Vandalism or teenagers?

Hi, I recently became my associations Board President. Previous member stepped down and elections were up and I was voted up. I keep getting tons of praise by homeowners and I am thankful for their support. On the other hand renters are not so happy with the fact I am enforcing rules that were not in almost 6 years. It has gotten to the point where now my BMW has gotten my window smashed, The police tried playing it off as "random teenagers" but camera footage proves it was someone else. I'm afraid for more retaliation but I dont wanna show fear. Has anyone else had a similar experience or is it just me? :/

It should be noted that Renters are NOT HOA members. The HOA does NOT enforce rules on the Renters. They enforce the rules on their member/owner. It is highly advised that the owner has a caveat in their lease agreement to follow the HOA rules. It would help BOTH the HOA and them. However, most HOA's don't make this a requirement that owners whom lease should have this caveat so the owner can use it to evict if necessary. Otherwise "Tenant's rights" kicks in protecting the renter.

The bashing of the window is NOT a HOA issue. It is a CRIMINAL one. This calls for the police. It also calls for YOU to follow up on any charges if the criminal is caught. It is up to YOU to decide if this is "Teenager" forgiveness or criminal enforcement. It isn't up to law enforcement. The police only create charges they can not drop them. That is up to the court system.

If I was you, I would step back and take a look at your HOA's "Culture". It is one of the hardest things to change. However, if existing processes don't work, it may be time to look at those processes...

It IS possible the culprits are relatives of the tenants, but as others have said, the people you need to hold responsible are the homeowners who rent their homes to the tenants. Even then, you don’t have enough proof that they or “random teenagers” are responsible, so file your police report and see what happens.

Make sure you also take steps to protect your car as best you can – if, for example, if you have a garage, it’s best to keep it in there or if it’s parked close to your home, see if a Ring camera (with night vision) can monitor it). It may not stop someone from going after your car, but may help gather evidence to catch who’s responsible. If someone smashed your windshield, it may less to do with someone who’s honked off about rule enforcement and more about looking for something really valuable to take (it IS a BMV, after all). Sometimes, folks with expensive cars need to be reminded that they not leave anything tempting where it can be seen.

As for rules enforcement, now might be a good time for the ENTIRE BOARD to address homeowners (owner-occupants and owner-landlords alike) that all of them agreed to comply with the rules when they purchased their homes. The rules are designed to ensure everyone has quiet enjoyment of their property, and that’s difficult when residents let their dogs poop everywhere, play that funky music ALL. FRIGGIN.NIGHT.LONG, let the kids run wild in everyone’s flower garden, and litter everywhere. The board is working to ensure the rules are enforced in a fair and consistent manner, so everyone’s cooperation is expected and appreciated, blah, blah, blah.

There will also be people who will test the board to see how far it will go, so all of you need to ensure the rules are being applied equally (just because you rent doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the neighbor from Hades). Sometimes, it will take a lawsuit or two to let everyone know you mean business, so document what you do so you have a better chance of winning going away. When owners and owner/landlords see their wallets take a beatdown in fines and legal sanctions, they may calm down unless they’re rich as hell and don’t care.