HOA Nut House

Just ask your neighbors, the worse kind, to volunteer their immeasurable services to enforcing the CC&R. Only those with no experience in law, conflict or honesty and integrity need apply.

Since an HOA board has no governing body making sure its laws are equally and fairly enforced, you are at the whim of whatever rule they want to enforce and however they would like to apply it. Add that to the fact that the HOA Board is just made of people who are not usually schooled in law, law enforcement, common sense, ethics or just about anything else that a normal "government" type person would typically have. I ask you, WHO is policing an HOA Board and it's members? NOBODY. They can and will get away with anything and everything they want.

Mr 0r Ms Dip:

You are letting the enemy win. Your hatred is just what they want so that you give up and go away. The Board is responsible to your community. The real culprit is the management company. Most importantly remember that the management company works for you and your association pays their salary. They are a necessary evil but most don't care about anything other than lining their pockets. Get on the Board learn as much as you can and if you have to fire the management company and maybe the current Board as well. That is not hard to do but it does take up allot of time and determination. I will share my experiences with you and try to help. Please don't let them eat you up because that is exactly what they want. Don't get mad just beat them at their own game! You can turn this around.

Well you get an A+ for passion in my book.

If in fact your BOD has done something illegal, breached their fiduciary duty (pay special attention to the money) depending upon what your governing documents state you may want to do one or more fo the following:

1. Initiate a recall of some or all of the BOD members;
2. File a complaint with the Attoeny General's Office that has jurisdiction over non-profit corporations (since most HOA's are non profit associations they must follow the corporations code for CA);
3. Become familiar with the Davis Sterling Act (and all its recent changes) which governs HOA's in CA.
4. If one of the BOD members threatened to kill someone~~file a polcie report and attempt to get a restraing or protective order, Note: if that allegation is true if might be grounds to remove him or her from the BOD. Making terroristy threats is a crime.
5. Get a newsletter or some form of communiction to all the homeowners to educate what is going on, Note be very careful becasue your written communication should not defame or slander anyone. Like detective Friday always said: Just the facts lady! Keep it simple stupid, non threatening, non-confrontational and short but informative.

If someone is cooking drugs in the garage call the cops.
As long as they're domestic pets, i.e. no alligators, lions, tigers or bears leave it be.

I fail to imagine how pets and garage use are causing declining values. I do have a suggestion to aid in your happiness tho.

But you'll be a lot happier if you just pay attention to how you live your own life instead of worrying about how your neighbors are living theirs.

"Our Board refused to enforce the rules regarding garage usage, # of pets, and some others. Community is now overcrowded and losing value." quinnsrock, 05/26/2009

"Since an HOA board has no governing body making sure its laws are equally and fairly enforced, you are at the whim of whatever rule they want to enforce and however they would like to apply it." Giddyup, 06/11/2009

Arizona: owner’s equitable defenses to an association’s failure to enforce its governing documents include, but are not limited to, abandonment, waiver, estoppel, selective enforcement, discrimination, and laches.

CC&R Enforcement: Mandatory or Optional, Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Wood, 01/27/09

"Is an association required to enforce its governing documents in a down economy?

YES. Arizona law, in a case called, Johnson v. Pointe Community Association, mandates that an association has an affirmative duty to enforce the express terms of its governing documents. The law does not provide any exceptions to this legal obligation. We have long encouraged our clients that an association only has two choices: amend the governing documents or enforce them as written.

An association that chooses not to enforce its governing documents exposes the association and its board of directors to two distinct forms of risk. First, another owner in the community may file a lawsuit against the association and allege that the board has failed to enforce the governing documents. This type of lawsuit could include a personal claim against a member of the board for the board’s breach of duty to the association. It is only logical that other owners purchased homes in the community with reasonable expectations regarding the governance and look of the community. An association’s governing documents sets forth these expectations. If a board chooses not to enforce or abide by the governing documents, a claim can be made that the board has failed in a simple legal requirement: follow the documents.

Second, if the board chooses not to enforce the governing documents now, the Association may lose its ability to enforce certain terms of the governing documents in the future. Failure to consistently enforce the governing documents exposes an association to an owner’s equitable defenses such as abandonment, waiver, estoppel, selective enforcement, discrimination, and laches. All of these defenses are somewhat different. But all of these defenses can prohibit or severely restrict an association’s claim against an owner to enforce the governing documents.

Finally, we all must remember that banks are owners too. A bank owned property should not be treated any differently. Bank owners, like all other owners, are contractually bound to follow the association’s governing documents.

With all of this in mind, we understand that budget constraints are an obstacle to enforcement. However, the law does not recognize this financial obstacle as an excuse to avoid enforcing the documents. Even in these challenging times, we have found that associations that are aggressive and consistent in enforcement are actually expending fewer funds. Being aggressive and consistent creates deterrence for other owner’s violations and raises an owner’s outlook of the community. Owners that see violations within a community are more likely to ignore their own obligations and mimic those violations. Stopping violations before problems spread among other owners is key. Therefore, we encourage boards to adopt an efficient and aggressive enforcement and fine policy. Much like collections, delaying enforcement action delays the overall objective: compliance."