer their driveways for parking. We have done so for parties, birthday celebrations, Super Bowl Sunday, etc., ........just ask and get permission.

Sara.

Our HOA was self-managed for years and the stories those folks tell me about trying to make people accountable was close to impossible. They would try to collect overdue assessments and the owners would come to their homes and yell and scream and cuss at them-and still not catch up. Eventually a property manager was hired. Is that any better than self-managed? I guess it depends on how the contract is written.

We also have the issues of a select few, ranging from people in their 20s to people in their 70s and to put a cherry on top, this includes the board. So, here is the rub. A property manager is hired by the board and has a duty to also enforce rules, however because of board non-compliance they are neutered and compromised to do their job, because if they do, they lose the contract. Money talks and Rules walk...

I am a strong advocate of HOAs using property managers here, but the last two have been terrible. I am glad you are doing your due diligence. I hope you interview many at your HOA and let them compete on cost against each other for a cheaper price to the HOA.

My recommendation: Adopt a towing policy and actually use it? Set up a decal system for the owners of parking spaces and if they have renters adopt something for them also. I do not know if you have a attorney at your HOA, but I would for sure have him review anything that you guys propose to make it solid, legal, and without legal risk to the HOA. If you do not have an attorney, pay one for the legal expertise if you guys do adopt a policy.

Well I can tell you if he bought the house before the ccr's or bylaws were recorded he doesn't have to follow them. Also is the hoa registered with the Secretary of State? Louisiana has a building restriction law that if you don't take legal action from the 1st noticeable offense within 2 years you are out of luck. Also are you a gated neighborhood? If not nothing you can do about street parking.