Resident’s complaints

The residents will complaint as sure as the sun will rise from the east come morning.

Some complaints are straight-forward complaints about un-cashed cheques or a water leak in their unit. The manager can deal with these easily enough.

It is when residents complain about their neighbours that it gets far more difficult to resolve.

Difficult complaints include excessive noise, dog waste or cigarette butts being dropped on their balconies from above, owners not picking up after their dogs, strong cooking odours, pot smoking, residents with mental health issues and garbage being left in the garbage rooms or staircases. These issues are far more difficult to deal with.

A resident may complain that their neighbour swears at them, smokes in the staircases or the husband beats his kids or wife.

Preparing your case
If you have security on site, they can go up to the floor and investigate. If they hear excessive noise late at night, they can inform the resident that they need to stop. They will write a report.

If a resident made a complaint and security did not see it and there is no video coverage, the complainant needs to write a report stating:
Who Who is complaining and who are they complaining about? Names and unit numbers.
What What is the issue? Give details. If it is noise, what kind of noise.
Where Where did it happen. What floor, what staircase, what unit number?
When The day, date and time. Is there a pattern? Is it every Saturday night or only when there is a full moon?
Why Why is this a problem? Can't sleep? Feel intimidated? The condo rules are being violated? Is the neighbour and the complainer engaged in a feud and the complainer trying to suck the board into it?
How Is the complaint a management or board's problem or is it a police or social agency's problem? How can this dispute be best resolved? Best means quickest, cheapest and with the fewest long-term resentments.

If more than one neighbour is complaining about the same thing, then great, that makes it so much easier.

No evidence
You get a complaint that there are cigarettte butts in the staircases. Well that is serious, but who left them there? Who's dog poop is that on the back sidewalk?

Security goes up to the 33nd floor to investigate a noise complaint and she does not hear anything.

No cooperation
You can't send an "offender" a letter requesting compliance if you don't have the dates and times when the incidents occurred. A letter would also need to state clearly what happened.

Some complainers don't want you to identify them. They are afraid of retaliation or they do not want to make enemies. So if you can't use their names, then you can be sure they will not sign an affidavit or testify under cross-examination.

Without witnesses, how can you ask the courts for assistance?

Hoarders
Here is a blog from a California condo lawyer on hoarding that show just how hard it is to solve some complaints.

Hoarders in HOAs. Where Do You Start?
Condo Law Guru
By: Beth Grimm

Boards often tell me that they believe a unit is a fire or rodent hazard. How do you know this? Document all facts and evidence. This may become critically important in any actions that you later feel you have to take.

Second, the local fire department may have some responsibility here and may be willing to do an inspection if they can be presented with clear evidence that there is a reason to suspect a fire hazard exists. So it is important especially to identify if there are any electrical outlets or any situations that would be considered hazardous by the fire department. They may provide information about what concerns them on a website, i.e., what they would look for.

You may have some inside work (like plumbing, upgrading electrical, etc.) coming up that warrants an inspection and you might use that as a basis to get inside the unit. Most HOA docs do allow for entry for inspections but read the language carefully before asserting the right—so you get it right in your demand for entry.

Nuisance is another issue, if there actually is one. Are there any signs whatsoever outside of the unit that there is a problem inside? The local Health and Human Services Department may be willing to come out if there are signs of rodents, garbage, etc. that can be seen or smelled outside the unit. But the problem almost has to be falling out the doors or windows for the Health Department to come in. It would not hurt to call them if in fact you have some evidence that there is a health hazard in the Unit.

In 1998 an association in Orange County tried to litigate a case against an owner for hoarding. It did not go well. The owner turned around and sued the association for various causes involving their mishandling of the situation (breach of fiduciary duty). The HOA had to pay some hefty lawyer fees not only on their own side but the other side also. This case now stands for the proposition that there is a difference between extremely poor housekeeping (which is not legally actionable) and an outright safety issue.

So don’t jump to conclusions, make assumptions based on rumor (you all know what that does, right?) or fly off the handle. Addressing these situations requires pragmatic approaches, unless the safety, health or hazardous evidence is falling out or emanating outside the doors and windows. I  mean in one case on TV the odor did actually lead to discover of an elderly woman dead  under the debris. So don’t ignore complaints either.


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