Loud garge noise disturbing neighbors

Q: I am a vivid follower of your weekly article, which I (find) very informative and very educational. (I) have not missed it since I discovered it two years ago. Since we moved into our fourplex condo in 2012, we have had an issue (with the sound of our neighbor’s garage door opening.) It’s a “hard” sound (that wakes us up) whenever the tenant opens the door. In 2016, after suffering in living there for almost four years of patience, and avoiding any animosities with our neighbors, we decided to write the unit owner through his tenant and copied the homeowners association president and management company. (It just fell) on deaf ear.

After almost another three years passed, I wrote the landlord, but (he was) still uncooperative, claiming that it can’t be prevented due to steel track. This one is different than any others in the fourplex. The grinding can be heard almost anywhere in our condo (we live above the unit). I have a 75-year-old husband that gets awakened with this terrible noise. I’m afraid that it might affect his fragile health condition, for lack of restful sleep.

Barbara, may I request you to give me some remedies to solve this, if there’s any. I can’t get any help from the management company or HOA president.

A: Try contacting the owner one more time and invite him to meet with you at the community so that he can witness the noise. Arrange for some maintenance technician to be present for their suggestion as to how to remedy the problem and the cost.

Can you record the noise from your unit? If so, do that and bring the recording to the attention of your community manager. Many covenants, conditions and restrictions state that homeowners have the right to peaceful and quiet enjoyment of their home. Consequently, the association would have the ability and responsibility to become involved to assist you based upon the peaceful and quiet enjoyment clause.

Q: I just recently discovered your real estate information in the LVRJ.

I have questions on the topic of HOA neglect of duties.

1. I often send photos of the dilapidated state (numerous weeds the landscapers have not removed, broken entry gate, street lights out and asphalt peeling/flaking, etc.) of my community. (These persist) despite a recent HOA fee increase. Do we, as homeowners, have any recourse when the HOA sends the homeowners notices regarding minor items like “paint facia” but they themselves don’t reciprocate and maintain the property themselves?

A: As homeowners, you have the right to vote them out of office at the next election. You also can recall the specific directors, which is a more difficult task. There are two requirements in recalling a director. Per Nevada Revised Statutes 116.31036, to recall a board member requires at least 35 percent of the total number of voting members of the association must cast their ballots in favor of the removal.

To initiate a recall process, you would need a petition signed by at least 10 percent of the membership or any lower percentage specified in the bylaws of your community. Upon receiving and verifying the petition, the association shall cause a special meeting of the membership not less than 15 days and not more than 60 days from the date that the petition is received. Recall ballots would be sent to the homeowners in the same manner as election ballots.

Finally, you could file a complaint with the Nevada Real Estate Division.

Barbara Holland is a Certified Property Manager (CPM) and holds the supervisory community manager certificate with the state of Nevada. She is an author and educator on real estate management. Questions may be sent to holland744o@gmail.com.