Secrecy
I am writing to clarify what information can be shared by the HOA Board and management company with the members of the HOA. The current management company has advised the HOA Board that no lot-specific information can be shared with any of the members of the HOA.
For example, the management company refuses to identify specific violations by/against any individual homeowner. If a homeowner requests information as to whether or not a particular lot is in violation of the CC&Rs and, if so, whether or not the management company has issued a violation, the management company refuses to answer and states that under Arizona law, they cannot share such specific information.The management company has instructed the board members that they cannot comment on any such issues.
As a result, there is no accountability to the members, and there is no way to determine if the management company is engaging in selective enforcement of the CC&Rs.
Do Arizona statutes and/or regulations require such information to be made public or does it allow for such secrecy?
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JJohn,
Arizona law allows personal information to be maintained confidential. Most associations have taken the stand that violations of the governing documents are personal information which is a total lie. The governing documents are available to all homeowners and all potential violations of those governing documents are clearly visible to anyone simply walking down the streets of the community. Because of that fact all violations are public information and not personal. You are absolutely correct this position is taken by management companies and board to avoid being held accountable for selective enforcement. Additionally any discussion of alleged violation cannot be held in closed sessions of the board and must be discussed in open meetings of the community.
Dennis
This is a sticky one. I have been in 2 HOA’s in AZ and neither one discuss this openly. To get this to change I belive will be a legal matter with the HOA and will incurr legal costs. I have been accused of being responsible for these costs by the board, in open Board meetings, even though the Board was always found wrong. Be prepared for backlash.
Barbara,
You are so correct. The truth is totally irrelevant to these communities if they have an opportunity to attempt to discredit anyone that dares to challenge their authority or enforce the law. Any litigation required to enforce Arizona law falls squarely on the board that violated that law not on the homeowner trying to enforce that law. The same happened to me when I filed my first petition under the dispute resolution process. I not only won on all four counts of my petition the board was also directly fined the largest fine ever applied to an association for their gross disregard for the law, yet they still blamed me for this litigation. While the association’s insurance paid for the litigation and fines the association raised the assessment the following year claiming they had to because of the litigation expenses. They not only forgot to mention to the rest of the homeowners, that the only cost they actually incurred was based on the fact that the association used two different law firms in defending their case and that even with any expenses that the association had to pay with this litigation they ended that fiscal year with a surplus in the operating funds. No one in the community was ever told that the association was found in violation of the law to the extent that they were.
Every homeowner must be aware of the tactics that the association will stoop to, to save face and discredit anyone holding them accountable to the law. This is a game for some of these association, and their complicit attorneys and community managers, while it is our home for all the rest of us. There is no way that i can ever fix this with legislation because you can never legislate integrity. You either have it or you don’t but from a legislative process the default assumption is that all board members act with integrity. The only way to fix this is by the ballot box in your board elections or board recall process.
Dennis