Neighbor’s large old pine tree does appear to be a nuisance

Q: The homeowners association I belong to has a nuisance paragraph in the covenants, conditions and restrictions. My neighbor has a very large old pine tree whose limbs are lying on my roof, damaging the roof tiles and providing a bridge for fire and pests. My attorney friend says this is an obvious example of a nuisance.

The HOA says it is not a nuisance because within the proper definition “vegetation issues are not nuisances.” Thus HOA will not consider a neighbor’s tree on my roof as a CC&R nuisance violation.

I rather not go out and hire an expensive attorney to litigate this matter; can you offer an opinion?

A: You should check other sections of the governing documents, such as the maintenance responsibility of the individual homeowners. You have a legitimate concern not only because of the damage to your roof tiles but also because it provides a bridge for fire and roof rats. Even if the association does not want to become involved in a neighbor-to-neighbor dispute, the association could at least send a courtesy letter to the homeowner.

You do have the option of contacting code enforcement for the county or city and see what they would do to assist.

Q: I recently moved to Las Vegas and into an HOA community. My question is this: The CC&R states that if you have a two-car garage then both cars must be parked inside. And, that your garage cannot be used for any reason that would not allow both cars to fit inside. Such as, I suppose having exercise equipment.

This is not a gated community and the street outside my home is a public street. Now, if you have an oversized vehicle — a sports utility vehicle — and both cars cannot fit in the garage, then you can get a sticker to park your car on the street.

To me, this in an unfair policy. The fact that my wife and I have two environmentally and economically friendly cars forces us to have limited use of our garage. If you have one car in the garage, but cannot fit the other, then you can use at least half of your garage as you please.

Is there anything that can be done about this particular HOA regulation?

A: More and more associations are dealing with parking issues and their CC&Rs regulations concerning street parking and garage parking. Boards are being faced with the difficulty of developing regulations that are not only consistent with the covenants but also provide some common sense and equality of enforcement.

It would appear to me that the “sticker” policy is one that has been created by the board and that you would not find any mention of stickers in the covenants. If this is a policy set by the board then the board would have the ability to change the policy.

Rules and regulations can be established by the board. As long as the rules are consistent with the covenants, and changes are noted on the board agenda, then the rule will pass without homeowner vote. At the first homeowner forum, homeowners can provide their opinions to the board prior to the vote.

You can address this issue with your board either at a meeting or in writing. What would be meaningful to the board would be for you to provide some suggestions to address the parking issues.

Barbara Holland is a certified property manager (CPM) and holds the supervisory community manager certificate with the state of Nevada. She is an author and educator on real estate management. Questions may be sent to holland744o@gmail.com.