Sometimes, common courtesy is not always common

Q: I have lived in a northwest gated community for the past nine years. For the last four years, the next-door neighbor’s vendors have parked in front of my house whenever he needs work done on his house. I have complained to the staff at the guard house. I am on a hill and it is much easier for the vendors to park in front of my house and walk downhill. This means that I cannot have my own vendors and guests park in front of my own house.

The president of the homeowners association has said that we do not own the street in front of our houses, but in reality, we do, because the streets are not city or county property, they are private property. The vendors park anywhere and any which way that they want. These vendors are guests of the whole community and aren’t they supposed to treat everyone with respect? This is a problem for me because I am a senior citizen in my 70s and am home most of the day. I don’t feel that I should be the one to confront the vendors, who get very surly with me.

Even though the president wrote an article in the 2009 May/June issue of the Skylines, our community publication, about common courtesy in a common-interest community; it is non-existent. No neighbors tell us when they are having a party and want to park all over our streets.

We also have covenants, conditions and restrictions that no one pays attention to nor does the HOA enforce. (Example: basketball hoops are not allowed. My street has two in the driveways in front of the houses.)

How do we get the HOA to enforce the CC&Rs?

A: Community managers often receive letters from their residents with their concerns or complaints about their neighbors. Sometimes these concerns or complaints are covered under the association’s governing documents and sometimes these concerns or complaints fall under the “category” of just not being a good neighbor.

Often associations create new rules and regulations because, unfortunately, common courtesy is not always common. When associations create these kinds of “good neighbor” regulations, the Catch-22 is that they are then criticized for being over-regulated.

In responding to your concern about your neighbor’s vendors parking in front of your house, my first recommendation is for you to approach your neighbor and ask for his cooperation in notifying vendors to park closer to his house. Now, there is no guarantee that the neighbor will positively respond, but from my personal experience it is worth a try.

Back in Connecticut, I lived in a condominium in an upstairs unit. Because of my work schedule, I would vacuum my floors around 10 p.m., not thinking about the noise to my downstairs neighbor. There came a time when my neighbor finally approached me, knocking on my door and holding a cake.

Now, I am not advocating baking cakes for your neighbors, but I do believe that too often homeowners expect their associations to fix everything while they avoid talking directly to their neighbors.

Could your association pass a new regulation that requires homeowners to instruct vendors where to park when servicing them at their homes? Of course, it could. Would such a regulation be overkill? That would depend on whether the problem with the vendors is an issue with other homeowners.

You ask how does one get her association to enforce the CC&Rs? First, homeowners need to find volunteers who understand the balance between enforcement and working with homeowners to correct their noncompliance issues, to serve on their boards. This is not an easy task. Second, if the situation at your community is such that there is a significant problem of non-enforcement of the covenants by the board of directors (i.e. abandonment of responsibility by the directors), you could file her complaints with the state Ombudsman Office.

Q: I am interested in obtaining information on how to determine the accuracy of a yearly financial report from an HOA. I do not have a complaint at this time.

A: You have a number of options. You can request copies of the association’s tax returns and the financial reviews or audits that have been prepared by your association’s certified public accountant.

The yearly tax return and the financial review or audit should represent an accurate picture of the financial position of the community. Under Nevada Revised Statute 116.31175, you could request copies of the monthly financial statement of the association that could include the income and income/expense statement, check register and balance sheet.

Under NRS 116.31083, an association board is to review current reconciliation reports for the operating and the reserve accounts. You could request a copy of these reports.

Reconciliation reports tie in the monthly income and expenses with the bank statements. Finally, you could request a copy of the monthly actual to budget reports that would allow you to review how well the association is following its budget.

Barbara Holland is a certified property manager, broker and supervisory certified association manager. Questions may be sent to holland744o@gmail.com.