Source: http://www.adamsstirling.com/Blog/what-is-a-view
Timestamp: 2018-01-20 04:42:40
Document Index: 587349329

Matched Legal Cases: ['§4040', '§4041', '§7211', '§4090', '§5205', '§8311', '§1549']

What Is A View? What Is A View?
Self-Managed Liability Self-Managed Liability
Phantom Smell Syndrome Phantom Smell Syndrome
Failure to Pay Vendors Failure to Pay Vendors
Drought Emergency Over Drought Emergency Over
HOA Harassment Law HOA Harassment Law
Davis-Stirling Upgrades Davis-Stirling Upgrades
Jan 29, 2017 1 Views 0 Comments
RESPONSE: I understand the need to keep costs under control. To define a view, we have to start with your governing documents.
You can reach Nathan at: N[email protected].
Self-Managed Liability
Jul 9, 2017 4 Views 0 Comments
RESPONSE: You and your wife may be doing a perfect job of managing the association but your violations of the Davis-Stirling Act expose you to potential litigation. Owners naturally become suspicious when someone has complete control for 29 years and fails to comply with the association's governing documents and applicable laws.
Management Company. Hiring a management company and following the law would reduce your exposure. Saying you can't afford a management company would likely not sway a judge. An increase in your HOA dues would easily pay for a management company. That company could then collect assessments, pay bills, and provide a monthly financial report. In addition, it would prepare your annual election materials and distribute your annual disclosure packages.
Tax Returns. If you have not already done so, you should also hire a CPA to file your association's tax returns and prepare an annual financial statement for distribution to the membership. You are also required to file statements of information with the Secretary of State--something your management company can handle for you. Failure to file tax returns or statements of information will result in suspension your association's corporate status.
New Blood. If any of your owners wants to serve as president and treasurer, you should let them do so. They may do a good job and relieve you of the burden. They may also discover they don't like it and hand it back to you and your wife.
Fiduciary Duties. If you are refusing to hire a management company because you own 13 of the 18 units and the expense will personally burden you and your wife, a court could conclude you were in breach of your fiduciary duties since you were acting in your own best interests rather than the association's.
Reserves. That also raises a question about reserves. If you are not properly funded, a court could also decide you purposely underfunded the account because of the personal expense it would cause you and your wife. You should consider stepping off the board for a period of time and allow others to make reserve decisions. If they keep the current funding policy in place, it reduces your exposure since they made that decision not you. If they decide to increase reserve funding, it may cost you more in dues but ultimately benefits everyone since it reduces the risk of one or more special assessments.
RECOMMENDATION: In addition to hiring a management company and stepping off the board for a few years, you should consider hiring a law firm to rewrite your CC&Rs. Given that your governing documents are from the 1980s, it's time to bring them current with all the new laws.
TARA HICKS JOINS
I am pleased to announce that attorney Tara Hicks joined our Firm.
Real Property Law. Tara comes to us with a strong background in real estate law. She previously served as in-house counsel to a real estate firm where she was responsible for negotiating and drafting commercial contracts, resolving title disputes, addressing zoning issues, preparing real property agreements, and handling real estate legalities.
Litigation. Tara gained litigation experience with an firm where she prepared appellate briefs, drafted pleadings and motions, conducted discovery, and drafted settlement agreements.
Education. Tara has a BA in English with a minor in Spanish and was consistently on the Dean's List for academic achievement. She then earned her Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern Law School, externed with the Honorable Terry J. Hatter in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, and entered the practice of law.
Tara works out of our corporate office in Los Angeles serving as legal counsel to associations throughout California. We are happy to welcome Tara to the Firm. If your association needs legal counsel, contact us for a proposal.
To supplement my legal advice, it looks like I inadvertently started a medical advice column. This is our third week addressing phantom odors and sounds.
This will make my mother happy--she always wanted me to become a doctor. -Adrian
Phantom Odors #1. I am not sure if this is the culprit but someone, preferably a friend, could suggest that she tell her dentist and/or doctor that she smells tobacco smoke when there is none present. When teeth decay, they often produce a foul odor. Some people report smelling cigarette smoke. Sinus infections, nasal polyps, or frankly any ailment involving the olfactory nerve can produce foul odors of which many people don't realize that the odors they are detecting are being produced from their own body. -Sherry P.
Phantom Sounds #2. How about phantom sounds? A couple of times a week I hear a huffing puffing sound in the SW corner of my bedroom. It doesn't seem to be coming from the attic or from outside. No one is sleeping outside the slider. No small animal could make that much noise....Why don't I ask someone on the board to listen? Because it happens about 10:30 pm and they are all asleep. So I take out my hearing aids and go to sleep. When I wake up in the morning, it's gone. Any ideas? -Amy C.
RESPONSE: Check the Yellow Pages for "Ghostbusters." Or, call your local priest to expel whatever is in the SW corner of your bedroom.
RESPONSE: Yes, there are people who specialize in detecting and analyzing odors. I don't think you need them here. Based on the evidence you already have, your nicotine addict can be called to a hearing before the board. Smoke travels up and circumstantial evidence is enough for the board to sit down with your smoker and strongly suggest he switch to vaping. It allows him to get his nicotine fix without disrupting his neighbor's quiet enjoyment of her unit.
Phantom Odors #4. Phantom odors are not uncommon among women who have gone through menopause. No one seems to know why but in most cases it eventually goes away. I mention this because two of the complainants were characterized as "elderly" women--one over 60!! I have to tell you that I'm 78 and am not elderly yet. As always, an entertaining and informative column! -Nancy H.
RESPONSE: Thank goodness I didn't say "60" was elderly. My 84-year-old mother would have words with me.
Phantom Noise #5. I cleared a problem of phantom noise that a friend claimed was some sort of police agency action. The complaint was that each day when she took her bath at 9:30 she heard a sound. It turns out her husband had been to a convention and set his alarm for 9:30 on a small notebook. The alarm was buried in a drawer under the recently deceased husband's underwear and socks. -Eric D.
Cellphone. Another great newsletter which addressed an issue we have had in the past with our board president attending meetings by cellphone. I understand this is allowed, but to have the president do this, fully aware of the dates of board meetings, and then using a cellphone that the entire audience could not hear, doesn't seem right. Is this me being a curmudgeon? How does this fit in with the law? I truly would appreciate your thoughts on this. -Candiece M.
RESPONSE: Unless he had a legitimate reason for phoning in his attendance, it's in poor taste. If it was legit, the law requires that everyone be able to hear him. The next reader has a solution.
Conference Cellphone. In addition to the landline version of the conference phone, there is one for cell phones. We use this where I live because the location of the meetings has no landline. It works pretty well. It is Bluetooth based. -Kingsley M.
Contact Info #4. I appreciate your idea of monthly reminders to owners via billing statements to update contact information. However the majority of our owners pay their dues via automatic deductions--a practice we encourage. The downside is that no billing statements are sent. Do you have any additional thought on this subject? BTW, I still maintain a Rolodex. -Nancy K.
RESPONSE: I wish that were the case. Unfortunately, before an association can electronically distribute documents and disclosures it must receive the recipient's written consent. (Civ. Code §4040(a)(2).) In the old days (2010) when the legislature added this to the law, not everyone had email. Legislators were worried that the elderly (anyone over 60) didn't have access to or didn't know how to use email. Now everyone, especially retirees, send and receive emails and text messages. Some even tweet. There is a 71-year-old in the White House who tweets on a regular basis. Children begin almost at birth--certainly before walking or talking. Someday, the legislature will make it into the 21st Century.
Jun 25, 2017 3 Views 0 Comments
ANSWER: Good questions all.
Rolodex. Before answering your question, I should let my Millennial readers know that the mysterious image above is a Rolodex--an energy saving device that works without electricity. It keeps contact information such as names, addresses, and telephone numbers on cards. This rotating file sits on your desk so you can quickly find information for making phone calls or writing letters. Unlike other devices, it doesn't argue when you talk to it.
Contact Information. The notice requirement you're referring to went into effect January 1 of this year. It requires members to provide contact information to their associations. (Civ. Code §4041.) This is particularly important when you have absentee owners. If an owner fails to provide the information, their HOA property address can be used for notices (even if the unit is empty or occupied by a renter).
QUESTION: If teleconferences are not provided for in our governing documents, can we use it for our annual meetings?
ANSWER: Yes, even if your documents are silent you can hold both board and membership meetings by teleconference where everyone calls into the same phone number to join the meeting.
Board Meetings. Directors are allowed to attend meetings by telephone provided all directors can hear and talk to one another. (Corp. Code §7211(a)(6).) For executive session meetings by telephone, boards must still give two days' notice to the membership. Because it is executive session, members cannot attend.
For open meetings of the board, the Davis-Stirling Act requires that notice of meeting identify at least one physical location where owners can attend. (Civ. Code §4090(b).) That means a conference phone must be at that location so members in the room can hear directors conduct the meeting. It must also give them the opportunity to be heard by the board during open forum.
Membership Meetings. Everything described above also applies to membership meetings. Small associations with members out of town or with absentee owners may find it convenient to hold their annual meeting via a conference call. The call-in number can be published so members can call into the meeting. Large associations may find it unwieldy to hold their annual meeting via a conference call-in number.
RECOMMENDATION: Invest in quality equipment at the meeting's physical location. Putting a cell phone on speaker is not the best way to meet the statute's requirements. I've attended meetings where that was done and it's almost impossible for everyone to hear the conversation. A good conference phone is not very expensive and can be ordered online from Amazon.com. If you squeeze your budget hard enough, you can find the money to buy one.
As one of my readers noted, "Thanks for your newsletters. They are almost always interesting and usually accurate." Here are some feedback questions and responses that should be interesting and sometimes accurate.
Out of Town Director #2. In our association, a prior president convinced directors that all board members had to be present in person for meetings and would not allow any telephonic participation. After he was removed, we have for the past four years successfully held all our meetings telephonically. We twice tried to amend our bylaws to require meetings to be held telephonically if the circumstances permit, but could not get enough votes. -Vince M.
RESPONSE: You don't need to amend your bylaws to require telephonic meetings. It would be unreasonable for fellow directors to refuse a phone call from an absent director, thereby preventing him/her from attending the meeting. I believe a judge would find the authorizing language in the Corporations Code to be sufficient to require telephonic participation if a director asked for it.
Financial Health. Boards have a responsibility to be aware of the association's financial health (or lack of it). I'm a retired banker who served on a board that had not raised dues for many years because they did not want to upset people. I took some flack when we raised dues by $25.00 just to keep pace with rising costs. When I explained the dues had to keep pace with increasing costs, it calmed most people down but not everyone. When other board members grumbled, I reminded them they are not on the board to make people happy. -John A.
RESPONSE: If it's coming from a smoker in another unit, that would not be a phantom smell. It's quite real. If it's occasional and slight, the board might not classify it as a nuisance smell. If it's persistent and strong, the person below could be required to contain the smoke to their unit. To eliminate the problem, many associations have already amended their CC&Rs to prohibit smoking anywhere in the development (including inside units).
May 28, 2017 2 Views 0 Comments
QUESTION: I am on the board of a retirement community. We have a resident complaining of cigarette smoke. We investigated and could not smell any smoke nor is there anyone around her who smokes. She is threatening to go to Fair Housing if we don't do something about it. What should we do?
ANSWER: Your resident may be suffering from a condition known as phantom smell syndrome. The medical term is phantosmia. She smells things that aren't there. Medical literature describes a long list of causes for this unfortunate olfactory hallucination--some serious and others benign.
Noise Complaints. I had a similar situation with an older woman in a luxury highrise who heard noises in her bedroom that kept her awake at night. Her lawyer daughter threatened to sue the association if the board didn't stop the "common area" noise.
Duty to Investigate. The board's obligation is the same whether a resident complains of odors or noises--it must investigate. I asked the board to have at least two individuals schedule a time to listen to the noise. Two directors volunteered and invited me to attend.
The three of us plus the manager went to the unit and exchanged pleasantries with the resident. She invited us into her living room and pointed out the noise to us. We all strained to listen and heard nothing. She was disappointed and told us it was much louder in the master bathroom and led us to the room. We all stood quiet as mice and listened. Again we heard nothing. She was insistent and informed us the noise made it impossible to sleep. She reminded us her daughter was a lawyer. We thanked her and headed for the door.
Decision. The board was more than willing to fix the noise but there was nothing to fix (at least not with the building). The resident was hearing phantom noises--a medical condition known as "musical ear syndrome" where a person suffers from auditory hallucinations. The malady got its name because people often hear music.
Paper Trail. I wrote a letter to her lawyer daughter about the investigation and the board's decision. I offered a renewed investigation if she hired a licensed acoustical engineer who could record the "loud noise" and offer an expert opinion that it was loud enough for a jury to deem it a nuisance. The daughter never filed suit and her mother stopped complaining.
Annoyance v. Nuisance. We live with sounds and smells around us every day. They might be an annoyance but that doesn't mean the association is required to take action.
[E]very annoyance or disturbance of a landowner from the use made of property by a neighbor does not constitute a nuisance. The question is not whether the plaintiffs have been annoyed or disturbed ... but whether there has been an injury to their legal rights. People who live in organized communities must of necessity suffer some inconvenience and annoyance from their neighbors and must submit to annoyances consequent upon the reasonable use of property by others. (Schild v. Rubin (1991) 232 Cal.App.3d 755, 764.)
Directors don't need to personally investigate. Managers, maintenance personnel, or experts can investigate and report their findings. If the board concludes the noise/odor is not a nuisance (or doesn't exist), the finding should be documented in a letter to the person. If the matter ends up in court, the board's investigation, deliberation, and decision should satisfy the the Business Judgment Rule and be deferred to by the judge.
I am pleased to announce that attorney Jennie Park joined the firm.
Education. Jennie's undergraduate degree is in Economics with a minor in Philosophy from UCLA. This was followed by a Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School.
Conflict Resolution. Early in her legal career, Jennie gained valuable experience in conflict resolution as a neutral conciliator at a high-volume public interest clinic. This was followed by a stint with the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps where she counseled civilians and military personnel at all levels in the chain of command.
Litigation. Jennie's litigation skills were developed defending healthcare providers in medical malpractice suits and administrative board proceedings. She is well-versed in all phases of litigation from discovery, to law and motion, to settlement or trial.
Business Counsel. Prior to joining our firm, Jennie served as general counsel to commercial real estate businesses, start-up companies and business owners. She developed expertise in cyber liability, federal privacy laws, and intellectual property issues.
If your association needs legal counsel, contact us for a proposal. We continue to recruit attorneys for our Northern California, Inland Empire, Orange County and Los Angeles offices.
RESPONSE: Your parking enforcement company, landscapers, management company, and other vendors should continue to perform the duties they were hired to perform. Losing your quorum on the board does not affect their contractual obligations. Even so, you should appoint directors at your earliest to fill all empty seats.
Surprise Audit? We have a group of homeowners who are concerned about our association's financial health. Our board puts a lot of confidence in our manager's ability to act on our behalf and don't supervise the manager. What steps can we take to initiate a surprise audit of our records?
RESPONSE: Members have the right to inspect the association's books and records. You also have the right to designate an agent to inspect the records. (Civ. Code §5205(b), Corp. Code §8311.) If you have concerns about your association's finances, you can hire a CPA to review financial records. You can schedule a time with the management company to review them or pay for copies of records which you can provide to a CPA for analysis.
Out of Town Director. We are Canadians who have property in Southern California. I was elected to the board and reside there for approximately five months and then back to Canada. I know I'm obligated to attend board meetings. Is the board obligated to ensure I can attend?
May 14, 2017 2 Views 0 Comments
Contract Law. A “contract is an agreement to do or not to do a certain thing.” (Civ. Code §1549.) Assuming contracts (either direct or implied) exist between the association and unpaid vendors, Civil Code sections 1549-1701 apply. If a board refuses to pay vendors, they are in breach of contract.
RECOMMENDATION: If your board does not have any money, they better plan on a special assessment, reducing expenses, and raising dues.
Sometimes it says “Image unavailable. Please request paper copy.” but that may be temporary as they populate the site with documents. If California stays on track, you can view more of your records and print them as-needed.
I value clear legal analysis, business writing, and people skills. To properly represent our wide range of clients, candidates must be service oriented.
Harassment & Discrimination. My understanding of this overreaching legislation is as follows: An HOA (legal counsel) should draft a policy that says, “if we receive an accusation of harassment by a protected class, we will proceed to investigate as follows: <listing the steps to be followed> After the board/management investigates and attempts resolution, as per the published policy, they should be “safe.”
Drought Emergency Over
Apr 30, 2017 1 Views 0 Comments
OVER (sort of)
RECOMMENDATIONS: Although things are back to normal, I don't recommend rushing out and fining everyone. That could trigger bad press and bad press generates bad legislation. Work with homeowners and give them time to get their landscaping back into shape. If you get a recalcitrant owner, create a paper trail. You may need to show a judge that you did everything possible to work with the owner before taking disciplinary and/or legal action.
RESPONSE: If you are a 55+ community, you have rulemaking authority. Adopting harassment guidelines will help protect your association from potential liability. It gives you a road map for handling allegations of harassment.
Harassment #2. Your article on harassment was very informative, thank you for that. However, what if a board member is harassing a resident and other board members see it, know it and just won't get involved? What can be done? -Pam N.
RESPONSE: If it's harassment that does not fall into a protected category, you can go to court for injunctive relief. If it's harassment based on a protected category, you can file a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
Harassment #3. In no way, manner, shape, or form is an HOA a housing provider. This is just another ridiculous example of the federal government over-reaching its authority and redefining what a housing provider is to suit its own liberal agenda. An HOA is a governing body, period. The really sad part is there are plenty of liberals in Sacramento, and elsewhere, who will carry on with this kind of insane thinking pattern. -John A.
Harassment #4. This is why I want less government. Seldom does one size fit all. We have people in DC or Sacramento that have no idea what needs to be done and don't have to live with the laws they pass. Government is harassing the citizens. -Theresa S.
HOA Harassment Law
Apr 16, 2017 2 Views 0 Comments
L ast year, federal regulations were changed to address harassment and discrimination claims. The changes affect community associations. Even though associations are not housing providers, they are deemed so for the purposes of this statute.
Harassment. To determine if harassment is taking place, boards can evaluate the nature of the unwelcome conduct, the context in which the incidents occur, the severity, scope, frequency, duration, and location of the conduct, and the relationships of the people involved. It does not require that the complaining party suffer psychological or physical harm, only that the alleged harassment occurred.
HUD Complaints. There may be legitimate circumstances where boards can intervene but there will also be unwarranted claims from hyper-sensitive individuals as well as false claims from vexatious individuals.
For example, a board member gives an owner a dirty look or tells them to be quiet while the board conducts its meeting. (In one of our associations the person claimed racial discrimination.) Or an owner is fined for violating the rules. (The person filed a claim of racial discrimination with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.) Or two residents don't like each other and one seeks to harm the other by filing a claim. (Former boyfriend and girlfriend who lived in adjoining units had a falling out and claimed hostile environment.)
When harassment is alleged, boards must investigate. If the board determines a complaint is unfounded, unhappy parties can run to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and complain against the board. Under new federal regulations, HUD will have authority to investigate the board.
Burden. Because there is no cost to claimants for filing such claims, some residents will use this as a tool to harass their associations. These claims will create an expensive administrative burden on HOAs since legal counsel will be tasked with responding to the complaints. This intrusion by the federal government into the affairs of homeowners associations is unprecedented.
The burden the new regulations create will likely outweigh any intended benefits regulators had in mind. Associations are not cities with paid city council members, police forces, and governmental immunities. They are nonprofits run by volunteers with no expertise and few resources for dealing with harassment (whether real or imagined). Civil remedies already exist. Making boards an arm of the federal government is going to make it harder to recruit and keep volunteers on boards.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Boards should work with legal counsel to adopt anti-harassment rules for their associations. The policies need to cover the reporting and investigation of alleged harassment. The policies need to include procedures for adopting findings and taking appropriate actions.
Thank you to my partner Jasmine Hale for the background information on the new regulations.
TRANSIENTS, TRASH
I will join attorney Brian Moreno (Swedelson Gottlieb) to speak on the growing problem of short-term vacation rentals (STRs) in HOAs and what managers and boards can do to address the problem. We will cover:
• Pressure on boards to allow STRs
• Problems & legal risks
• How to restrict STRs
When & Where. The lunch seminar for boards and managers will be held this Wednesday, April 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
RSVP. Register online at www.cai-glac.org.
Legislation. It seems unlikely I am the only Davis-Stirling fan who has left California but still have many friends there. Could you create a list by state of legislation directly impacting HOA homeowners? -Mel S.
RESPONSE: Every state has its own HOA legislation (as does Canada). The Community Associations Network has a list of the laws.
Hackers #1. The hacking episode must have been highly stressful. Your upgrade lingo is so far over my head that I feel like you have been initiated into a secret cult. -Larry S.
Hackers #2. Oh my goodness. You’re a victim of your own popularity and relevance, Adrian! What a pity that today we’re all potential victims. -Marilyn B.
Hackers #3. I am horrified that you had to defend your website against a foreign country’s hacking. I truly appreciate the dedication and tremendous resources you dedicated to keep your website up and running and even better. Your efforts are greatly appreciated. Thanks so much. -Lisa E.
RESPONSE: Thank goodness the hackers weren't Russian. They could have derailed my presidential plans.
Vexatious #1. Perhaps HOAs can do more in advance to steer vexatious persons away from becoming members. It might help to promulgate the message forthrightly (on websites, flyers, etc.) that “if you don’t like being subject to lots of rules, then you won’t be happy owning a condominium (and neither will your neighbors).” Would it be legal to pass a rule requiring that each HOA member include such a statement as part of the MLS listing when they put their unit up for sale? -David S.
RESPONSE: I like your idea. People who hate rules (or lack a sense of humor) should not live in associations. You could pass your rule but I don't know that anyone would comply.
Vexatious #2. Ten days ago we dealt with a malicious homeowner. She was taken kicking and screaming into a 72-hour psychiatric hold. The process involved the police and others. She's still at the rehab facility. -Michael O.
Vexatious #3. About the angry malicious homeowner creating legal expenses for the HOA, doesn’t the Davis-Stirling law provide that if the homeowner looses in court, the HOA can recover legal fees? -Arthur R.
RESPONSE: Yes, it gives the court discretion to award legal fees. In our most recent case, we received a large award for the association. It should stop our vexatious stream of lawsuits. She will likely move to another association and restart her criminal enterprise.
Vexatious #4. Your newsletter has been positively inspirational to me on more than one occasion. I had some recommended passengers for the move to Barrow, but as it didn't work out and they are still here. At least for the time being they are much less "influential" due to a recent board election. Certainly, the pen is mightier than the sword, the disruptive persons exposed their own bullying tactics and unstable mentality as they posted to "Nextdoor." The recent election put them out to pasture. The ability to have good communication is absolutely vital to all homeowners' associations! -Elaine J.
Davis-Stirling Upgrades
Mar 26, 2017 1 Views 0 Comments
I am pleased to announce significant upgrades to the Davis-Stirling website that improves speed and enhances security against hackers.
Website Rating. Davis-Stirling.com is already the largest website of its kind in the industry. There are over 378 million websites in the United States. Each is rated by the volume of traffic it receives. Davis-Stirling.com ranks at 129,139--a remarkable statistic, especially for a statewide legal website. Currently, we have over 700,000 sessions per year with over 3 million page views.
Ukrainian Hackers. The downside to our exceptionally high ranking is that we become an attractive target. Late last year Ukrainian hackers hit Davis-Stirling.com. Because I do not keep client data on the website, there was nothing to steal so the hackers planted malware in an effort to corrupt the website and anyone using it. Alarms immediately went off and we stripped the malware before it could do any harm.
Hardened Against Attacks. Following the attack, I spent a lot of money hardening the website against hackers. My website team went through thousands of pages tweaking the code and moving everything to a service known as Cloudflare.
Cloudflare is one of the most comprehensive DNS services on the internet for making content lightning-fast and shielding it from web threats such as denial of service (DOS) attacks, malware, and spambots. It used cached content for massive scaling to allow our website to handle heavy traffic without slowing down service.
Better Monitoring. In addition, I upgraded our internal content management system to DNN Evoq. This powerful program allows me to better monitor content on our three websites (Davis-Stirling.com, AdamsStirling.com, and CIDlaw.com). In addition, it allows improved management and publication of digital data while optimizing it for mobile platforms to give fluid, responsive pages for those of you who access the website on smartphones and tablets.
More Features. This sophisticated program also gives me the ability to add more features to the websites--features I will announce later in the year. You can see the improvement in speed and scalability at www.AdamsStirling.com and www.Davis-Stirling.com.
NOTE: If you have ideas on features you would like to see on our websites, feel free to contact me. I will try to work them in.
ANGRY, MALICIOUS
Restraining Order. On a few occasions we have successfully petitioned courts for orders that the person cease their daily barrage of emails and letters. We were able to show the court that the harassing communications were frequent, unrelenting and voluminous. It didn't hurt that the writings were also unhinged.
Vexatious Litigant. Having the person labeled a vexatious litigant is another possibility. A homeowner in one of our associations had a history of filing lawsuits against her prior HOA. That association successfully had her declared a vexatious litigant. That meant she was barred from filing any new litigation in propria persona without first getting the court's permission.
She then moved into our client's association and started filing lawsuits. We discovered the earlier vexatious litigant ruling and filed a motion to have the complaint dismissed. She then hired a lawyer and refiled her complaint in an attempt to avoid dismissal.
NOTE: I wish I had a magic wand to fix broken people--whether angry, malicious, or mentally unstable ones. Unfortunately, I don't. As noted in the Feedback section below, sending them to Barrow, Alaska fell through as a solution. Maybe our readers can relate some approaches that worked for them.
I want to thank readers for all the feedback on shipping dysfunctional homeowners to Barrow. There were far more responses than I could reprint.
Barrow #1. I like your sense of humor, especially sending troublesome members to Borrow, Alaska. -Charanjit S.
Barrow #2. Quite witty today. -Tanya C.
Barrow #3. WOW! How refreshing and what a great sense of humor! -Andy H. & Millie T.
Barrow #4. Thank you for your information. I've been sick since last year and hope to feel better soon. Please keep writing to me; it lifts my spirits a lot. -J.H.
Barrow #5. Our association has four residents that need a one-way ticket to Barrow, Alaska. Is it possible to get a group discount on the quickest chartered flight for them? -Debbie D.
RESPONSE: So many readers signed up owners for the trip that my staff put together a group rate with FedEx. I called Barrow's town council to make sure they had enough housing since we were about to double their population. This was the first they had heard of the plan and they were horrified. The idea got them so heated, the town went through a climate change event. The plan had to be abandoned. They threatened to sue until I agreed to fund construction of a new building as a safe space for traumatized citizens to retreat to. My staff is diligently looking for an alternative site to send malicious owners.
Iditarod. When visiting Fairbanks a few years ago, it was interesting to see the different locations of the Iditarod starts. I always thought they started from the same place each year only to find they start at different locations in and around Fairbanks. From your adventures, we find that there is life outside of HOAs. Thanks for sharing your fun vacation with us. -Tim S.