HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - April 29, 2016
Published: Fri, 04/29/16
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Door-to-Door Salespeople and Political Canvassers: Why They’re Different at HOAs
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In this age of Clinton, Cruz, Kasich, Sanders, and Trump (we put those in alpha order so as not to appear to favor any of them; that’s sort of the lesson of this tip), how should your HOA handle door-to-door activities—from salespeople to political canvassers?
In this week’s tip, we talk about how to handle both situations.
You can surely ban salespeople from going door to door in your community. “Yes, I think you definitely can, especially if you have a boost from your municipal ordinance where your project is located,” opines Nathaniel Abbate Jr., a partner at Makower Abbate & Associates PLLC in Farmington Hills, Mich., who represents associations. “Regulating sales—there’s no question about that.”
Of course, you need to think of how you’ll enforce a ban on door-to-door activities. “An association has the right to ask door-to-door solicitors to leave,” notes Brad van Rooyen, a partner at Home Encounter, a Tampa, Fla., company that manages community associations. “If they don’t leave, you’re going to have to call law enforcement, who won’t put that in as a priority call. Other calls will get priority.
“We’ve always advised our clients to respectfully tell door-to-door salespeople that they’re not to walk through the neighborhood,” explains van Rooyen. “If they’re handing out literature, we ask them to pass that onto the manager so we managers can notify the company that there’s no soliciting in the HOA. But most companies will disregard that request, so it’s difficult to police.
“Also if you call law enforcement, they’ll usually want the registered agent or someone with authority in the association to give them the right to get salespeople off the property,” adds van Rooyen. “We can file that form with the local police office. It’s just an affidavit, and gives them the right to trespass anybody off the association’s property.
“The problem is when the company claims it’s contacting its own customers,” states van Rooyen. “We’ve had situations where a company like Verizon has tried to solicit door to door. When we approach them, they pull out their customer list and say, ‘We’re actually visiting customers.’ Then we’re in a predicament. We can tell them they can go to those designated doors but nobody else’s, and 9 of 10 times they’ll comply.”
“Political canvassers, I think, is a finer point than salespeople,” notes Abbate. Find out why in our new article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/1359.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Special Report
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HOA Policies: 17 Sample Policies Every Homeowners Association Board of Directors Should Consider
In this special report, we lay the groundwork for your HOA board to draft policies and procedures governing a broad scope of condo or homeowners association life by providing you with 17 sample policies released exclusively to you by HOAleader.com's expert contributors.
Members can download this now:
http://www.hoaleader.com/public/HOA-Policies.cfm
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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Door-to-Door Sales: Can Your HOA Ban It? What about Political Canvassing?
An HOAleader.com reader asks: "We're an age-restricted private community with 112 units (singles, twins, and quads). At each of two entrances, we've posted 'private property' with 'no solicitation.' We've recently experienced a few door-to-door solicitations by alleged electric generation suppliers. (We're in Pennsylvania, which has a shop-for-electricity program). We've cited our no-soliciting signs and asked them to leave.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/DoortoDoor-Sales-Can-Your-HOA-Ban-It-What-about-Political-Canvassing.cfm
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Online Videos of Your Community: Who Posted Them?
Last month, we discussed the pros and cons of creating a video to promote your community. While working on the topic, we did some Internet research and got interesting results—real estate agents and even residents were posting videos to promote unit sales and rentals.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Online-Videos-Your-Community-Who-Posted-Them.cfm
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Hoverboard Update: Feds Issue New Advisory
Two months ago, we discussed the risks that hoverboards pose for HOAs. Right after our article was published, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released new data on the seriousness of the problem and issued further guidance on the devices.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Hoverboard-Update-Feds-Issue-New-Advisory.cfm
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Those Pain in the Neck HOA Owners? Appoint Them to Committees
In this week's tip, we answer a reader's question about whether it's risky to appoint difficult owners to committees.
Surprise, surprise! Our experts unanimously say our reader should appoint these alleged troublemakers to the committees.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/public/Those-Pain-in-Neck-HOA-Owners-Appoint-Them-Committees.cfm
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Committees: The Way to Silence Difficult HOA Owners?
An HOAleader.com reader asks: "I'm a newly elected president of our HOA, and I'm in the process of choosing committee people and chairs. We have three people in our community who want to serve, but they have reputations of causing trouble on past committees. I surely don't want to set a committee up for failure. My question is: Can I get in trouble for denying these individuals committee access?"
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Committees-Way-Silence-Difficult-HOA-Owners.cfm
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