Claims of HOA harassment can easily damage your association’s reputation. It breaks trust and divides communities, all while opening the association to legal complaints. However, board members can easily avoid this by strictly performing their duties.
What is HOA Harassment?
This refers to any abusive or unfair conduct involving people within the HOA communities. Common examples of HOA harassment include intimidation and retaliation.
However, HOA disputes don’t automatically mean there’s harassment in the community. It may only be considered harassment if negative actions towards targeted members of the community are repeated or connected to abuse of authority.
With this, it’s still not wise for HOA boards to avoid dismissing such complaints too quickly. Whether they’re technical disputes or instances of harassment, the HOA would need to be fair and investigate the cases properly.
HOA Harassment Laws and Board Liability
HOA harassment law can involve federal fair housing rules, state HOA statutes, and the association’s governing documents. Boards should understand that harassment claims are not always handled the same way in every state.
Federal Laws and Regulations
Among the many sources of HOA harassment complaints are homeowners or residents who feel as if they are being repeatedly discriminated against. In such cases, the Federal Fair Housing Act may come into play.
This law is one of the most important pieces of legislation that associations should know about and understand. Simply put, it’s housing legislation that prohibits any type of discrimination based on protected traits such as race, religion, gender, and national origin, among others.
Other national policies that your HOA needs to check are Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations, which recognize hostile environment harassment in housing. It considers actions such as severe unwelcoming conduct that interferes with a resident’s enjoyment of the home as a form of harassment.
Your association can face liability risks if the board or managers you’ve hired take part in discriminatory conduct. They may also be held liable if your HOA is aware of the harassment but doesn’t take steps to resolve it.
State HOA enforcement laws
Some states have legislation in place to address HOA harassment. Usually, these pieces of legislation aim to prevent HOAs from using rule enforcement and unjustified penalties for violations to harass a resident.
Some states with this type of legislation in place include:
- California: Here, Civil Code § 5855 requires the HOA to provide a written notice to homeowners before the board meets and decides on disciplinary matters. It also gives the resident the right to attend the said meeting and address the board’s concern. This basically ensures that a homeowner has the right to due process and correction, helping minimize unfair enforcement.
- Florida: This state has a similar law that ensures residents are afforded due process for violations. Section 720.305 of the Florida Statutes also requires notice and a hearing before boards may impose fines or other disciplinary action.
- Texas: The Property Code § 209.006 of Texas also requires boards to send out a notice before the HOA can impose enforcement actions.
To ensure compliance, board members of the association should review their state laws before taking any enforcement action.
Policies That Reduce Legal Risk
Strong conduct policies can help your association minimize instances of HOA harassment complaints and avoid them. Here are some of the things your HOA can do:
Professional Communication Standards
When sending out official HOA notices and announcements or when formally communicating with residents, the HOA must always use a professional tone. Not doing so may cause misunderstandings, as a more casual tone may be mistaken for a different meaning.
No matter how tight-knit or friendly the board members are with residents, they should always avoid using sarcasm or emotional language in formal communications. Even when dealing with difficult community members, your board’s response should remain calm and factual.
Fair Enforcement Procedures
Any community association should ensure a balance between enforcement policies and homeowners’ rights to avoid HOA harassment complaints. HOAs should have a written enforcement procedure outlining how the board handles violations. This process must include proper notice, an opportunity for the homeowner to respond, and a hearing when required by the governing documents or state law.
Having fair enforcement policies protects both the HOA and its residents. It prevents the HOA from being accused of using enforcement to harass residents. Consequently, it provides residents with due process and prevents the association from making any false violations against them.
Meeting conduct rules
Tension can run high during board meetings, especially when HOA harassment is involved. To ensure things go smoothly and to keep the meeting productive, the association should have a meeting policy in place.
During meetings, residents should always be given a reasonable opportunity to speak at the appropriate time. However, the board should also not allow any threats or derogatory remarks during that time.
The HOA president, or whoever chairs the meeting, should ensure that decorum is always enforced fairly and evenly. Homeowners who support the board shouldn’t have more time or freedom to speak than those who criticize it.
Training for Board Members
The homeowners’ association is run by volunteer board members. However, being volunteers doesn’t exempt them from making decisions that open the HOA to liability. With the right training, these board members can understand how to perform their duties fairly and consistently.
Training sessions are especially useful following the election of new board members. These directors may not be familiar with policy details and how a single wrong move can create issues for the HOA.
When to Contact an HOA Harassment Lawyer
To cover all bases, your association should know and work with an HOA harassment lawyer that you can trust. They can help the board in making decisions.
Seeking legal advice is always important when complaints received by, or even against, the association involve discrimination and other forms of harassment.
An HOA harassment lawyer also helps the board by reviewing governing documents and state law and ensuring guidelines are consistent with them.
Building a Safer and More Defensible Community
To avoid any form of HOA harassment, you need to start with your HOA’s rules. Having strong harassment policies in place balances the protection of both the association and the homeowner.
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