In this week's tip, we're helping an HOAleader.com reader whose board is divided over the community's role as residents age in place or show signs of mental illness—a challenge that is growing nationwide.
The question comes from an HOAleader.com reader who says it's very hard to determine whether issues with people are because of onset of dementia, sociopathic behavior, or just age-related crankiness, at least in their community of 150 homes, 47 percent of which are owned by people over
65.
Our reader explains that three years ago, one of their most difficult owners decided he was withdrawing from the HOA. He stopped paying his assessment fees after two years of writing insulting, accusing, disparaging emails to board
members, along with demanding meetings with the board that were arranged but that he cancelled. It turns out dementia was involved.
When the inappropriate behaviors began, our reader consulted their HOA's attorney to ask if the board could
get the owner some help—at the time not knowing of the dementia. The attorney said the board had to treat the owner as they would treat anyone else.
When the owner was found collapsed on his bathroom floor after a wellness check, our reader
wanted to contact the owner's family members. Again, the attorney said that wouldn't be appropriate.
The reader says their board is putting together a list of available resources to broadly "advertise" where community members might go for help. And it's encouraging neighbors to watch out for each
other.
But some of our reader's board members feel this issue is none of their business. For our reader, that isn't a satisfactory answer.
Click on the arrow above to hear a short clip in which two of HOAleader.com's experts— Elizabeth White, senior counsel at the law firm of Sands Anderson PC in Williamsburg, Va., where she formed and continues to help lead the firm's national community association industry team, and Alessandra Stivelman, who is board-certified in condo
and planned development law and a partner at Eisinger Law in Hollywood, Fla.—confirm why this issue is very real among their clients.
