HOA Mailing Lists

It's not mail fraud. Msil fraud is when you use snail mail or electronic mail to defraud, and all this lady has done is advertise her business. You are correct in that she's should only be using the mailing list for association related business, like running for the board.

If the lady is a realtor, I don't know if this would be an ethics issue the state real estate commission might address, but you can contact them and see if you can file a complaint.

Even though you don't think the board will do anything, you should contact them anyway - asking questions during an open meeting - with several of your neighbors present - should be fun. You'll also have something on record in case they don't. How the rest if the community responds to that, I don't know.

And you can always sue her, I suppose, although it may be easiest to just toss the postcard or whatever you received. I suspect that's what many of your neighbors did just that. A few may have already bawled her out over this stunt and you'll never have to worry about this again. Why not take a little time to see how this unfolds.

I get solicitations from realtors and investors wanting to buy condos all the time, and these people have nothing to do with my association. There are companies that sell lists of owners and addresses in various areas for buyers who want to do mailing campaigns. The builder I work for occasionally uses these services to advertise to potential buyers, although the internet has made such services less useful.

So... maybe this person used HOA resources, or maybe she just knows this information because of past board service, or maybe she bought the list. I'm a past board member and long-term resident who could put together a pretty complete mailing list for my community without looking up anything. And names/mailing addresses are public information, obtainable on the county's property search website and numerous websites. Rather than making unsupported accusations, maybe find some actual proof of what you're saying and then complain to... Heck, I have no idea who to complain to. Nobody is going to do anything about this because... public information.

I highly doubt they used the HOA list. Usually no one has that complete list without struggles.

It should be noted that those flyers are paid for advertising that goes through a 3rd party. They use various lists to compile addresses. I got one for my house I just sold twice! Got a few from the woman who sold me this house. She had quit the builder company. My friend is a realtor. These mailings are optional for realtors to pay for. He does not do them. He is a word of mouth person. However another realtor can do it via email etc .. or cold calls.

Nothing bad here. Just toss it out.

Lara said the address included a Lot #. I say this indicates she used the associations mail list. If so, she should be given 10 lashes with a wet noodle.

Lot numbers show up on my county's website. It all depends what information the builder sent to the county, so you can't draw any conclusions.

As I said, I could put together a pretty complete mailing list of my community, lot numbers included. It's public info! Sure the realtor may have used association resources, but throwing a hissy over this is not going anywhere since there is no proof. Did I mention that this is public info? And that companies provide mailing