The Fall 2003 edition of the "Mosquito" newsletter included a section entitled: "Rights and Responsibilities For Better Communities".

Appearing on Page #2 of the newsletter, the article informs owners that the Board of Directors recently adopted these guidelines to help develop better relationships between owners and community leaders.

According to the new Board guidelines, homeowners have the right to, among other things:

1. A responsive and competent community association.
2. Honest, fair and respectful treatment by community leaders and managers.
3. Access appropriate association books and records.
4. Prudent expenditures of fees and other assessments.
5. Appeal to appropriate community leaders those decisions affecting non-routine financial responsibilities or property rights.

Owner's obligations, on the other hand, include a responsibility to vote in community elections, to maintain their property according to community standards, to pay their dues on time, and to comply with condo rules, according to the new guidelines.

Finally, the Board lists the responsibility that Community Leaders have, which includes to:

1. Exercise sound business judgement and follow established management practices.
2. Conduct open, fair and well-publicized elections.
3. Encourage input from residents on issues affecting them personally and the community as a whole.
4. Make covenants, conditions and restrictions as understandable as possible.
5. Provide complete and timely disclosure of personal and financial conflicts of interest related to the actions of community leaders.

We commend the Board for taking the time to develop and publicize these guidelines. We think they are good, and even necessary. We only hope that the Board means what they say.

It won't take long to find out.

As you read in one of the stories above, nearly 50% of the unit owners who voted "yes" in the CC&R revision in late 2002 have sent signed letters through an attorney asking that the Board limit their vote to the insurance issue only. They did this when they found out they unknowingly also voted to revoke their right to rent out their condos on weekends.

Those same owners also asked the Board through an attorney to agree to a proper review of the ballots to make sure that the CC&R measure even passed in the fist place, since it only won approval by 4 or 5 votes according to the HOA manager.

Owners in these 2 disputes seem to have the newly established "Bill or Rights" on their side. If nearly half (about 45%) of those that voted for an issue-- any issue-- say that they would NOT have voted for it if it was clearly explained, then it would certainly seem that they Board did not do it's job to make that issue "as understandable as possible."

If 140 unit owners asked the Board to allow the votes to be reviewed by an outside party, for example an officer of the Court, then it would appear that the Board is not doing its job when it refuses to provide owners with "access (of) appropriate association books and records." And even if the Board can cite some legal case, as it has in its earlier refusal to let owners review the votes, it seems that this is not in the guideline's spirit of conducting "open, fair, and well-publicized elections", or " honest, fair and respectful treatment by community leaders and managers."

Finally, the Board has gone a long way to repair some of the damage and distrust they have generated over the years by establishing guidelines for fair and respectful treatment of owners in terms that we can all understand.

If they refuse to follow their own guidelines on these 2 issues, however, we will all understand that the real purpose of this exercise was more to make the Board look good than to help them to be a good Board.

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If you would like to comment on this or any other story on this web site you may do so by sending your email response to the links on the homepage under the heading "Resources". You may also send your comments and suggestions regarding these issues to the HOA by using their link as well.