At Berkley Court, the current process that issuing violations (and issuing accompanying fines) is the below:
Now what are the chances that the Board will find that the homeowner is right, and the violation shouldn’t be issued, when it requested that the violation be issued in the first place? Especially, considering, 2 of the 3 current board members were the ones that (illegitimately) passed an amendment in 2017, that effectively allows the Board to fine homeowners a first offense (instead of a sending an initial courtesy warning letter).
Let’s make this real with an example:
A fair decision as to whether the violation is warranted is nearly impossible for the following reasons:
- The property management company, RISE AMG, is incentivized to issue as many violations as it can, without requiring any evidence as it collects a $25+ fee for every violation issued (and knows it extremely unlikely that the violation will overturned as the Board has requested the violation in the first place)
- The Board has no motivation to find for the homeowner, and admit that it was wrong, especially with the current (unelected) members of the Board who have a questionable track record in carrying out their fiduciary duty to the association
How do we make this system better?
- Do we have a committee that reviews all violations that is separate from the Board?
- Do we require that the property management company to only issue violations supporting evidence (such as a photograph or witness testimonials) and a clear reference to which covenant or restriction is being violated?
- Do we repeal the policy of fining upon the first offence to ensure everyone is knowledgeable about community rules and the violation process?
Post your suggestions below!