HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - December 24, 2020
Published: Thu, 12/24/20
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Reader Disputes Expert Advice: Start with Kindness at Your Condo/HOA
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In this week's tip, we respond to a reader who isn't buying our experts' take on how to handle a dispute.
In October, our experts advised a board member not to step in and have a talk with a bully who was parking in his elderly neighbor's driveway.
We heard from a reader who disagrees. "I agree that the board—and the entire association as a whole—should stay out of police business or anything that should be police business. But I'm not 'just a board member.' I'm also a neighbor.
"I wouldn't walk down to the other end of the community just to give a bully some grief, but I would go down and talk to someone I know on my street. I know nearly everyone on my street (and several houses each way on the adjacent perpendicular street), which I know isn't common these days. It's something my dad taught me growing up: Look after your neighbors whenever you can."
Does our reader have a point? Have board members lost the art of talking with their fellow owners to handle conflicts personally and effectively? Where does this tactic fit into a board member's repertoire?
This actually takes place in two communities advised by Jennifer Horan, a shareholder in the Naples, Fla., office of Becker & Poliakoff, who has represented condos and HOAs for more than 15 years. The results are mixed.
"Here's the thing," she begins. "One of my communities always goes to talk to people first. They think they're neighbors, and what happened to being neighborly? They want to try to resolve things without sending a nasty letter—they think that's a bad approach. So their modus operandi is to always talk to somebody first to try to get an issue resolved.
"It does seem to work in most cases," states Horan. "It's the president of the association, and he's been a long-standing president. I'm sure there are some issues that he probably wouldn't handle—those that involve extreme safety concerns probably. But they've had some very strange issues in their neighborhood and they've still tried to resolve them in a neighborly manner before involving even their manager."
In the second instance, the board member seeking to talk it out first hasn't had the hoped-for effect. "I have another association where they've done the same thing, and they're not as artfully worded in their discussions," explains Horan. "It's now devolved into a fight between the board and an individual."
The upshot? If your board tries this tactic, it should be conducted only by someone very skilled in communicating and deescalating matters.
"I don't know how aggressive the gentleman parking his truck in his neighbor's driveway was, which brings up police and safety issues," says Horan. "So you walk a line. Also, if it's a neighbor versus neighbor dispute, how much should the association get involved? Boards shouldn't be spending money to resolve neighbor disputes."
Our other experts don't have clients who try the neighborly approach, and they'd be wary if their clients began test driving the idea. Find out why, along with Horan's if-you-must caveat, in our new article: https://www.hoaleader.com/members/4252.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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