Covenant Violation Notice needed

Our small 27 home HOA is now into the second year of having a Community Enhancement Committee. They are charged with walking the neighborhood, documenting any Covenant violations, with appropriate Article/Section, then turning the list into the BOD. Our BOD will decide whether a violation exists, then send out a Violation Notice. Our CCR's give the Association the right to A. enforce, by any proceeding at law....
B. ...enter and fix the violation (which we are hesitant to do)
C. both of above at the HomeOwner's expense.
We are trying to redo our last year's letter.
We had sent out first and second notices before the attorney demand letter (third letter).
My question is:
Does anyone have a Violation Notice which we could use as a guideline when developing ours?
P. S. Most violations are nuisance ones...such as not storing trash receptacles out of sight from the street, or excess weeds.
I'd appreciate any help as we are tossing this back and forth among BOD members.
Thanks,
Gloria

GlenL,
Thanks for the reply. Our letter last year was very terse, and those who got the letters were not very happy...not that anyone would be happy to get a violation notice. But if the wording were a bit more pleasant and not so cold, perhaps the response wouldn't be combative.
Can you post the verbiage used in your initial letter for us to use as a guideline? At our last BOD mtg, the idea of only one letter was decided and then the second demand letter will be from our attorney. I am not sure that is a good idea and am asking the BOD to rethink that. However,our new letter tentatively reads:
"It is the obligation of the BOD to ensure that each HomeOwner in our Community is adhering to the CCR's. Our Communiy is striving to continue to be a beautiful place in which to reside harmoniously with our neighbors. We are all bound to the Articles of our Covents.
Please note that the following Violation has been cited:.....
1. According to our Declaration, this Violation must be remedied within fourteen days from the date of this notification.
2.You can notify the BOD...of the course of action you intend to remedy with a specific date.
3. You also have the option of a hearing before the BOD to discuss or refute...
Unfortunately, any Violation which goes untended and has not been addressed with the BOD by 14 days must go forward to our Attorney for legal action. The cost of which will be the obligation of the HomeOwner.
We look forward to working together to remedy this Violation in the continuing effort to keep our Community beautiful and protect the property values of our neighbors' homes."
That's the whole thing in a nutshell. Any and all comments are welcomed.
Gloria

Roger,
I really like the wording you offered "...be a good neighbor...not knowingly do some that would disturb others..."
Since we are such a small HOA (27 home), I believe that we can work together to come into compliance without alienating neighbors.
Hope that the perpetual oppimist in me is right.
The BOD is still tossing around the letter for thoughts and wording.
Anything else anyone else has to contribute? I'm all ears.
Thanks,
Gloria

Mary,
Thanks for your input which, unfortuately, seems to be right on target. We are trying to sugar coat the notice, but it still is a bitter pill to swallow.
However, we still need to develop the violation notice letter and send them out, if necessary. We are trying to speak more sweetly hoping that it will encourage compliance more quickly by asking all to be better neighbors. The cynic in me thinks that those who are stubborn or ornery will continue to be so no matter how many pleases are in the letter. The optimist in me hopes that the Community will understand that the BOD must enforce the CCR's, and take a hard look around at their property to ensure they are in compliance.
It will be interesting to see which side of me is right...
Thanks,
Gloria

Friendly violation notice? LOL. Good luck.
Don't forget Mary that in Arizona we must include the first and last name of the person or persons observing the violation.
As a consequence, our HOA now requires a written and signed letter from members when reporting a violation. No verbal or anonymous reports accepted. All state required information is sent in the first notice of violation (not required, but recommended by attorneys) in order to speed up the process since it must be done anyway if a member follows the proper requirements for disputing or questioning the violation notice. In any event, those reporting letters go into the member's file and members are entitled to see their file.
I know - makes great neighborly rapport. But whoever said HOAs were supposed to foster neighborliness? It's all about property values - isn't that what we're told?

Harold,

I'm well aware of that "new" requirement in statute. However, the info about who reported the violation is not required to be given to the violator unless the violator responds to the violation by certified mail. Of course, if the property manager checked out the violation when informed of it (which should be a given), the assn can always say it was the prop. manager who noticed the violation. Actually I believe this is what some assn's are doing! I was not in favor of this amendment to the statute because it might prevent some people from informing the assn of perceived violations. Cities don't require identification of anyone reporting a code violation and I don't see why an HOA should. It's just one more way to pit neighbor against neighbor.

I can only say: Good thing I don't live in Arizona.

What a horrible law.

Gloria that is the way we do it and while it may take a little longer before you can "fine" someone; the purpose is to get them to do what they agreed to do in the first place with as little fuss and muss as possible. And the sad fact as has been noted in a lot of the posts in this forum is that people don't read or comprehend all the rules and regulations or as was pointed out one community was trying to enforce a landscaping code but could not provide it.

Everyone has had a bad day or a brain fart or is new to Association living and can easily goof about when to take in the garbage cans and a friendly reminder goes a lot farther than a dictate from on high - "Do this or we'll fine you $25.00 a day until you do!" That type of communication IMO immediately generates an "Oh yea, you can't do that." or "I'll show you." or "Who appointed you king/queen." response and what is a simple matter suddenly becomes WWIII as the H/O takes a stand on "principle".

You should have a written set of rules and each H/O should have a copy of them along with a copy of the enforcement policy for how violations will be handled. In ours we noted that you only get one "friendly" reminder per violation, i.e. if we send a reminder about garbage in Jan and you do the same thing in April then it automatically goes to step two; good record keeping about violations and actions is a must. Also things that require immediate action i.e. the H/O is suddenly digging an Olympic swimming pool in their front yard may go immediately to step two.

"Of course, if the property manager checked out the violation when informed of it (which should be a given), the assn can always say it was the prop. manager who noticed the violation. Actually I believe this is what some assn's are doing!"
That is circumventing the law, which states "person or persons observing the violation." What part of "persons" don't you understand?

Harold,

I didn't say they should do this I said I believe some assn's are doing this. This is what I've been told is happening. And who said the person reporting the alleged violation sent in a letter? Perhaps they made a phone call. I agree the law might cut down on frivilous reports, but frivilous reports shouldn't result in violation notices anyhow. So what good does the law really do? IMO, it does much more harm than good.

Harold,

I've heard some HOA advocates say this is being done. I have no reason to doubt what they say although I don't have firsthand knowledge of it. I don't know the name's of the mgmt co's or HOA attorney's who are advocating this.

Harold, you are correct, your constant badgering of Mary is getting a bit wearisome.

Mary: The sky is blue.

Harold: Now, Mary, why would you say that when you know full well that some people in other parts of the world may be in darkness right now and their sky is black. Really strengthens your credibility, doesn't it.

It doesn't matter what she says, how she couches it (her opinion), whatever.

I know I get in sometimes tense "discussion mode" with people on here sometimes, but the very least we do is avoid personal snark attacks when challenging each other's opinion or position.

Sometimes we just agree to disagree.

It's clear you have a personal problem with her from some other site.

I think you might need a long, relaxing fishing trip or something -- just to take the edge off.

Thank you Michele! :-) Frankly I don't recognize Harold from any other HOA site so I don't know what his problem is with me. I'm proud that I haven't let my red-headed, Italian temper get the better of me in dealing with him. :-) I recognize -- and appreciate -- that this is a very friendly forum unlike most other message groups. I also recognize -- and appreciate -- the fact that so many of you are quite knowledgeable of HOA issues making this a very valuable resource for many.

DeeO,

Our BOD is still working on our new Violation Notice, but here is our draft so far:
To: XXXXXXXXX HomeOwner

From: XXXXXXXXX Board of Directors
COVENANT VIOLATION NOTICE

Dear ………………………..,

It is the obligation of the Board of Directors to ensure that each HomeOwner in our Community is adhering to the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions set forth in our Documents. Our Community is striving to continue to be a beautiful place in which to reside harmoniously with our neighbors. We are all bound to conform to the Articles of our Covenants.

We believe that you are a good neighbor and would not knowingly violate our CCR’s. Please be advised that the following Covenant Violation exists:
The Violation falls under Article _____________, Section ______________ and is specified as:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

1. According to our Declaration, the Violation must be remedied within fourteen (14) days from the date of this notification.
2. You can also notify the Board of Directors at the address above in writing, or at any of the following contact numbers, of the course of action you intend to remedy the Violation, with a specific completion date (within that 14 days).
3. You also have the option of having a hearing before the Board of Directors to discuss or refute the specified Violation (within
that 14 days).

Unfortunately, any Violation which goes untended and has not been addressed with the Board of Directors by 14 days, must go forward to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Attorneys for legal action. The cost of which will be the obligation of the HomeOwner.

We look forward to working together to in the continuing effort to keep our Community beautiful and protect the property values of all our neighbors’ homes. If you have any questions or concerns about the above matter, please do not hesitate to contact any of the BOD Members as listed below. The Board of Directors is in place to serve our Community.

XXXXXXXXXX Board of Directors:

.............................................................

As you can see, this is still a draft of the CCR Violation Notice. I'd appreciate any input if any out there sees an area that is deficient or needs changing.
Thanks,
Gloria