Obscene language

Must everything be in the rules/by-laws/declaration to determine how to handle a problem?

He is a teenager who is testing his limits.

You could:

a.) Forget about it and not have your home and car egged.

b.) Go talk to his parents about the youth's unacceptable public behavior.

You could beat the punk into a bloody (but not seriously injured) puddle and wait for vindication by a jury of your peers.

Unfortuneately, the HOA's only recourse is against the OWNER not the renter.

Since guests are allowed at the pool it becomes a (?class B?) public pool.

Profanity and lewd behaviour is a crime when committed in a public place.

CALL THE POLICE and insist on an incident report !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FINE THE OWNER FOR FAILING TO COMPLY WITH THE RULES.

He IS responsible for the actions of his tenants.

Because he is a minor, I'd relate the incident to the parents and give them a warning.

If it happens again, then start your police involvement or other violation steps. Tell the parents this will be done.

The parents need a chance to deal with this potty-mouth first.

Thanks all for your great answers!!

Do your governing documents contain a nuisance clause?

You can very likely define his behavior as a nuisance and go after the owner to see that the renters correct the behavior.

That would be in addition to the suggestion above about police involvement.

It's been my experience when you talk to the parents first, they generally don't "deal" with it in a socially acceptable way. In fact, they generally also tell you to F____ off.

This kid not only learned the behavior somewhere, but he's apparently quite comfortable peeing in his own sandbox.

If the OWNER talks to the parents, then that's where it should come from.

The HOA should not be the ones addressing the renters. It's the owner's responsibility to see that the renters abide by the covenants.

And the police are pretty adept at "handling" these sorts of things.

The way it works here is they generally speak to the parents directly, but they carry more credibility and are less likely to be "retaliated" against.

So I still would:

1) Use the police (especially since they are in the loop and know what they need to do).

2) Contact the owner to have him refrain his renters from violating the nuisance clause of the covenants.

"Kids!
They a disobedient, disrespectful oafs!
Noisy, crazy, dirty, lazy, loafers!
While we're on the subject:
Kids!
You can talk and talk till your face is blue!
Kids!
But they still just do what they want to do!
Why can't they be like we were,
Perfect in every way?
What's the matter with kids today?"

KIDS, from the musical "Bye-Bye Birdie."

Robert,

It's my understanding that this behavior occurs at the community's pool, which very likely is common area property.

The original poster has also revealed that a board member has already spoken to the police about this and they (the police themselves) recommended that the community contact them the next time this occurs and they will deal with him.

If they are anything like the police in our neighborhood when something like this occurs, what they will most likely do is escort the young man home to his parents and encourage them to escalate his instruction in proper behavior in public social situations.

They will probably write an incident about it, but, unless the kid is also into petty crimes that might be discovered in the course of "dealing" with the incident, that's probably all that will happen at that time.

Homeowners respond better (more appropriately) to that sort of authority than they do a member of the board.

If anyone is to speak to the parents about the boy, it's probably best if it's a friendly member of our local law enforcement.

Again, I'm basing this on how things like this have worked out in our HOA.

We don't have a pool, but we have a lake, and we have "frisky" teenagers there. We have gotten the situation under control by doing exactly that, calling the police and having them do some one-on-one "neighborhood outreach."

It has worked out very well.

.38/.357 #9 shotshells are safe to use near water

(this is merely a fact, not a suggestion)

Good post Mike,
I could not agree more, and since there is a law on the State Books, I see no reason it could not be made part of the association rules that should be posted at the pool if a problem exists, which apparently, it does.

This may also make the other homeowners a little less timid and will start demanding proper decorum on their property. This is a instance where things are allowed to slide because of lack of knowledge. I am including myself in this condemnation. It happens all the time and we should learn a lesson here.

I would say that FORTUNATELY the HOA's recourse is against the renter- at least they are evictable (is that a word?!) I say this BC the term of the lease is for one year and dealing with the owner, fining if allowed, repeated correspondence when the events occur, etc. should influence the owner's decision to not renew the lease.

Your post is right on, IMO.

Too often I think we try to work with the renter without making the owner accountable for their tenants. (At least I have been gulty of this in the past. Having been a renter myself, I felt that they should have the first shot at addressing the situation.

I agree that you should call the police and notify the owner every time. Fining, if allowed, is also good. Even if collecting on the fine is near impossible, the owner has to be inconvenienced to the point of not renewing the lease. I am involved with a similar situation and the owner is now filing for eviction of the tenant. This is costing the owner money and, hopefully, will make the owner more discriminating when selecting the next tenant.

I wouldn't give the tenant a free ride, however, but would CC them every time the owner is contacted. With out of control kids, often the parents have to be inconvenienced before they will do anything. In my situation, the sheriff's office has been wonderful and the owners responsive.