HOA stalls in removing tree that landed on condo building

Q: July 1, there was a storm in Las Vegas that caused a lot of damage. In our 50-plus-year-old condo community, a pine tree in one of the owner patios that is also probably 50 years old uprooted and fell on a building.

The tree was in the patio area of Building 1, and the tree fell on Building 2.

The summary is: The pine tree is lying on one of our buildings, we have no idea the damage to Building 2; no idea if management submitted an insurance claim; no idea what information and direction the board may have been given (the management company); and management doesn’t believe they need to meet with owners, who have a tree lying on a building.

Previously, when this type of issue occurred, the homeowners association sent a vendor to remove the tree and sent vendors to determine damage and worked out who owed what later. This just happened in 2024.

The owners in both buildings contacted the management company, and there was some frustration over the responses. There is a dispute about how the management company and the insurance are reading the covenants, conditions and restrictions. Building 1 owner was trying to get the tree removed, however, (the residents) ran into issues because vendors were concerned about whether they’d have problems because this is in an HOA. I’m not sure what that was about.

After the tree had been lying on Building 2 for more than a week, a few owners contacted former board members who still own condos in the community. They tried to set an appointment with the management company, but the company declined the meeting and said we should go to the upcoming board meeting. One person went to the office anyway to ask for help. That person said the board and manager were trying to figure out a plan and sometimes there are privacy issues that they can’t tell all of us.

A couple of the owners called a certified vendor and started getting bids so they could personally have the tree removed. One of the former board members said it was important the proposals were not in the name of the HOA. And we are going to pool money if we have to because this is going to be expensive. We want the tree out and the building inspected and we’ll work out who owes later on. The management company has been notified.

The two owners involved and myself are very concerned there could be a problem with the HOA insurance and legal issues. The person who went to the management company said they didn’t ask for confirmation about the HOA insurance being contacted, and we want to be sure they were. This is secondary to the fact there was a safety issue.

What could the owners and I have done differently to protect our homes and the community? What information can we give the other owners in this complex so if this happens again, the tree doesn’t remain leaning on a building for more than a week?

Any help will be appreciated. Thank you for listening

A: If this tree belongs to the association and is located in the common area, the association needs to contact its insurance company to not only remove the tree but also to assess the damage caused by the tree to any of the homeowners’ units. Not sure why the hesitation by the management company as this would be a standard approach. If the tree is owned by a homeowner, the association should contact the homeowner who would be responsible for the removal of the tree and any subsequent damages. If there are any other issues that are causing a delay by the management company, the board and the management company should at least inform the homeowners that they are working on the problem.

Q: When our HOA mailed the 2025 budget documents, an old version of our Collections Policy was included. It has much lower fees, for example, for late payments. Does mailing the old document mean we have to follow that schedule of fees until the HOA is notified again? Or can we still follow the more recent policy, approved and distributed to HOA members in 2023? We have collected late fees this year following the new, higher, fee schedule.

A: Technically, the association needs to send the current version of the collection costs and fees to the homeowners.

Barbara Holland, CPM, CMCA, AMS, is an author, educator and expert witness on real estate issues pertaining to management and brokerage. Questions may be sent to holland744o@gmail.com.