Woman called ‘most-hated homeowner in association’

Q: I live in a North Las Vegas homeowners association community. I was sent the attached letter. I have my recreational vehicle parked legally on the street and in accordance with North Las Vegas code enforcement. It is plugged into my house and it is up high just as North Las Vegas police advised me to place it. The RV is 34-feet long and cannot fit in the driveway and has never been parked or even rested in the driveway.

You'll read on the letter alleging a violation that there is no mention in the article/section of a cord or driveway parking. What you will not read is that in September I complained of another homeowner parking a trailer on the street. The management company's response to me, in many emails was that the board does not enforce Article IV Section 3 Boats/Campers because the streets belong to the city. My avenue of recourse was the city's code enforcement.

If the community rules are not enforceable on the neighbor's street in September it's not enforceable on mine in January.

Here is what the board president wrote when forwarded him the violation letter:

"This was a discussed last night at the meeting because a neighbor had complained several times about the cord running from your home to your RV. Some of the issues he claimed were not true as I often see your RV parked across from my home, however, this morning returning from my daily exercise I noticed that there was indeed a cord attached to you RV from your home. This is a violation. Had your neighbor not called (the community management company) this would not have been an issue. We must and do address all complaints."

To compound this, I received a bill for my assessments, which are billed quarterly. One item read Oct. 1, 2015: $30 and the other Jan. 1, 2016: $30. I was almost positive I'd paid in full 2015 but I sent a check for $60 and wrote an email to the management company's accounting department to see how much I owed. I was told that I was paid in full. I responded by asking why I was charged for October again. I sent it to him, the community manager, the office manager, their attorney (as he is the only one they have authorized to respond to me) and cc'd all board members. No response. I sent another and told them all that I do not give permission to cash that check to send it back to me.

I get an email stating the management company had received my payment in the amount of $60. So I wrote them three more emails, asking why and how they cashed that check. The community manager writes back: "I just looked at your account and you sent your check to the lockbox. The lockbox is a computerized system at the bank. No one ever sees checks that are sent to the lockbox so we have no way of controlling if they are cashed or not. If you did not want it cashed you should have put a stop-payment on the check through your bank."

As I stated they have yet to respond to the Article/Section matter, nor to the matter of why I was double billed, and they only respond to me through their attorney, who they hired when I raised issues of receipts and monies paid for company picnics (which the standing president advised me to ask for of the past president's cabinet) and the landscaper who was paid and paid and never performed. The board launched investigations into both when I presented them with enough evidence to do so.

I've been called out by the treasurer in HOA board meetings as: "the most-hated homeowner in the association," a title that I'm most proud to brandish. I should put it on a sign and post it in my yard, but they'd probably "alleged-violation" me, lol.

Sooo, whattaya think I can do about this:

A: You raise a number of issues. The first one pertains to parking. There are many associations where the streets are public roads and not private ones. The rule of thumb is that an association may have more restrictive regulations than that of city or county code. Associations cannot have less-restrictive ones. In the cases where the roads are public, an association cannot authorize a towing company to tow the vehicle, but an association can fine that homeowner for violating the association's parking regulations.

You attached a copy of the association's covenants, which state the recreational vehicle cannot be parked in the streets for more than 24 hours. The recreational vehicle can be stored within the association if it is screened to minimize the view from the streets and adjacent properties. The courtesy letter states that the cord running from the RV to the home is in violation of the parking covenants. The specific covenant cited does not address the cord.

Without more specific information about the complaint filed by a neighbor, it is difficult to comment about the violation letter. It would appear that the association could have been more explicit about the parking violation.

Nevada Revised Statutes 116.3102 subsection 3 states that an association board does not have a duty to take enforcement action if it determines that under the facts and circumstances presented the association's legal position does not justify taking any or further enforcement action or the restriction or rule being enforced is likely to be construed as inconsistent with current law, or the violation is not so material as to be objectionable to a reasonable person or to justify expending the association's resources, or, finally, it is not in the association's best interests to pursue an enforcement action.

Subsection 4 of this law does state that the board may not be arbitrary or capricious in taking enforcement action. This can be a slippery slope, and boards must be extremely careful based upon the facts of the events in deciding to send a violation to one homeowner and not to another homeowner who appears to be violating the same regulation.

Based upon your comments, the management company responded to your complaint concerning an alleged parking violation of another homeowner who the association does not enforce their covenant pertaining to boats and campers parked on the streets. If you were to file a complaint with the state Real Estate Division, the association may find itself in a difficult position in justifying its actions.

As to the double payments to the association, based upon your comments, the staff member from the management company could have offered to have the association refund the overpayment as opposed to informing the homeowner to have your bank issue a stop-payment action, which would have cost a fee. Community managers need to be problem-solvers. Administrative errors can happen as well as homeowner errors. Good communication skills are important so not to escalate problems that can be resolved.

Name-calling should not occur at association meetings. There are different techniques if a meeting is reaching a point of high emotions whereby the discussion of the issues at hand become lost into a shouting or name-calling match. When that occurring, the president of an association needs to recess the meeting, a "time-out" so to speak, whether it be a short recess or adjourning the meeting. During this "time-out" period, the board and the community manager have an opportunity to help settle down the member, members or directors so that an intelligent, calm and objective discussion can resume. There are times when people forget that it is OK to disagree. You do not have to like what a member says but at least respect their right to disagree.

Barbara Holland is a certified property manager, broker and supervisory certified association manager. Questions may be sent to holland744o@gmail.com.