Background:
For a number of years the Board has been criticized for not enforcing the CC&Rs. In fact, this is one of the main responsibilities of the Board. Up until now, the Board had few resources at their disposal to do this: they could request compliance and they could sue the member in court. The Board consulted a lawyer about the feasibility of taking a member to court, and the response was that our HOA first needed a Fines Schedule to attempt to get compliance. That is the next reasonable step before going to court.
General Practice:
Indeed, most HOAs do have a Fines Schedule, to give their Boards a way to request compliance without the extreme of going to court. A Fines Schedule has both the amount of fines (for single incidences and for ongoing issues) and a clear description of how the member can request a hearing to dispute the fine. And, a member is given time to remedy the problem before a fine is actually imposed. The point of a Fines Schedule is to encourage members to take the CC&Rs seriously, and not to make money for the HOA. In fact, in the ideal situation, no fines are ever assessed or received.
Implementation:
It is of paramount importance that the Board enforce the CC&Rs responsibly, uniformly and fairly. This said, the Board will still have to prioritize enforcement, in such a way that higher priority is given to issues that affect the community at large and the health of the lake and environment. The amount of work for the Board to impose a fine is considerable, especially for our volunteer-based Board. This also speaks to the need to prioritize what issues they deal with.
If a member is aware of a CC&R violation that affects the community or our environment they are encouraged to email the Board or call a Board member. Email: board@lakeviewestateshoa.org
Lakeview Estates HOA Fines Schedule.