HOA Informed "I Won't Be Maintainng My Property"

OK, I've not seen this one addressed here before. I'm the treasurer of our HOA. We have one member who owed 2008 association dues and numerous fines for failure to maintain her property (unregistered vehicles parked for months on end, dog feces all over her deck, tall grass, flowerbeds full of weeds, etc). She just sent in a check to cover the full amount of all outstanding balances. That's a good thing. Then she sends the board a letter stating that she won't be able to maintain her property due to a disability, that since her neighbors won't help her and she can't afford to hire someone there is nothing she can do about it. OK, ummm, that still doesn't relieve her of the duty to keep her grass cut, etc. Has anyone else ever encountered a thing like this? I don't mean to sound uncaring, but even if she didn't live in a neighborhood with an HOA she couldn't just let her grass grow all seaon without mowing. I'd appreciate some input as to how to word a response to this person.

Thanks.

Is she a senior citizen? If so, perhaps a social service agency should be contacted for a visit (RE: unkempt home, animal feces, she's stating that she can't keep her hope up)

What a GREAT opportunity for someone in the HOA to show how much they REALLY care for their neighbours in the HOA and if they have some time to help this person out. IF they have time and are interested in volunteer work.

Or.. how about setting a good example of what a homeowner should do and not be apathetic but proactive to the cause. I would do it.. I am sure others would too!

I guess tonight I am just the cynic of the crowd. Do you know for sure that this woman is actually disabled? From the sound of it, she didn't maintain her yard this past year either.

I know people run into trouble, and I prefer to be neighborly. But let us look at what was presented:

• owner was late in paying dues


• owner had feces on deck (yuck, and why not call the health dept?)


• yard was poorly maintained this past summer

Now perhaps the disability is part of the reason for all of this. But to simply say that "I am not going to maintain my yard," is simply not the way to handle it.

In fact, I am wondering why she didn't ask to have any of the fines waived since she was disabled. If she wasn't disabled then, then what has changed? She didn't maintain before the disability.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for helping those in need. And I can understand if she is in a hard spot. If she is amenable to it, I would go so far as to put out a request in the newsletter for people to help her mow the grass.

But I am not inclined to help when someone just announces that they are disabled and won't be doing what they haven't been doing. Disability does not remove responsibility.

Kirk,

I think you may be correct about this situation. The disability is Lupus. She's not a senior citizen. She has a teen-aged daughter living at home. The neighbors were helping her out (letting her use their riding mower for free, etc). Now it's the neighbors who are doing the complaining. Last Summer we (the HOA Board)cleaned up her yard for her and got local cub scouts involved in weeding flower beds, etc. I have a feeling that she would be happy to sit back and let the community do all of her maintenance for her. I just don't know if that is the direction we should take with this case.

Peny