New Owner Board - Leasing Tenants Noisy

BrentB2 (Wisconsin)
Posts: 5

Posted:

Hello,

I am President for a newly transferred HOA in Wisconsin.

So far, we don't have any Rules or Regulations written
for our Community and our Management Company isn't being
very helpful.

A few Owners have recently been informing the Board about
some renters of one of the Units being too noisy (we have
connected townhouses). The Unit is owned by the Builder and
rented out by another company for them.

One of the Owners recently called the police department and
was told to have the HOA handle it.

We live in a college community, and I'm sure the renters are
young, college students. We also realize that this problem
isn't going to go away, as long as we have leased Units.

What kind of Rules / Regulations might we be able to make to
control this? How might we be able to enforce it?

Thank you for your time reading and any assistance you may offer.

ArgyrosfeniX

MikeS1
Posts: 668

Posted:

Since some HOA docs may contain a "quiet enjoyment" clause you might want to look there first, but ususally most municipalities have very specific noise ordinances. If you have noise ordinances in your town or county, then the police should enforce them.

BrentB2 (Wisconsin)
Posts: 5

Posted:

Thanks MikeS1!

Was finally able to find our City's Municipal Code after your suggestion.

Should have looked it up before that... *d'oh!*

Turns out the City does indeed have an Ordinance about excessive noise.

Thanks much!

Brent (ArgyrosfeniX)

MikeS1
Posts: 668

Posted:

..and it should be based on hours and decibels usually. We have one neigbbor that goes bonkers when the Shopping center trash or deliver trucks come in before 6 am. Other neighbors have rowdy parties that go past 11 pm and this is nuts when you living in townhomes. Vehicles have recently been included due to those rediculous boom boxes that fill up the entire trunk of some of these vehicles.

Here's what the code says otherwise about noise in our jurisdiction.

Fairfax County's Noise Ordinance

[ The following has been reproduced from the CODE, Fairfax County, Virginia, Chapter 108, Noise. ]

Fairfax county residents and businesses are reminded that they must comply with the County's Noise Ordinance and are encouraged to report any violations that directly affect them. The ordinance promotes an environment for county citizens that is free from noise that jeopardizes their health or welfare or degrades the quality of life.

Section 108-4-1. Specific prohibitions.

The following acts are violations of this Chapter:

(a) Using or operating a loudspeaker or other sound amplification device in a fixed or movable position exterior to any building, or mounted upon any motor vehicle for the purpose of commercial advertising, giving instructions, information, directions, talks, addresses, lectures, or providing entertainment to any persons or assemblage of persons on any private or public property, between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day.
(b) Operating or causing to be operated any equipment used in construction, repair, alteration, or demolition work on buildings, structures, streets, alleys, or appurtenances thereto in the outdoors between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day, except that no such activity shall commence prior to 9 a.m. on Sundays and Federal holidays.
(c) Repairing, rebuilding, or modifying, any motor vehicle or other mechanical device in the outdoors between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day.
(d) Operating or permitting the operation of powered model vehicles in the outdoors between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day.
(e) The collection of trash or refuse in residential use districts between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following day.
(f) Loading or unloading trucks in the outdoors within one hundred (100) yards of a residence between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following day. (7-17-68, ¤ 17.9; 24-75-16A; 1961 Code, ¤ 16A.4.1; 34-76-108; 24-98-108.)

Fairfax County Government has a Zoning/Noise Ordinance Complaint Reporting Form available to residents on county's web site.

TV, radio, musical instruments, and animals that howl, bark, meow, or squawk frequently and habitually are declared a noise disturbance any time when plainly audible across property lines or through partitions. To register a complaint, contact the county's Zoning Enforcement Branch during normal business hours, weekdays from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., at 703-324-1300. During non-business hours, call the Public Safety non-emergency line at 703-691-2131.

MikeS1
Posts: 668

Posted:

..and it should be based on hours and decibels usually. We have one neigbbor that goes bonkers when the Shopping center trash or deliver trucks come in before 6 am. Other neighbors have rowdy parties that go past 11 pm and this is nuts when you living in townhomes. Vehicles have recently been included due to those rediculous boom boxes that fill up the entire trunk of some of these vehicles.

Here's what the code says otherwise about noise in our jurisdiction.

Fairfax County's Noise Ordinance

[ The following has been reproduced from the CODE, Fairfax County, Virginia, Chapter 108, Noise. ]

Fairfax county residents and businesses are reminded that they must comply with the County's Noise Ordinance and are encouraged to report any violations that directly affect them. The ordinance promotes an environment for county citizens that is free from noise that jeopardizes their health or welfare or degrades the quality of life.

Section 108-4-1. Specific prohibitions.

The following acts are violations of this Chapter:

(a) Using or operating a loudspeaker or other sound amplification device in a fixed or movable position exterior to any building, or mounted upon any motor vehicle for the purpose of commercial advertising, giving instructions, information, directions, talks, addresses, lectures, or providing entertainment to any persons or assemblage of persons on any private or public property, between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day.
(b) Operating or causing to be operated any equipment used in construction, repair, alteration, or demolition work on buildings, structures, streets, alleys, or appurtenances thereto in the outdoors between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day, except that no such activity shall commence prior to 9 a.m. on Sundays and Federal holidays.
(c) Repairing, rebuilding, or modifying, any motor vehicle or other mechanical device in the outdoors between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day.
(d) Operating or permitting the operation of powered model vehicles in the outdoors between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day.
(e) The collection of trash or refuse in residential use districts between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following day.
(f) Loading or unloading trucks in the outdoors within one hundred (100) yards of a residence between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following day. (7-17-68, ¤ 17.9; 24-75-16A; 1961 Code, ¤ 16A.4.1; 34-76-108; 24-98-108.)

Fairfax County Government has a Zoning/Noise Ordinance Complaint Reporting Form available to residents on county's web site.

TV, radio, musical instruments, and animals that howl, bark, meow, or squawk frequently and habitually are declared a noise disturbance any time when plainly audible across property lines or through partitions. To register a complaint, contact the county's Zoning Enforcement Branch during normal business hours, weekdays from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., at 703-324-1300. During non-business hours, call the Public Safety non-emergency line at 703-691-2131.

MikeS1
Posts: 668

Posted:

And of course here's the Boom Car Provisions.

Sec. 18-17. Restrictions on operation generally.

(a) No person shall operate, or cause to be operated, any sound truck for commercial sound advertising purposes or for any purposes connected with commercial advertising or incident thereto in the City with sound-amplifying equipment in operation.
(b) No person shall operate, or cause to be operated, any sound-amplifying equipment for commercial sound advertising purposes or for any purposes connected with commercial advertising or incident thereto in the City so that the amplification of the human voice, music or any other sound emitted therefrom for such purposes is audible on or in any street, alley, road, park, playground or any other public way or place; provided, that the use of sound-amplifying equipment where the music or speech amplified pertains exclusively to religious subjects or other subjects of general educational interest to the public shall be deemed to be a noncommercial use of sound-amplifying equipment and subject only to the regulations prescribed by Section 18-18.
(Code 1985, § 19-17)
Sec. 18-18. Noncommercial use.

Noncommercial use of sound-amplifying equipment and sound trucks in the City shall be subject to the following regulations:
(1) The only sounds permitted are music or human speech.
(2) Operations of sound trucks are permitted between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., and operations of stationary sound-amplifying equipment are permitted between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m.
(3) The human speech and music amplified shall not be slanderous.
(4) The volume of sound shall be controlled so that it will not be audible above the level of conversation speech at a distance in excess of two hundred (200) feet from the property on which the amplified sound originates.
(Code 1985, § 19-18)

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

Brent,

I wouldn't let a police officer get away with telling me it's a problem for the HOA. I'd tell him I'm a taxpayer and it's his job to enforce the laws. I'm sure there is a city noise ordinance. I'm always amazed that so many people just back off when the P.D. refuses to handle a complaint in an HOA community. Of course, I'm talking about complaints the P.D. has jurisdiction over.

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

In the meantime, the board should write a letter to the OWNER telling him/her that there have been complaints about the noice, and they have been referred to the ordinance officer or police.

There should be a paper trail on this situation, in case it escalates into something more (i.e tickets issued, etc.)

JeannieraeO (California)
Posts: 27

Posted:

All of the answers to your immediate issue are very good. I'm concerned about your statement that you don't have CC&R's and the Property Manager isn't very helpful.

Those are two big red flags for me. If you have a non-responsive property manager, drop him (or her) like a hot potato! The property manager works for you and should be responding to your concerns in a timely manner. This kind of situation can get very sticky when other issues that should be covered by CC&R's should arise and you have no recourse. Your property manager is there not only to make sure the lawns are mowed, but also to make sure your association is in legal compliance. I can't pretend to know the laws in your state, but in California a builder is not even allowed to transfer to the association without some CC&R's in place. You could even be held legally liable for letting this situation go on.

Get out there and talk to other property managers. And I mean a lot of property managers. Find out their style, their philosophy, talk to the associations that they manage. The relationship between associations and property managers can be very personal, and you want to make sure that you are compatible. Also make sure they know what the issues are and that you want them to hit the ground running. You don't want this situation to go on any longer than necessary. Good luck!

BrentB2 (Wisconsin)
Posts: 5

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JeannieraeO on 09/09/2008 8:22 AM
All of the answers to your immediate issue are very good. I'm concerned about your statement that you don't have CC&R's and the Property Manager isn't very helpful.

Those are two big red flags for me. If you have a non-responsive property manager, drop him (or her) like a hot potato! The property manager works for you and should be responding to your concerns in a timely manner. This kind of situation can get very sticky when other issues that should be covered by CC&R's should arise and you have no recourse. Your property manager is there not only to make sure the lawns are mowed, but also to make sure your association is in legal compliance. I can't pretend to know the laws in your state, but in California a builder is not even allowed to transfer to the association without some CC&R's in place. You could even be held legally liable for letting this situation go on.

Get out there and talk to other property managers. And I mean a lot of property managers. Find out their style, their philosophy, talk to the associations that they manage. The relationship between associations and property managers can be very personal, and you want to make sure that you are compatible. Also make sure they know what the issues are and that you want them to hit the ground running. You don't want this situation to go on any longer than necessary. Good luck!

I'm still trying to figure out the abbreviation "CC&R"...

Our Property Manager has been given his last chance in the eyes of the Board - we finally gave him a list of things we wanted completed and a deadline. He got more done during that time than the rest of the year in my opinion. We have another deadline that ends today. If he misses that, we'll be looking for a new company. We know that we can end the contract with a 30 day notice, but we need to make sure we have a new company before we do that. Required in the paperwork somewhere, forgetting for the moment. *sigh*

Basically, we are a fully new Board that all started in February and seem to be flying blind. None of the new BoD has any previous experience and we believed that the management company would be doing their best for us. Ignorance isn't bliss! That's why I signed up for this forum. To see what we might/could do about various things. Shouldn't take 6 months to have siding repaired! Shouldn't have to demand them to do their dang job.

MikeS1
Posts: 668

Posted:

CC&R - From NOLO - covenants, conditions & restrictions (CC&Rs), or your HOA docs. The restrictions governing the use of real estate, usually enforced by a homeowners' association and passed on to the new owners of property. For example, CC&Rs may tell you how big your house can be, how you must landscape your yard or whether you can have pets. If property is subject to CC&Rs, buyers must be notified before the sale takes place.

You all need some strong support at this point. I would contact some of the other HOAs in your areas and try to get some references for a strong PM with a medium size firm behind (him/her). There are some PMs that are one-man-bands, then there are small, med, to large firms that have several PMs. We recently switched to another PM and I would describe the company as a medium firm. We're hoping that if our assigned PM either leaves, get's sick or disappears for some reason, or if the PM just isn't doing their job, there might be another one within the firm that we could go to.

Whenever you do get proposals for a new PM company, ask for referals, call the referals and ask each Hoa/Customer the same questions (very specific questions) in order to get a gauge on how well the service might be.

JohnK3 (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 967

Posted:

Brent,

If you don't have any ByLaws, how did you and the Board get elected? Usually, that's where the procedures are outlined. I've never heard of an HOA being formed with only CCRs (and without ByLaws). Are you sure they don't exist somewhere? Have you asked the Developer? Have you checked what's been filed with your State or County?

BrentB2 (Wisconsin)
Posts: 5

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnK3 on 09/09/2008 10:29 AM
Brent,

If you don't have any ByLaws, how did you and the Board get elected? Usually, that's where the procedures are outlined. I've never heard of an HOA being formed with only CCRs (and without ByLaws). Are you sure they don't exist somewhere? Have you asked the Developer? Have you checked what's been filed with your State or County?

We have copies of our Articles of Incorporation, Declaration of Covenants and our Bylaws. We had to pull teeth to get copies from the Manager though. We're also 7 months into our Directorships and are finally starting to get some help on developing Rules and Regulations.