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Updated 06/03/18 for current DG link to ARC checklists
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DIY HEADS UP for HOA Compliance ....
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These are suggestions for heading off angst re HOA Compliance.
(Note, you need to be a registered community member and provide a password to access the below web links on this topic.) When I picked up the key for my house after taking title in 2000, I had to sign a document agreeing to read and abide by all HOA Governing Rules. This turned out to be no small task, involving several hundred pages of pretty dry reading material. I eventually got through all CC&Rs and Design Guidelines, but it did occur to me, that a "lot" of residents likely would not. To this day, I have not met a single neighbor who has actually read ALL governing rules. As years passed, I conjectured that while there may always be property situations in need of more compliance clarification, and a certain level of confusion may always reign amongst the masses, perhaps many more residents might manage to avoid infractions on their own by utilizing -- and maybe tweaking -- the existing ARC tools. Common sense, says that our property needs to be kept in good condition regarding weeds, dead plants, stained driveways, refreshed bark, treated lawn fungus, faded house or fence paint... including, making sure there are no exposed-dirt areas or visible irrigation tubing anywhere. (In other words, keep yards looking as attractive as possible per CC&R Article 7, Section 7.02). BETTER IDEA ....? Perhaps, a specific list for all the HOA-expected property maintenance with general time intervals for these (weekly, monthly, yearly), could accompany a Compliance FAQ sheet routinely sent to all residents. See "SPREADING THE WORD" below. Logically, many if not all other types of CC&R property infractions might be fairly easy to anticipate (or, perhaps should be), from the ARC Checklists based on Design Guidelines .... -- It really does not take that long to browse the 31 ARC Checklists (many are one-pagers) to learn what might be done to help head off compliance violation notices on our own property .... We can also see which improvements do NOT require ARC approval....(and perhaps, find out some new, HOA-acceptable home improvement ideas), by routinely reviewing all Checklists: https://sclhresidents.com/group/pages/library/-/document_library_display/z2zNm0CGEqi3/view/251862? -- Be aware, that the ARC Checklist information gets revised from time to time; make sure you are always looking at current hard copies or downloaded files. If any ARC Checklists indicate that something may be a tad “iffy” re current property status, then, that is our heads-up to give Compliance a buzz to confirm whether or not, we need to file new HOA approval paperwork in order to avoid being cited at some point. Here's the thing... At the top of each checklist we are always advised to dig deeper: "This Checklist is for GUIDANCE ONLY, please refer to the CC&R s and the Design Guidelines for all other specific requirements relating to your project." I did this, by downloading the below governing documents to enable quick PDF search queries on all the official verbiage related to any ARC Checklist topics of interest. Example: After reviewing ARC Checklist 19 for "Landscape Plants and Trees", I did PDF searches on "trees" and "plants" in my downloaded DG and CC&R files .... This is how I learned that my front yard fruit trees were prohibited if planted after April 10, 2017 DG revisions. Total time for myself to review this category to try to ensure compliance = 20 minutes, but those who do not have this search capability may clearly take much longer. CC&Rs: https://sclhresidents.com/documents/10184/13538/CC%26Rs/d7d48799-be8a-4de3-96ed-4d9725a1b345?version=1.1 DESIGN GUIDELINES: https://sclhresidents.com/documents/10184/13538/Design+Guidelines+%28Effective+2017.04-10%29.pdf/a7d7c78c-2e95-4ce5-9154-123c46e3d929?version=1.0 NOTE: The Design Guidelines are just that – guidelines – and by definition cannot deviate in any way from the intent of all defined CC&R property rules. -- Any compliance notice or "heads up” call should reference the specific CC&R in question, in order to avoid unnecessary senior distress from confusion / frustration .....and/or, prevent ignorant, false compliance notices. BETTER IDEAS .... ? In addition to helping concerned seniors help themselves, making the ARC Checklists a tad more functional may facilitate property scrutiny by Compliance personnel. -- Should the ARC Checklists identify specific references, instead, of telling busy or aging seniors to, "......Please refer to the CC&Rs and the Design Guidelines for all other specific requirements relating to your project"..... ? (Why, do we ALL need to figure out how to navigate 250+ pages to try to avoid violations ...?) Example: Checklist 19 would state "....please refer to CC&R Article VI, Section 6.01, 6.04; Section 7, 7.02 (a)(i),(ii),(iii), 7.03 (b), 7.04 (c), and to Design Guideline Sections 2 / 2.9; Section 6...." The Next Step Up .... ? All specifics identified in the CC&Rs and Design Guidelines that may trigger any violation notice related to any ARC Checklist topic, could be similarly identified on that particular ARC Checklist.... ? (Instead, of forcing us all to track down sundry references to CC&Rs and DGs as we try to interpret possible violation triggers for ourselves....?) Example: Checklist 19 currently states that Bermuda Grass is prohibited, but fails to specify that all front and side yard fruit trees are also prohibited; we need to drill down to Design Guidelines Section 6, paragraph 6.21.1 to make this disturbing-to-many discovery. While we are at it, why not fill in some gaps with a new, Checklist #32 .... to cover "Miscellaneous Common triggers for Non-Compliance Notices", or, "General Property Compliance Checklist", or....... ? Example: Exposed dirt and irrigation lines can be a cosmetic issue for ALL yards. WHEN NOT TO WORRY .... Our previous ARC-approved upgrades (such as fruit trees and river rock) are all covered by the Grandfather Clause on page four of April 10, 2017 Design Guidelines. Information like this needs to be better communicated; see "SPREADING THE WORD". However, we may still need to personally take steps to ensure that our HOA property file always reflects the right info: HOA files should have our plot plans for all original property purchase approved upgrades .... and, we were each supposed to receive a personal copy when we bought our house. Unfortunately, many exceptions have been reported; see "ANOTHER SUGGESTION" below. FILING the required ARC paperwork is usually not a big deal for most CC&R transgressions .... But, residents may need more reassurance that penalties do not apply for failing to do so sooner, if or when they step forward voluntarily to come into compliance. FAQ about How, When or When Not, and Where to file ARC property approval paperwork: https://sclhresidents.com/documents/10184/29984/ARC-FAQs-2016-2-1+%25281%2529.pdf ANOTHER SUGGESTION ..... Make an appointment to personally review your HOA file to confirm that it does contain all ARC paperwork approved over the years. If HOA cannot find this paperwork, we hopefully still have a home file copy from former ARC approval loops; make another copy, and INSIST it be filed in HOA folder .... check later to make sure this happened. (Add any other information that might avoid misunderstandings and false violation claims.) If HOA does not have a copy of our original property plan and we cannot find ours, I would consider creating a new HOA folder property plot plan ASAP by going through the usual ARC landscape approval process, just to avoid unnecessary frustration later. It can also be helpful to routinely make sure our HOA folder is up to date, to avoid any complications when house is sold. -- If ARC finds DG discrepancies regarding matured, healthy plants or trees that normally would be grandfathered in, then, imho, these should now be ARC-approved on the new plot plan. (Should ANY tree be ordered destroyed because no one can find a resident's purchase plan?) Example: The neighbor-ignorant violation notices regarding fruit trees in front or side yards clearly caused unnecessary angst for several residents; ensuring that our HOA folder gets a copy of ARC approved property plan for these trees -- one way or the other, might head off some unhealthy stress from perceived false notices later. HOW COMPLIANCE CAN HELP .... ? -- Compliance may avoid unnecessary, perceived-disturbing contact** with rule-abiding seniors, by always reviewing our HOA file after a quiet drive-by raises questions. ESPECIALLY, when acting on complaints from our community’s “neighbor-reporting-neighbor” system -- since residents naturally do not have access to HOA files in order to rule out ARC- approved or grandfathered-in upgrades. -- If Compliance does not automatically review our HOA file to screen neighbor complaints, then, what is to stop clearly unnecessary senior mental distress*** from being repeated over the years, regarding the same ARC-approvals....? Example: A few years ago, I went through extra hoops to get HOA approval for two matured, eight-foot bamboo plants lining my garage wall; non-ARC-approved plant height at that time = four feet. Forcing plants to stay at significantly less height than Nature intended can be hard on them; my purchase plot plan had specified the non-dwarf variety which typically grows to eight feet, and I was assured there would be no ARC issues later. But, nasty neighbors repeatedly triggered unnecessary, not-nice Compliance notices; I was told that the only way to avoid undeserved HOA contact, was to keep these lovely plants chopped down to four feet ..... half, their Nature-intended height. Fortunately, nasty neighbors moved ... Hopefully, these days, Compliance checks all HOA files before contacting seniors in any way .... Elder mental suffering that isn't necessary may apply to CALJIC 16.172 - Misdemeanor elder abuse.*** https://www.shouselaw.com/elder_abuse_defense.html OTHER CONSIDERATIONS .... ** Sudden, “heads up” calls in particular, tend to ignore a senior’s current health and emotional status; respectful letters (emphasis on respectful) regarding confirmed valid complaints may be perceived as less intrusive for many aging seniors; letters are also more easily monitored to avoid elder verbal abuse .....? *** ELDER LAW may apply when any compliance burden of proof is placed on seniors over the age of 65 with already-processed HOA approval. -- Some seniors are not aware of laws protecting us from unnecessary life-disrupting / mentally disturbing events; this may amount to a form of harassment called “elder emotional abuse”. This law was created for seniors after it had been well established, that any perceived-undeserved or unnecessary emotional stress as we age can exacerbate serious health problems – For many reasons, aging seniors may not deal with stressful life events as well as we used to. CALJIC 16.172 - Misdemeanor elder abuse "A person willfully caused ........ [an elder] ..... to suffer unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering..." "Unjustifiable pain or mental suffering is just that....pain or suffering that isn't necessary or that is excessive under the circumstances." CALJIC 1.20 - Willfully, defined. ("The word "willfully" when applied to the intent with which an act is done or omitted means with a purpose or willingness to commit the act [in this case, elder abuse] or to make the omission in question. The word "willfully" does not require any intent to violate the law, or to injure another, or to acquire any advantage.") Legal Reference #14 and #15 https://www.shouselaw.com/elder_abuse_defense.html (When I worked for elder law attorneys, I was told that “unjustifiable” is the operative word here; "intent” is moot). SPREADING THE WORD .... How, to communicate compliance suggestions to ALL seniors here -- including the ultra-busy, or home-bound, or non-email, non-smart-phone and non-Internet-savvy residents...? (I personally know many of these seniors, and they are not going to change life patterns.) Perhaps, some tips for avoiding perceived unnecessary, stressful Compliance contact could be included on FAQ sheets to be routinely delivered as reminders to each and every resident via our usual HOA packets containing required community information and financial statements.....? -- Could more timely information regarding design guideline updates or any compliance changes, perhaps be channeled to each Village via Neighborhood Watch....? (NW currently communicates with both email and non-email, non-Internet-savvy residents on deemed important-to-know issues.) -- Could we perhaps utilize a source like Sun Senior News (already mailed to all SCLH residents), for a Compliance "heads up" on any changes made to ARC checklists or DG's? IMHO, more efficient communication across our entire community -- independent, of attending meetings, using email, watching videos or being Internet-savvy -- could help alleviate much of today's perceived, senior distress regarding HOA compliance .... |
