Resident Harassment of HOA President

Hi All,

We are a small HOA that consists of 20 homes and has a 3 member, all volunteer board. We have one resident that refuses to provide an email account to the board despite having had an open insurance claim and stating there are issues with her account. We do have a Private Facebook page she has posted messages to the board asking questions about insurance, etc and we have told her that is not the appropriate forum. The page is for informational purposes only such as meeting notices.
This resident has repeatedly been told I am not allowed to use my cell phone during work hours. Despite that, she continued to text me, even after I told her multiple times at meetings I conduct all business by email so there is a record of communications. She even went so far as to send one board member a Facebook message on his Personal Facebook account about her HOA dues account.

Last July, we consulted with our attorney and under his advice we adopted a new rule that all communication to the board was to be in the form of an email and was to include all 3 members-no exceptions. This resident, who in the 7 years I've been president (no one will volunteer for my job) has consistently been delinquent on her dues and has texted myself (the President) about her account, because she doesnt "like" the Treasurer.

Last week, she included me in a group text with the contractor that her insurance claim work was done, he expected to be paid and she "wanted answers" why he wasn't paid - it was our policy, we hired him, we paid him. So I ignored her.

At this point, how do I handle a neighbor who refuses to provide an email (she says she has "no personal email", refuses to communicate with the Treasurer, and continues to text me. Do I need to involve the attorney, send her a cease and desist letter, other thoughts? What have you done? Were in the process of trying g to find a property manager but don't know if that will be feasible as it may drastically increase our dues and I need to stop these communications. She texted me on CHRISTMAS EVE about her account.

We have always communicated by email and the laws of our state (NH) allow the board to vote and adopt communication by electronic mail, including voting.

The issue I'm having is this member continuing to meesage me in my personal cell phone, even after she has been told not to.

As for her account-she is the only one with issues. For example-she messaged me that the "day after" she purchased her home in 2008 (prior to my being on the board) the old President put a lien on her home. I told me that was impossible because any past due dues would have been paid at time of sale, and NH law requires a 30 day collection notice prior to filing anything in court. She insisted that her re-fi was being held up because of a 2008 lien and wanted to go through "association files". She was told the only way for me to verify a lien was through the attorney and did she want me to? She confirmed that she did. The treasurer then proceeded to attach those legal fees to her account. At our most recent meeting in February, she told us "I'm not paying them. There's no way a title search costs that much and I don't understand why the lien was there" and in fact, after he completed the title search, there was no such lien.

She had a 2014 lien for non-payment and was taken to court, since I took over 7 years ago we have had to pursue collection 3 times and her mortgage company paid it, but she now says her account is "messed it". When asked by how much, she first said, I don't know, and then said it's off by all the late fees, interest and attorneys fees-she shouldn't have to pay any because we "didn't tell her we were referring it to the attorney"

My main concern it, we are all volunteer, she is texting me on my personal number, she has sent another board member a message on Facebook messenger. That's my question. What would your HOA do-send a letter or involve your attorney?

Tom,

You will need to ignore this person going forward and block her cell phone. She's welcome to communicate w/ you via 1st class mail, at open meetings or w/ an assigned board member with whom she may have smoother relations. There is no "right" for a duespayer to have unfettered access to a volunteer board member's free time.

If your fellow officers cannot ascertain that this person communicate truthfully - or misunderstand communications - it's not really your problem.

This is a volunteer job. Never forget that.

Send a letter stating the board does not accept texts or phone calls for official business and she needs to send communications by email or US mail. Then ignore her when she attempts other means and scrub the Facebook comments ASAP.

Tim,

There is a pattern of low-level harassment from one person that needs remedy, not a community problem. These folks do not possess the privilege to communicate however they wish. They have the privilege of being heard and creating custom, pinpoint solutions will ensure they are heard....which is the demand.

Some boards may wish to create catch-all policies, and it's reasonable to do so, but sometimes people need a proper path of communication to diminish individualized haranguement.

We send cease and desist letters.