(Lazy) Democracy in Action
Well, I attended my first "annual" Homeowners Association meeting last night. This after having lived where I am for about a month shy of two years. It wasn't even my fault. They actually didn't have one last year, and in 2003 I was somehow not on record (thus didn't receive notice) even though I was perfectly settled in by the time the meeting happened in December.
The complex has 23 units. 7 owners were present and several had written in, essentially making our property manager their proxy. As far as organization goes, things were very laid back, barely following any sort of protocol.
The discussion, however, did get a bit heated. Mind you, no one was directing that at anyone else present, but there were still some strong feelings voiced. The big topic, taking about two-thirds of the hour-and-a-half meeting: dogs. By the rules, dogs are not allowed. In the last month, there have been increasingly blatant violations, including a quartet of pit bulls in one fenced yard. Fines are starting to pile up on a couple units: $250 on one, $50 on another - both owned by a couple that was not present at the meeting. We also had one new owner there who had a dog and had not realized they were disallowed until just recently. He actually proved very understanding, and voiced plans to fly his dog... somewhere. To friends or family, I presume.
No one actually said they disliked dogs. But when they wake you up at 2 am, or 7 am after working nights, it gets old real fast. On top of that, there's a measure of mess (some of which I nearly stepped on just yesterday) and a potential danger to the small children around. Sadly, two things became clear. One, we couldn't really discriminate - we can't just overlook a "nice" dog, because it sets an example and (heaven forbid) would be a problem if things ever got into a legal court. Two, our options of what to do are limited.
After a lot of talk, we settled on a few points. We did not change the rules, dogs are still not allowed. There were enough votes against allowing even owners to have dogs in units they occupied that change in that regard was not forthcoming. Penalties will be issued as per the rules - the first rule violation is a warning. The second is a $50 fine. Following violations are $100 fines each. We defined a violation in this case as "having one dog on the premises" and decided fines could be issued weekly (which means one unit will be racking up $400 a week in fines). Should fines of more than $3000 accumulate, a lien will be placed against the property. Now there's a term I have to go reacquaint myself with, though I know it's a particular pain if you try to sell the property. Also, if any current dogs are removed from the complex by the end of this month, all prior dog violations will be removed/forgotten. Whether that gets action or not, I cannot foresee. The owners of the two units most in violation haven't seemed to show concern yet, but then the fines have just started, really.
Beyond that, we discussed some other things. Ridge vents are going to be put in the roofs for roughly $100 cost to each unit. Attic ventillation is something that's concerned me since I moved in, though it's been far from the front of my mind, so I'm all for this. Bids will be taken to do some foundation repair on the corner of one building. Bids will be taken to repaint the parking spaces (and they do need it). Adding windows in end units will not be allowed at this time. We opted to increase monthly dues by $20 in an effort to keep up with insurance increases and, perhaps, to buildup a little more reserve for future improvement/repair as we're really breaking about even right now and having to do assessments for things like the sprinkler system (installed last year, I believe). And we elected new officers.
Whee, I'm the treasurer. What's that mean? I *might* be obligated to go to a board meeting if we ever have one. And, I suppose if we lose our property management company, I'll be screwed as I'll have to take charge of the financials. That doesn't appear likely, though, so mostly it's a silly title with no meaning.
The complex has 23 units. 7 owners were present and several had written in, essentially making our property manager their proxy. As far as organization goes, things were very laid back, barely following any sort of protocol.
The discussion, however, did get a bit heated. Mind you, no one was directing that at anyone else present, but there were still some strong feelings voiced. The big topic, taking about two-thirds of the hour-and-a-half meeting: dogs. By the rules, dogs are not allowed. In the last month, there have been increasingly blatant violations, including a quartet of pit bulls in one fenced yard. Fines are starting to pile up on a couple units: $250 on one, $50 on another - both owned by a couple that was not present at the meeting. We also had one new owner there who had a dog and had not realized they were disallowed until just recently. He actually proved very understanding, and voiced plans to fly his dog... somewhere. To friends or family, I presume.
No one actually said they disliked dogs. But when they wake you up at 2 am, or 7 am after working nights, it gets old real fast. On top of that, there's a measure of mess (some of which I nearly stepped on just yesterday) and a potential danger to the small children around. Sadly, two things became clear. One, we couldn't really discriminate - we can't just overlook a "nice" dog, because it sets an example and (heaven forbid) would be a problem if things ever got into a legal court. Two, our options of what to do are limited.
After a lot of talk, we settled on a few points. We did not change the rules, dogs are still not allowed. There were enough votes against allowing even owners to have dogs in units they occupied that change in that regard was not forthcoming. Penalties will be issued as per the rules - the first rule violation is a warning. The second is a $50 fine. Following violations are $100 fines each. We defined a violation in this case as "having one dog on the premises" and decided fines could be issued weekly (which means one unit will be racking up $400 a week in fines). Should fines of more than $3000 accumulate, a lien will be placed against the property. Now there's a term I have to go reacquaint myself with, though I know it's a particular pain if you try to sell the property. Also, if any current dogs are removed from the complex by the end of this month, all prior dog violations will be removed/forgotten. Whether that gets action or not, I cannot foresee. The owners of the two units most in violation haven't seemed to show concern yet, but then the fines have just started, really.
Beyond that, we discussed some other things. Ridge vents are going to be put in the roofs for roughly $100 cost to each unit. Attic ventillation is something that's concerned me since I moved in, though it's been far from the front of my mind, so I'm all for this. Bids will be taken to do some foundation repair on the corner of one building. Bids will be taken to repaint the parking spaces (and they do need it). Adding windows in end units will not be allowed at this time. We opted to increase monthly dues by $20 in an effort to keep up with insurance increases and, perhaps, to buildup a little more reserve for future improvement/repair as we're really breaking about even right now and having to do assessments for things like the sprinkler system (installed last year, I believe). And we elected new officers.
Whee, I'm the treasurer. What's that mean? I *might* be obligated to go to a board meeting if we ever have one. And, I suppose if we lose our property management company, I'll be screwed as I'll have to take charge of the financials. That doesn't appear likely, though, so mostly it's a silly title with no meaning.
Huh. Wow. This is pretty interesting, and I've never heard of this sort of thing before. Sounds somewhat cool, and a little unnerving at the same time.
ReplyDeleteWhat's unnerving about it? It's the first one I've been to, so I wasn't sure about the specifics, but the basics are pretty simple. Those of us who own the condo units make up the homeowners association. We jointly own the common grounds and structure, thusly we have to make rules and deal with overall maintenance together.
ReplyDeleteWhee, attic ventilation! Attic ventilation is something that has become a deep interest of mine ever since we discovered that ours sucks and that it has sucked for so long that now we get to replace our roof (which, after months of waiting, finally started yesterday). Not only was our venting set up in such a way that it just wouldn't circulate air, some genius stuffed insulation into all of the vents. Hello, giant petri dish above my head... (Grr.)
ReplyDeleteI can't say for sure that this tops your story (as our roofs don't need replacing at present), but whoever build these condos set up the main bathroom vent such that it simply fans air up into the attic. Usually warm, moist air after showers. We basically haven't used that fan since moving in for just that reason. Even the inspector who looked the place over for me to begin with expressed concern that this would be against current code and that fan really should vent directly to the outside. Whee.
ReplyDeleteAt least you have attics with ventilation. ;)
ReplyDeleteOf our two upstairs showers, one was not vented at all (argh) and one has a fan 50% the size that it should be, and even though it has a straight shot at the roof, it is vented through a series of bends that pretty much nullify any effectiveness it might have had. And you should have seen what we found in the supposedly-empty soffits when we redid our kitchen last year... (/me rolls his eyes) Apparently, in the late 1970's, some peculiar species of brain-damaged monkey built all the houses in our development, then bribed the hell out of the city inspector to get them passed; the house is now just old enough that all of its various issues are ripening to the point of having to be dealt with. Of course, when we're all done, it'll be great and last (practically) forever, but in the mean time it really sucks.
ReplyDelete