Homeowner not keeping up landscaping

Q: I have heard that there is a mentally ill homeowner (resident) in our community who is not up keeping up her property by letting trees, plants and bushes die. It is my understanding that she is ignoring homeowners association notices and that the HOA may replace all the dead landscaping independently and bill the resident. The bill could be in the thousands of dollars. And if the resident doesn't pay the may foreclose on the house.

So are all the associated costs of replacing the dead landscaping and foreclosing costs passed on to all the HOA homeowners? And what if the resident (or relatives) get a lawyer and sue the HOA for possible violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act because she may not be capable of understanding the notices and there was no face-to-face follow-up? Will all the homeowners have to pay the settlement if the resident (or relatives) win?

Finally, can the HOA board members make significant landscaping changes to common areas unilaterally or must/should the board members poll all the HOA homeowners?

A: The questions you raise is based upon rumors. Assuming the information is true, what actions should the board initiate? First, the board cannot unlitaterally remove dead landscaping and replace it with comparable landscaping. A specific compliance letter would need to be sent to the homeowner informing her that she has a certain amount of time to address the landscape issues. If the homeowner did not comply, the association is required to hold a maintenance hearing, at which time a decision would be made prior to the association removing and installing new landscape.

If the information about the homeowner is common knowledge and either the management or the board is aware of the homeowner's conditions, the board should seek legal counsel from an attorney who is both knowledgeable with the Fair Housing laws and with Nevada Revised Statutes 116.

The board or management may have information whereby they can contact a relative, especially if they are concerned about the homeowner's ability to manage her affairs. There are state agencies to assist the association.

An association would never be able to enforce its governing documents if the board makes decisions based on its concern of being sued. The board needs to make sure that all of the proper legal procedures were done.

To further protect the homeowners and the association, the board should contact its insurance company to ascertain what is covered and not covered if a civil Fair Housing action is taken against them.

As to the association changing the common area landscaping without obtaining the consent of the homeowners — it depends. The NRS 116 laws allow the association to convert greenbelt to drought-tolerant landscape without homeowner approval under certain requirements.

Q: Can the manager of an HOA chair a hearing of the Covenants Committee? We called a resident in for a hearing because she said some abusive language against one of our management employees who was on duty at the desk. Our regular committee chair was out of town, and the management company's onsite manager chaired the hearing. He did not vote, of course, but he did move the hearing process along by telling the resident how the process works.

However, during that explanation, it was obvious to me that he was not going to tell the resident that she was entitled to appeal to our board directly. Therefore, I, as a Covenants Committee member, told her this fact.

After the resident left the hearing, I complained about this fact, and the manager said it was not our job to tell the resident this since it would be explained in our judgment letter to her. I complained about this lack of full disclosure.

Our Covenants Committee is appointed by the HOA board of directors, and all of our judgments are only recommendations.

A: One of the members of the Covenants Committee should have chaired the meeting. The community manager could have assisted that member if needed, especially since the hearing concerned one of the management company's employee. As to due-process procedures, the chair should have informed the homeowner of the appeal process regardless of this information being sent to the homeowner in a judgment letter.

Barbara Holland, certified property manager, broker and supervisory certified association manager, is president and owner of H&L Realty and Management Co. Questions may be sent to the Association Q&A, P.O. Box 80360, Las Vegas, NV 89180. Fax is 702-385-3759, email is support@hlrealty.com.