Fighting Your Homeowners Association

So, we’ve posted about the joys of being a landlord in the past. Well, it turns out that there is a recurrent problem with the hot water in the bathtub in our investment property. For the fourth time, the bathtub spigot has sprung a leak. As you’d imagine, this recurrent problem seems to be fraying the nerves of the neighbors in the building. Last night, I received a telephone call from one of the buildings residents regarding the leaky fixture. To make a long story short, the telephone call did not go well.

Given that the neighbor is on the Homeowners Association (HOA) board, and given the buildings past issues with HOA fee increases, the late hour of the conversation and a recent death in my family, the conversation quickly became combative. The lady who called ultimately threatened to have the board audit my water usage in the unit.

This is the WRONG way to negotiate with your neighbors or your HOA board. Fighting under these types of circumstances is typically a loose-loose situation, it makes enemies and often neither side is able to achieve their objectives. In this case, I have a member of the HOA board mad at me, and from neighbor’s standpoint, the leaky faucet isn’t getting fixed any sooner.

So, looking for some sound advice on how to deal with HOA conflicts, I came across the following great link at RealtyTimes.com. Its a quick “how to” when it comes to dealing with HOA issues.
Frankly, you should NOT follow my example. Don’t fight. Instead, I recommend checking out the article to learn how to best negotiate these types of issues.

Best,

James