Hit-and-run wall accident not condo owner’s fault

Q: I enjoy your column. I am condo owner, and apparently someone visited me when I was not at home. He were driving a camper and, when backing up, hit the side of the building and caused stucco damage. One of the homeowners association board members saw this, and the board send me a certified letter, indicating that I am responsible for the damage since they were visiting me. I do not even know who it was. They have the plate number of the camper. Am I responsible?

A: I don't believe that your board can legally make you responsible for the damages. Even if the board were to charge you for the repairs, I believe that you could dispute the charge through the arbitration process administered by the Nevada Real Estate Division.

If the board has a plate number, they need to file a police report. The police should be able to inform the board if this owner has automobile insurance so the association can contact their insurance company. If the damage is substantial, the association needs to contact the insurance company and provide it with the specific information of time and date as well as the plate number and photos of the damaged building.

Q: I belong to a HOA. At yesterday's meeting the subject of pools came up. We have chlorine in our pools. Is there a law that says we cannot change to salt? By the way, we have two pools. We are talking about changing one of the pools. I would appreciate your response.

A: I am not an expert about pool regulations so I made a couple of calls.

In order to use salt in your pools, you would first have to obtain a permit from the Southern Nevada Health District. That will cost the association.

Once you have the permit, you will have to drain the pool. You will need to buy a salt system that consists of a salt generator and a salt cell.

After it is inspected, as to normal operations, be prepared to dump bags of salt into the pool. The salt generator will convert the salt to liquid chlorine. You tend to see this system more in residential homes and not in commercial pools of an association community. Many pool service providers do not recommend using a salt system especially when your pools have high-capacity usage.

Q: We have a great community of 82 formerly million dollar homes. There are no city lights. Thus, at the urging of residents, our HOA board of directors decided to install some lights on the community's main street. Without a formal plan, our board authorized the community manager to pay our landscaper, who is a friend of our president, more than $8,000 to lay an electrical line down the side of the street. I believe that no bids were solicited. At the most recent meeting, the lights were on the agenda. This is how things went:

1. An HOA board member moved that we install the lights within 30 days (without a plan being available). It was seconded and passed.

2. Another board member moved that we spend up to $3,500 to purchase and install the lights. It was seconded and passed.

3. I asked what the lights looked like, and had anyone seen the lights (apparently only the president has an idea about this). The president described the lights as inground lights. As best as I could determine there was no lighting expert consulted and the rest of the board did not have a clue what the lights looked like. The president has been in contracting and apparently is conceptualizing this project and our landscaper is doing the installation.

4. I then asked how many lights were going to be installed. The president did not know. But, with the help of the board and audience, the president did some mental calculations and came up with a number. Based on what he thought his cost would be, he said that $3,500 was not enough.

5. The board member who made the motion of $3,500, then said "I move that we spend up to $5,000 for the lights and installation." It was seconded and passed.

Frankly, I was astounded by these actions. There is no plan (except possibly in the head of the president) and no bids have been solicited. We have a professional manager and he let this go through.

I have privately let it be known that this is not the way to run a HOA. I am not certain what is happening since I am not on the board. The meeting was more than 30 days ago and the lights are not installed. That may be a good sign that the board may have decided to come up with a written set of plans to consider at an open meeting. Once a plan has been arrived at, it seems to me that we should have the manager call for sealed bids. Once those bids have been studied and acted on, then the lights should be installed.

A: A couple of quick comments. First, according to state law, the board needed three sealed bids prior to selecting a company to install the lighting. Second, unless the landscape lighting has the proper electrical license, they would not be able to install the lighting, let alone obtain a building permit.

Yes, there should have been a plan established that would have included what kinds of light, light fixtures and any poles, if necessary. It also should have addressed the impact on the budget. And the plan should have listed any building code requirements.

You should send a certified letter to the board and the management company that if the lighting project is initiated, you will contact the Contractor's Board along with the municipal or county building department and code enforcement department. This project needs to be done correctly, the first time.

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 Association Q&A, P.O. Box 7440, Las Vegas, NV 89125. Her fax number is 385-3759, or she can be reached by email at support@hlrealty.com.