HOA board has armed guards attend meeting

Q: I am new to living in an homeowners association community and hope you could help clear up a few things for me.

1. In your experience is it common for the HOA board to have one to three armed security guards present at HOA meetings?

2. Have you ever heard of the HOA board having an armed security guard using a hand-held metal detector on a resident and his wife (not me) prior to allowing them entry into an executive session to discuss a matter?

3. The community that I live in has a master HOA and a sub HOA. The master HOA refuses to allow any street-facing surveillance cameras. The sub HOA will allow street-facing cameras. As the Neighborhood Watch facilitator, I have spoken to the master HOA board. The board’s attorney told me that if I want the camera policy changed, I could write up a draft policy that the board will review. In all of your experience do most HOA’s allow street-facing surveillance cameras? (The Henderson Police Department was contacted, and they do recommend surveillance cameras with 360-degree coverage).

4. Do you know of any way I could get a copy of local HOA’s covenants, conditions and restrictions or design guidelines to see what their policies are regarding surveillance cameras?

A: As to the first question, I would not say security is common per se, but there are associations that have security guards present at their association meetings.

The answer to the second question about guards using a hand-held metal detector on a resident is no, I have never heard of this.

As to the third item, about the master and sub HOAs policies on surveillance cameras. I have not seen any association regulations that prohibit surveillance cameras, only regulations pertaining to their use. For example, my camera system should not be watching a neighbor’s home.

And finally, you can request a copy of the design guidelines for surveillance cameras from your management companies.

Q: Looking for some help on what my rights might be on an issue. I have no control over who parks in front of my house, as it is a common area. I have sent my statement to you that I plan on sending to the property management. Can you give me any advice on what I can do on this matter.

A: Unfortunately, you really cannot do anything as the person parking their vehicle is parking in the common area.

Q: I would like to know if there are any laws (local or state) that specify the number of people who are allowed to live in a two-bedroom, one-bath condo? I’ve tried to look this up but have had no success.

A: There are no occupancy requirements in Nevada Revised Statute 116. I have seen some in CC&Rs. Occupancy requirements are difficult to enforce. You would have to contact the city or county where you reside to see if there are any occupancy ordinances.

Q: My HOA has a provision in the CC&Rs that forbids antennas. I would like to receive over-the-air broadcasts and have tried going with indoor antennas, even in my attic, with very limited success. On reading the Federal Communications Commission rules, it appears my HOA is not in compliance with the regulations put out by the FCC. How does one handle an HOA in this situation?

A: Many governing documents were written before the changes in the FCC regulations. The FCC regulations would take precedence over your covenants. Because it is a difficult task to amend your CC&Rs, your association could just include a section in their rules and regulations with the most current regulations.

You can send a written letter to his association board and manager with the section of the FCC regulations requesting that the association’s regulations be revised. You also can attend the next HOA meeting and speak directly to the board during the second homeowner forum.

Q: I would like to get your opinion on this: Our management company puts out a compliance report, and after one of those, a board member asked a question through email.

The president of the board replied to the question by email but took it one step further. He informed the owner someone was complaining about him. The owner mentioned it to the management company in a email that he BCC’d me on. The management company has not informed the rest of the board of this breach of protocol. I do not know if the president was informed by the management company he is not supposed to be doing stuff like that. There is a clause in our contract with the management company that they are suppose to inform him of it and to tell the rest of the board if he doesn’t stop.

I do not know which way to go with this considering the majority of the board are his friends. But by him doing this, it can cause big issues with the neighbors.

A: Executive hearings are confidential. Based upon the your email, the board president should not have contacted the homeowner in question. As to you being on the board, you may want to request that your association’s legal counsel attend an executive meeting to discuss confidentiality.

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