Learning About Luxury Real Estate

If you live in a community managed by a homeowner's association (HOA), you will need to familiarize yourself with the organization, its rules, and the way it operates. The HOA in your community has many responsibilities, and one is to ensure that homeowners are following the rules and guidelines set forth in the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs). If there is a homeowner that is not following these, here are some tips to help you settle this problem.

Understand what the CC&Rs are

The first thing to do is familiarize yourself with the CC&Rs of your neighborhood. The CC&Rs is a list of all the rules in the neighborhood, and all homeowners must follow these. In some communities, the CC&Rs are very strict and detailed. There are also communities that have lax rules. In either case, homeowners must follow whatever is listed in the document.

The purpose of the CC&Rs is to keep the neighborhood nice. They are also designed to promote consistency in the neighborhood. People that move to communities with HOAs often do so for this reason. These individuals want to live in a neighborhood where people take good care of their homes and yards.

Attend the HOA meetings

If there is a homeowner that is not caring properly for his home or yard, or if the homeowner is breaking rules listed in the CC&Rs, there are steps you can take to encourage the HOA to enforce the rules. A good place to start is by attending the next HOA meeting.

Management groups like Bradley Scott, Inc. generally help neighborhood HOA's meet with residents on a monthly or quarterly basis, and all homeowners are invited to these meetings. If you can go to the next meeting, you can bring up your concerns to the board. When you do this, have a copy of the CC&Rs with you so you can point out the rules that the homeowner is breaking.

If you cannot wait for the meeting, you could always write a letter to the HOA or call one of the members to voice your concerns.

To get the most effective results, you may want to talk to other homeowners in the area to see if they agree with you on this issue. If you can find other people that agree with you, it might be easier for you to fight for the HOA to enforce the rules on the homeowner that is not following them.

If you have questions or concerns about your neighbors, talk to the HOA that is managing your community.