Resident requesting to be put on agenda to speak

Is the HOA board members allowed to deny a resident who requests to speak at their next board meeting due to an ongoing issue that has not been resolved.

Minnesota has an agenda item called Homeowner Input. This is where homeowners called talk about their issue.

Depends on the nature of the issue and whether open board meetings are required.

As noted, in open meeting states there is usually a requirement that owners be allowed to speak during a "homeowner forum" period. This is an appropriate time for owners to bring up general issues, especially ones that may involve others in the community.

The homeowner forum is not an appropriate time to deal with disputes that involve only one owner, especially if the dispute has arisen out of a violation of the CC&Rs or failure to pay assessments or other money owed to the association. Discussions like this belong in a separate meeting with the board, either in executive session or in a hearing called for that one purpose.

Homeowner forums are also not the place for anyone to act out, rant, or otherwise derail the meeting (and that includes board members). If this owner has a history of misbehaving, then it's within the board's right to schedule a separate session to resolve whatever the ongoing issue is. If the owner says that they want to talk about something else, then they can speak during the forum. There's usually a time limit for owners' remarks, generally a few minutes or so. If they have a lot to say, then they should prepare a handout with their full remarks and summarize the content when it's their turn to speak.

I'm the resident that is being denied speaking about an ongoing issue I live in NY. Is it legal for the HOA not to allow me to speak at one of their meetings.
I live in NY.

NOTE: Nobody on this site is known to be an attorney.
I am certainly not an attorney.

Some States have applicable statutes that require allowing a member to speak.
I did not see that in any NY statute applicable to HOAs.

In my opinion, the board should allow members to speak.
The exception may be if it's about litigation issues.

Are you paying for the attorney out of your pocket? The HOA should agree if they want legal advice on the matter.

Plus what will it hurt for them to speak? Sounds too controlling or fearful to not allow it. No one has to agree to what person says or even care. They just are allowed to speak at their member meeting.

I understand your frustration, but I agree with Cathy. This isn't the right place to discuss this matter - usually disputes between neighbors (because that's what this is) come to the board's attention if it involves several homeowners or abuse/neglect of the common area. If other neighbors are having a pest infestation issue due to this resident's behavior, you need to bring them to the meeting with you, so they can also make their statements.

I'm not sure what you expect the association to do about this. You say the pest infestation is being caused by the neighbor, and you may be right, but it would be better to bring in an exterminator to look at the area and confirm. There may be things you can do to reduce the infestation - and you should consider suing the resident yourself to compel him to pay for it. Of course, the next questions are (1) can you win and (2) can you collect - that should always be considered before proceeding with legal action. Your lawsuit could also ask that you be reimbursed for all court costs and attorneys fees incurred in bringing the lawsuit.

You said you occasionally wake up at night thinking you have ants crawling on you - that's likely PTSD, which is quite understandable, so you may want to consider counseling to address it. It doesn't mean something's wrong with you, but if your sleep's being affected, you don't want other health issues to erupt because of it.

Does the rabbi know if the resident has family who might be willing to help? He does have mental illness and cleaning out the house won't be enough. It may be this man can't live by himself anymore and so it may be necessary for someone to petition a court for guardianship. If it's granted, that person would be able to move the man out of his home to a place where he can be cared for. Unfortunately, guardianship is time consuming and not cheap - and if someone can't be found to care for him, you're back where you started. The man would also have appeal rights - he might be a hoarder, but that by itself doesn't mean he's unable to care for himself at all. Call the county health department or whoever sued the man over the hoarding and see if there are other options you can pursue. Good luck to you

yes, I will be paying for an attorney out of my own pocket. Our by-laws does state that if the HOA is knowingly neglecting an issue, they can be sued. If I go that route, I'm hoping to sue for my attorney fees too.

The President of the HOA has been Pres. since the early 1990's and as such, she thinks she owns the entire condos. She has members on the board that are afraid of her and just vote her way. We have 8 members on the HOA, only two of the eight will actually not always vote her way but she has the majority of the vote. it's a horrendous situation. At the General Meeting in Sept. I did state to the residents and HOA members that if I wind up with roaches, they will not just stay in my building but eventually will cross over to their building units. Just like in the city, one building gets them, the whole block gets them. The other residents seem to be oblivious.

I contacted he fire marshal almost two years ago. he had a truck come and clean out the hoarders apt. and comes back to check on the unit. As I mentioned earlier, he took him to court 12 times in 2023 and even when the judge speaks to him and gave him a $3,000 fine which he paid, it didn't phase him. I sopke with the Fire marshal a couple of weeks ago, he said there is nothing on the books in Putnam County, NY that hoarding is not allowed. I am going to reach out to the Dept. of Health and our assemblyman before I contact an attorney. I work and have a very busy office so I have to make the time to do this.

I'm in a condo, each building has 3 apts. I'm on top floor, hoarder on second floor underneath me.

As a last resort, you could talk to the public guardian's office for possible solutions.

I do not have a copy of the HOA's insurance policy nor who the carrier is. but you brought up a good point. I'm going to see if I can find out and then contact them. Thank you!!

If you could get others in your building to sign a letter to insurance co., it would be better.

So, what do you want the HOA to do about this? The county sued him 12 times and the place was cleaned, then he messed it up again, and then that happened over and over again. If the COUNTY can't get him out, why do you expect things to be different if the HOA takes legal action?

Unfortunately, you're probably right about him having relatives who don't want to get involved - and they don't have to. It may be they're not in a position to do so, even if they wanted to (e.g. live out of state) and/or or he burnt his bridges with them a long time ago. You can have dementia and mental illness at the same time, and you can't always say the behavior is due to one or the other. There are also different stages of dementia - if you're in the early stages, you may still be able to make major decisions, although if a nurse is visiting him regularly, it may be a matter of time before APS has to push for an emergency guardianship to get him out of the house and to a place where he can be supervised and cared for. How soon that happens is anyone's guess because dementia affects people differently.

By the way, homeowners can enforce CCRs against each other - I don't know what your neighbor's afraid of, but the two of you could join forces and sue the man if the HOA can/won't do it. Of course, you're still stuck with considering if you'll win, and if so, will you collect? The HOA president may seem indifferent about all this, and perhaps she is, but she may be as frustrated as you are. Something needs to be done, but right now, it seems everyone will have to wait until the other shoe drops.

For everyone reading this conversation, this situation is becoming far more common as the nation ages (and some of us are well on our way). HOAs can't do everything, but boards may want to look into what types of resources are out there and consider basic approaches to things like hoarding or wandering. There have been a few articles on HOAs and aging in place, so google them and have a discussion. At the very least, getting familiar with what the city or county can or can't do, how APS may or may not be able to help, etc., would be a good place to start.

One more thing on the counseling - you don't know if counseling will or won't help you, so you don't have anything to lose if you try. If your employer has an employee assistance program (EAP), they usually offer a certain amount of free counseling sessions (your employer won't be told), so try that. You didn't say if you're having sleeping problems every night, so why not talk to your doctor? He or she could suggest some relaxation techniques you can try, using white noise machines, etc. All of that could be tried before medication and if it comes to that, there are low-dose medications you can start with.

Here are a few links I found specific to NY:

A Primer for Co-op and Condo Boards on How to Handle Hoarders a 2023 article

Steps for Condo or Co-Op Hoarding Clean-Up, NYC a 2020 article NOTE: Per this article:
Hoarding is protected under the Fair Housing Act(Opens in a new window), so your board must provide reasonable accommodations for the hoarder — including providing appropriate time to clean out the unit.

How to Handle Hoarders: Step One is Understanding What You're Dealing With 2013 Article

How do we get a hoarder to clean up their apartment? 2022 article (mainly talks about co-ops but still has good info.

As you, and the articles point out, hording is a mental illness. As a mental illness, the individual falls under the fair housing act.
Because of this, your Association may simply have limited options against an owner of a unit.
Your best bet, in my opinion, is what you have been doing. Continue to get the city involved.

OK, if you're dealing with a true hoarding issue, the association is in a very tough spot.

Hoarding is a recognized mental illness that is extremely resistant to treatment. Worse for the HOA and surrounding neighbors, this means that Fair Housing laws come into play, which means that the board's hands are going to be tied in some ways.

If I were on the board, I'd have recommended turning this over to the association's attorney and following that person's advice. The last thing you need is a Fair Housing complaint or other lawsuit on top of everything else. Fair Housing laws are unforgiving and penalties can be stiff. Our association attorney said that it's easy to get things wrong. Involving various social services in the area may be helpful, but I'd want the attorney guiding all of the efforts because it's easy to make mistakes or get in each other's way.

I sympathize with everyone involved. This isn't going to be solved fast unless the hoarding neighbor is cooperative, and that often doesn't happen.

As for the question that's the subject of this thread, speaking about the issue in a board meeting won't help solve the problem any faster because the board probably isn't the roadblock and isn't your adversary. It may actually make things worse by making the mentally ill resident a target of everyone's ire, and there's a Fair Housing complaint just waiting to happen. You may want to have a chat with a knowledgeable attorney yourself (not the association's attorney, you're not their client and they probably won't speak to you except as needed for them to properly represent the association). You need someone who represents your interests - and while your neighbors and the board may be sympathetic, they don't have the power to change any of this.

Or, as others have pointed out, could be harmful.

If an insurance carrier knows that the board is aware of fire hazards (or other structural issues that can also be caused by hoarding) and is not taking steps to address them it could result in increased premiums or a non-renewal.

FYI. I have a friend and a family member that are hoarders. Have spent time in their homes. Have helped clean and move people with this disorder. It is not easy.

When dealing with someone you can not judge or put your opinion into the conversation. This is not your home or place to judge.

It can be helped with the right counselling and trained professionals. Friendship requires knowing when to hold your tongue. I tend to just let them discuss what is on their mind.

I do not think HOA can do much legally. If they do not offer pest control then that is not an option. Requires permission to enter.

If it was me, I would do my best to be more understanding and helpful. Learn from professionals how to approach. You do more damage jumping than reaching out a hand.

Funny story. One of my hoarder persons came to visit my house. That week before I had replaced all the carpets and flooring in my house. Basically everything in my house was combined to first floor. Had not moved things back. They actually called me a hoarder! I was like this is my entire 3 bedroom house contents in two rooms! Funny how perception is.

Actually suing your HOA to produce the proper actions of the board is not during yourself. As an owner, you have already paid your portion of the insurance that is going to provide the attorney to represent the HOA. So you are costing the HOA nothing until the matter goes to court and you are awarded damages and may be the only way to resolve this issue.

I ead the bylaws, it states you must keep your unit clean. Suggest you read comments.
More understanding, I offered two years ago to hire someone to clean out his unit at my expense, he refused. More understanding, this is affecting me, how much more understanding can I be.

Thank you for taking time to find out.

This point is made time and again at sites discussing fair housing law and the disability of hoarding. See for example:

https://rentalhousingjournal.com/fair-housing-and-hoarding-what-you-need-to-know/

https://www.fairhousingnc.org/newsletter/issue-spotlight-hoarding-and-fair-housing/

https://www.turbotenant.com/blog/hoarding-in-a-rental-unit-a-landlords-plan-of-action/

https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/GC/documents/Hoarding%20Fair%20Housing%20Law%20Review%20Article%20DB.pdf

As some of us have said, the board doesn't HAVE to allow you to speak, although it's a good idea to have a resident forum where owners can make comments or suggestions on association issues. I still want to know what you hope to accomplish- you can vent about this and I understand why, but what's the point if you can't at least offer a suggestion to resolve the problem? The man will still be in his apartment the cardboard boxes and the bugs.

You also said guest - do you own the apartment? If youre a renter, renters typically don't have a right to attend association meetings because they dont own the unit and so aren't association members. However, many associations do allow tenants to speak duringbtge resident forum. That said, remember board meetings are BUSINESS meetings where the board discusses and make decisions on association issues. The items on the agenda have to take priority because some of them are time sensitive and decisions have to be made at that meeting. It's a tough thing to say and I don't mean to sound unsympathetic
buf to simply venting and taking up half the meeting won't get anything resolved faster.

It's not perfect, but here's an article on steps you can take to make your place more inhospitable go pests. Until this man leaves for good, this, as well as staying in touch with the city or county may be the best you can do right now.

https://www.solutionsstores.com/helpful-tips-on-diy-pest-control-for-apartment-renters.

I'm not suggesting you're the problem, but most of us who've lived in apartments have dealt with this to some extent. This may be a situation where you can only address the things you can control. You can also suggest to the board that they publish more reminders to everyone on what they can do to keep the place clean, whether they hoard or not. Perhaps if everyone did their part in picking up after themselves. There would be a reduction in pests everywhere. That can save cleaning and pest exterminator costs for everyone.

Finally, I've said all I can say on the sleep issue. I get you dont want to resort to drugs and I agree non medicated options should be tried first but you don't seem open to that either. My concern is even if this man left tomorrow and his home was fumigated completely, you'd still have sleeping problems because of the ants and other critters you had to deal with. If you find a better way of addressing this, I hope it works, but unless you're willing to try SOMETHING,you'll continue to have sleep problems. Good luck in whatever you choose to do..

What if you just treat the things that impede on your space while the slow wheels of social services/fair housing laws run, or the ravages of age do their work?

For example, you mention ants. Would poison traps be a possibility? They carry the food back to the nest and the nest eventually dies.

I agree, I will check with the attorney who I have not hired as yet.