Dryer Vents Cleaned

I'm the president of a 10-unit 29 year old condo complex. We're having a problem with just one owner here that will not get her dryer vent cleaned. No one used to get them cleaned until a few of us pointed out that the place is getting old and this could really be a fire hazard. We started getting every unit cleaned every 3 years. She didn't get her's cleaned last time and now refuses to get it cleaned this time. That means in 29 years this unit has never had it's dryer vent cleaned! The Board has written her letters and left voice messages and she won't respond to any of them. I'm going to the post office right now to send her a certified letter telling her she will be fined $25 per week until an appointment has been set with a licensed company. I'm sure she won't respond to this either. I called the Fire Dept and they don't have a code saying it's mandatory to have it cleaned. He felt our pain, but can't do anything about it. Our CCRs say we must maintain and keep clean our units and keep them in a safe and healthy manner, so I'm sure this covers it. But, I don't know how to make her get it done. So what if we keep fining her. We're still at risk. I asked the cleaning company if they could do it from the outside, but they said they definitely couldn't get it all, plus she's on the 3rd floor. They'd have to get a ladder and climb way up there.
How do I make her get it done? We even offered (in the beginning) to pay for it for her, thinking it may be a hardship. No response. She's quite a recluse and only speaks to us when she has to - like if she's getting out of her car and we say hi. She never goes to our meetings and never goes to the work parties that we have twice a year. She does pay the fine for not being at the work party tho. Any suggestion? We don't want this to cost an arm and a leg, but also don't want to live with this risk either. Thanks for your advice!
Judie

We just got an invoice from the her saying she got it cleaned. She just didn't let us know for 3 months! Even tho we sent voice messages and letters. Brother. Oh well - we're all safe from the fire hazard now.

Yes (however, it's not a party at work). We have a small complex and we have always required people to attend a well planned ahead date/time work "event". We don't work long and it's not hard. We just do things the gardener doesn't do. We don't have a property management that can do these things. Everyone is in agreement and actually kind of enjoys them. We usually have pizza and beer/pop afterwards supplied by the Association. We sweep up the storage area, dust the light diffusers, plant new plants, etc. No one has ever complained except the unit in question. It's been our way to keep our dues down and there has always been a fine for people that don't want to do it. We're very lenient. If someone isn't going to be around on the designated date, we allow them to do things on a list as long as it's completed before the work party date.

Also, what are you going to do when you eventually have a disabled HO who can't attend your work party. Maybe 'fining' it not the right word to use?

It sure sounds like they are 'getting away' with, or stretching the limits of what is allowed if they are fining an owner for essentially not contributing to the maintenance and upkeep....and amazingly the owner is paying the fines AND paying dues to pay for pizza and pop!

Getting volunteers is sometimes difficult and I don't think I'd take issue if it was presented that each owner has a choice to provide x volunteer hours or pay a fee in lieu of those hours, but if someone "fined" me for not doing volunteer work AND I knew my dues were going to pay for the pizza and pop, I'd be talking to my lawyer.

The fact the owner is paying the 'fine' makes me question whether they are being stubborn on the vent cleaning, or if there is more to this. Could be wrong, but the two don't seem to jive.

Robert, I think you are bang on and I wasn't taking issue with anything in your post. Fining for not volunteering, seems a real stretch, especially if I'm paying for the pizza and beer on top of it. It'd be interesting to see how the wording in their documents allow for this...if they do.

I'm sorry---but all of this sounds a little "weird".

This is an association that sweeps and dusts only TWICE per year? Then if people don't show up to do the labor they get fined?

I've never heard of documents that allow people to be fined for refusing to do volunteer work. Maybe we should amend our documents to state that if people refuse to volunteer to be a board member or refuse to volunteer to be on a committee they get fined.

Apparently it works for Judie's association and if it does, I say more power to her! I'm very happy to hear the dryer vent issue was resolved.

Julie, just how many units ARE in your association? Just curious.

Could this be that 'Necessity is the Mother of Invention'?

Considering the economic situation, are there associations that can't pay for the essentials such as cleaning up the place and figure a way to get it done is to let volunteers do it and if they contribute, some amount is deducted from their assessments. I don't know if this is the case but if it is, aren't they doing the same thing? What it amounts to is the ones that don't want to contribute pay full assessments, the ones that do contribute don't have to pay full assessments, but their efforts are counted as contributions to the budget and the required work can be done.

Of course both methods (Fine or contribute) meet the same aims if there is economic need. Wonder how a judge would look at this or would he see no difference in the two methods and declare them both improper. I expect if any effort is made and conducted with transparency and the association was trying to survive, the judge might say, "Go to it." Bottom line.

I also don't think the posters here should advise on either method other than to say, be careful if this kind of thing is not in your documents because you might be putting your butt on the line.

Purely a reflective post and not a suggestion that any one that has commented is off base in any manner.

DJ1,
Can't argue with that.

This sounds like people are getting hung up on the word "fine". Robert already touched on it, but consider the practice from another angle:

Assume that the Association has some service that needs to be done. It will cost $X to get that service done by an outside party and each homeowner will need to to pay a proportional share of that $X. In lieu of paying $ the Association can allow individual homeowners to perform some hours of service, thus reducing the overall cost of having an outside party perform that service (big assumption that the hours of service from the homeowner will reduce the costs by the appropriate amount). If all homeowners contribute hours, the outside party won't need to be hired at all.

I could easily see this practice developing, especially in a small HOA. And I don't think it would be at all unreasonable.

Dwight, I see what you are saying but one could argue if a HO doesn't use a particular service/amenity they shouldn't have to pay for it or do volunteer hours. That goes counter to the idea of a HOA, one fee for all services whether you use them or not....no offsets.

I'm surprised at how many people have a problem with our work parties, but that wasn't even why I contacted you. I needed to know how to get someone that is potentially causing fire damage or even death to the units surrounding her. But, that's been taken care of. Our work party rule is in our declarations and rules and regs. Every owner that buys here knows about it. And they've been ok with it. They can hire a high school kid to take over for them if they want. We don't care - we just want everyone to participate. These are condos - but they're still our individual homes. Everyone has to clean up a little bit for crying out loud. I read someone say "hard labor" - I never said that! We tidy up around here. We are absolutely not going to hire someone if we see a can in our back yard or whatever. Our light diffusers need to be cleaned now and then. We're not going to hire any one for that either. I think we need to close this subject. It had nothing to do with my original question. But thanks for your concern.

JudieA1

4th post acknowledged your vent issue was resolved. It was YOU who first mentioned the unrelated work party issue. In fairness our subsequent discussions involved only what YOU provided... WE don't have ALL the information that you have to come to the same conclusion, now do we? You never mentioned owners could hire someone as a replacement. It was simply volunteer or get fined.

You say you read someone said "hard labor"..nope. No one said that. (I said slave).

Don't take offense at the discussions that followed.

Sounds like "blackmail" to me....

But as it was stated, Judie, if it works for you then so be it.

If you received the responses you were looking for then CONGRATS!

You'll have to excuse the rest of us who are able to "think outside the box" and "jump" and "run" with other aspects of posts that make us think about things that COULD happen at OUR associations.

It's "feed" for the "fodder". None of us has EVER heard of a "work party" before....so excuse us for ripping it apart. But just remember our words....because SOME DAY you may have a neighbor who may question EXACTLY what we've been talking about here...and the excuse that "it's always the way we've done it" will hold no water...you'd better have documentation to back it up.

Just helpin' you think...and thank you for the new topic! We wish you luck.

Anna, just to be clear to you (and possibly others), I've heard of "work parties" before. I've been involved in a few of them. Some for this HOA and others for other organizations around town (all volunteer activities).

My issue is with the alleged "fact" that it is a fineable offense to NOT participate.

That just reeks.

But to be sure, that is just my opinion.