HOA Management Blog
One of the most important jobs a homeowners association Board has to do is to enforce the rules of the Association. As a Board member it is part of your duty to make sure all the regulations are followed by homeowners and the Board itself. Failure to do so can lead to chaos and confusion in your community.
So you moved into a beautiful new luxury homeowners association. Your home is on a quiet street in an established neighborhood. Every evening you sit on your newly purchased adirondack chairs in your shady backyard, sipping on a bottle of wine -- while your roommate is lapping his water from an old beat up water bowl -- your "roommate" in this case happens to be a 120 pound fur baby named Rex and he is not on good terms with your neighbors.
The ultimate goal in a homeowners association is for everyone to be respectful and live together peacefully. However, it’s hard to accomplish both of these goals when you have members breaking the rules – especially if it’s a board member. It’s the responsibility of an HOA board to protect, maintain, and enhance the Association through its leadership, so what happens when one of its own is breaking the rules?
Homeowners associations have a number of rules and regulations that members are asked to observe so that everyone in the association can maintain their property values and quality of life. The association should always try to be reasonable with its rules by following the guidelines below.
The staff or volunteers you see occasionally walking around the community with clipboards or tablets are the homeowners association’s covenants enforcement officers. They’re inspecting the property to ensure that everything is working properly, that conditions are safe, and that nothing is reducing property values or the quality of life in your community.
When thinking of rules within a California Homeowners Association, what comes to mind are the few but chronic rule breakers that somehow find their way into some associations, and how nice it might be to have a spell to bring about compliance in the HOA community.
Americans are starting to gear up for voting date and showing support for their preferred 2016 presidential candidate by volunteering at campaign locations, watching the latest debates, and posting political signs on their property. This raises the issue of whether or not a homeowners association can restrict residents from posting political signs. Learn more in the article excerpt below and what the law in California says.
There’s a lot of talk, along with articles and commentary these days about online bullying. This can take place on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. It can take the form of inappropriate pictures that someone secretly takes of others and then posts on the internet or just in the mean and inappropriate communications that seem to be an all too often occurrence. But this is not the only place that bullying is taking place. Bullying can and is happening in the realm of homeowner associations as well. In fact, it seems to have escalated greatly in recent years. In what forms can we see it manifested?
The presidential race is in full-swing and everyone is gearing up for the home stretch of campaign season. While some people prefer to keep their opinions to themselves, others want you to know exactly who they’re voting for and why. How does all this come into play when you live in a homeowner’s association?
Firstly, it’s inappropriate for the HOA board to act politically. In other words, the Board as an entity should declare a “side” so to speak. That being said, it can support both sides of the political spectrum by doing the following.
Is your homeowners association located in an area that wildlife frequent? More specifically, is your Association located in such a location that deer regularly visit your community? While deer are beautiful creatures to admire, the HOA board may want to caution owners from interacting too closely with these animals.
