AZHOC - Arizona Homeowners Coalition
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Executive Mtg

The Board of Directors held an executive meeting to discuss a light repair proposal and a Management agent addendum. The Mgmt agent contract addendum deals with a negotiation between the Board and Mgmt agent regarding...
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POA and white roofs

I live in a POA association which encompasses many homes. 4100 lots are covered Welcome SRP, our electric supplier, is offering a rebate for home owners who coat their flat roof white as an energy...
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HOA Landscapers

Hi, The HOA landscapers recently dug up 8 plants from behind my wall. I had a landscaper designer measure my property line with a measuring wheel and based upon his measurements, my property extends 7’...
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  • From LuAnn on Update: Board Approval - Landscape Changes

    Thanks Dennis. I agree with your assessment. Appreciate your feedback. I was following up from the separate emails we had offline regarding the plat map and landscaping issues/lack of committee, etc. I know was a bit confusing. Have a great day! Thanks for all you do for HOA members.

    Go to comment
    2023/07/20 at 9:46 am
  • From Dennis Legere on Update: Board Approval - Landscape Changes

    LuAnn,
    I’m sorry I don’t understand your problem. No matter what the old policy states the provisions of the CC&R’s dictate. So, when they modified the landscape policy to match the requirements of the CC&R’s they were doing their job and providing clarity to all homeowners. The CC&R’s are the contractual requirements on all homeowners and the association. You agree to those terms when you buy your home, and the association has an obligation to enforce those requirements reasonably and fairly. If the association of homeowners wants to change the terms of their contract, they can via an amendment to the CC&R’s approved by the percentage of homeowners specified in the CC&R’s.

    While I agree that the association has a duty to act in the best interest of the community their ability to use reasonable discretion in the enforcement of the CC&R’s is very limited.

    One last point. The board has a duty to act in the best interest of the community as a whole, they have absolutely no duty to act in the interest of any individual or group of individuals. No matter what the board does they will never make everybody happy, that is simply the fact of human nature. Because you and a group of other neighbors believe that something different needs to be done relative to the landscaping and the board does not agree with you that does not mean that they are violating their duty. This is not about your group or any other group it is about the community as a whole. There are financial impacts and workmanship issues and a host of other considerations that the board has to consider when making any decision.

    My advice to you is, worry less about getting your way and work to provide arguments and justification as to why the board should approach landscaping issue differently. Do the homework and work respectively with the board to help them see your perspective, but that also means that you have to be open to listen to other perspectives and approaches and recognize the possibility that your way may in fact not be the best way for the community.

    While this may not be the answer that you hoped from me but when I created this web site and coalition, I committed to tell the truth about the laws and rules governing these communities.

    Being on a board is a thankless volunteer job with a lot or responsibility. While I will work diligently to fight the abuses of power by association boards primarily dictated by the incompetent advisors to that board, you have to let them do the job you elected them to do.

    You can always run for the board and work from the inside to help the community improve.
    Dennis

    Go to comment
    2023/07/20 at 8:24 am
  • From Rhonda Wakai on Executive Session

    To clarify:
    The agenda we are provided has the rules listed, straight off of the ARS.
    Then the meeting order is provided.
    As an example from our most recent agenda:
    Call to Order
    Minutes
    Delinquency Report and Attorney Status Report
    Waiver Request and Payment Arrangement Requests
    Violation Report

    But none of those entries has the rule attached that is applicable to make that topic appropriate for Ex Session. So, though the list of rules is provided at the top of the agenda page, the actual items are not noted in terms of which rule applies. I am wondering if our Board or Management Company is wrong in their agenda format.

    Go to comment
    2023/07/16 at 5:51 pm
    • From Dennis Legere on Executive Session

      Rhonda
      What was cited as the exception provision in the notice of the meeting. From the three agenda items you could argue that the first item was covered by financial issues of homeowners and attorney advise. The financial link is a very weak one and, in my opinion, should be covered in open session under the policy statement in the law. The second item depends on what a waiver addresses if you are waiving fees for some individuals while not for others unless justified by specific financial circumstances with that homeowner. The act of waiving the fees is not allowed in executive session but the discussion and consideration of the financial circumstances of the individual is allowed, if you are waiving enforcement of rules, you can do that but only in open session. One point here closed session exceptions are allowed only for “consideration” of issue or advice. The word “consideration” does not include action so under the law all actions must be held in open session and before the board votes on that action it must be open for comment by any community member present at the meeting. Rule enforcement is not personal information and in fact is public and must be done only in open session. The violation report is again not personal information and therefore cannot even be discussed in executive session. If the association can see a violation, then anyone in the community with a copy of the governing documents can also see the violation. This is the most common violation of the open meeting laws.
      The problem with the open meeting law compliance is that association advisors both community managers and attorneys try to stretch the interpretation of the law far beyond it’s true intent. Violations of community documents are not personal information and cannot be discussed in executive session, failure to pay assessments are not true financial information of an individual and as such should not be discussed in executive session. Read the policy statement at the end of the statute. It says that any if there is any doubt about an issue legitimately being considered in closed session then it must be discussed in open session. You must default to open session for anything that is not clearly personal and confidential or protected by attorney client relationship. The policy statement is written to prevent the interpretation of issues to favor closed discussion and specifically instructs both board members and community managers to do the opposite and default to open discussion of issue. If I could have included attorneys in that section I would have, but the constitution prevents one branch of government from dictating what a separate branch of government can do. Attorneys belong to the Judicial branch of government, so the Legislature and the Governor cannot dictate what an attorney can or cannot do.
      Dennis

      Go to comment
      2023/07/20 at 8:59 am
  • From Dennis Legere on Executive Session

    Rhonda,

    You are correct. whatever they discuss in executive session must satisfy one of the 5 exceptions to open meetings. They cannot use one exception for one issue and then discuss other issues that do not satisfy one of the 5 exceptions.

    Dennis

    Go to comment
    2023/07/16 at 5:30 pm
  • From Lora Rudolph on Homeowner

    Thank you, Dennis. That was a fast response and much appreciated. I did ask for a verification of debt letter from the attorney plus a copy of my account ledger dating back two years. The reply was that they were treating my request as a records request and they sent the ledger copy, which is accurate. I also replied to the debt collector statement exercising my right to stop the emails. It is my understanding that they will need to communicate by USPS in the future. So far I have not heard from them again. I was referring to section M of 33-1808 that states only ONE non-member political candidate can rally inside an HOA. If the number of political activists are unlimited, then it is certainly a strategy to fill the HOA Boards with homeowners who are party activists through funding and favors from the political parties.

    Go to comment
    2023/07/15 at 6:33 pm
  • From Dennis Legere on Homeowner

    Lora,

    While I don’t know exactly what your CC&R’s say about nuisance activities the dog barking issue is typically handled under that provision. The association has the right to create rules to address behaviors or actions that impact the ability of other homeowners to enjoy their homes and common areas in peace. Excessive dog barking would come under that provision.

    Hopefully you contested the debt collection notice, and did not just ignore it. Don’t ever expect an attorney to comply with the law if money is involved. They will do everything and anything to make more money.

    You mentioned that your association is an HOA as such they own all the common property and can do with it as they please. While I successfully changed the law to ensure that homeowners were allowed to use the common property for informal meetings to address community issues that statute does not limit the use of the common areas for political activities approved by the board.

    What you want to make sure is that if outside organizations are using the common property that the same rules apply to them as any other use of the common property. These political meetings cannot be treated differently. If you wanted to use the common area for a party or wedding and are charged fees for those uses, then those same fees must be applied to these outside groups as well.

    Contrary to your assumption 33-1808 does not restrict the board from allowing the use of their facilities to any organization that they want.

    First look to your governing documents relative to uses of the common property to find any guidance there. The board is obliged to comply with the requirements of those documents the same way that you are. If something is out of place than bring the issue up to the board at the next board meeting If they are violating or ignoring the requirement of the governing documents, you can file a petition to the dept. of Real Estate to force the association to comply with the requirements of the governing documents.

    Dennis

    Dennis

    Go to comment
    2023/07/15 at 5:02 pm
  • From Dennis Legere on Establishing a SubAssociation

    Ronda,
    You and your community need to be very concerned about this effort. Association attorneys will do and say anything that an association is willing to pay then to do or say, irrespective of the legality of that action. Unless your existing CC&R’s already provide for the creation of sub-associations you cannot do that without an amendment to the recorded CC&R’s. That amendment would require unanimous consent of all homeowners, based on the 2022 Arizona Supreme Court decision in Kalway v. Cambria Farms HOA.

    If the association tries to do this, please provide me a copy of your CC&R’s and I’ll guide you thru your potential options including seeking legal counsel to oppose this effort.

    Dennis

    Go to comment
    2023/07/12 at 1:49 pm
  • From Dennis Legere on Management company went rogue, driving community into ground

    Sunny,

    What you describe is not at all unusual but more the norm for these communities. All management companies are basically the same but who they hire as actual managers make a big difference. The qualification for a community manager consist of a participation trophy so called certification program administered by either CAI or AACM. Neither are any better than the other.
    As homeowners you have absolutely no say in the management company or the individual community manger only your board has that authority or duty to the community. You only option is to report the issues to the board and demand that they take action to address the issues. If they do not then you have the power to call for a special meeting of the members to recall all or any of the board members. The board has the responsibility to comply with the law and the governing documents. They must hold a meeting of the members at least annually. While there is no required number of board meeting, they cannot conduct any business as a board other than in open board meetings. The board must post notice of every board meeting at least 48 hours prior to the meeting and allow any member to attend and speak during that meeting on any issue before the board.

    The incompetence of the community manager is irrelevant it is the responsibility of the board to comply with the law. Because an incompetent individual convinced them to ignore the law is no justification for violating the law and the association could be held accountable to those violations in court.

    Dennis
    It sounds to me that the board has decided to conduct all business in secret via e-mail of phone call in direct violation of the open meeting law.

    Go to comment
    2023/07/10 at 3:01 pm
  • From Dennis Legere on Ballot ACTION vs ELECTION

    You can do one petition but you need to name each individual board member that you want recalled. The petition is for the special meeting and not for the removal of the board members. That will happen with the votes at the special meeting.
    Dennis

    Go to comment
    2023/07/05 at 4:22 am
  • From Joseph Danielek on Ballot ACTION vs ELECTION

    Happy fourth Dennis!!! Recalling 5 of 5 Directors, petition to call for removal of a member of the board of directors. Do we need to have 5 separate petitions, one for each director? Just how should we do this? We are an off-grid POA of 297 possible votes that we expect to Mail 240 mailers for gathering signatures.

    Go to comment
    2023/07/04 at 5:50 pm