Neighbor Disputes
I’m on an HOA board in Mesa and we have two neighbors who have been squabbling over various issues for over a year. They keep coming to the board asking us to resolve the situation. All we’ve been able to do is enforce the CC&Rs and Rules & Regs but we have no “policing” authority to really enforce anything. We tried creating a Mediation Committee to listen to the two residents but no one would agree to be on the committee. What’s the best way to address feuding neighbors?
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The easy answer is that the association has no responsibility to resolve homeowner-to-homeowner disputes, which is what most boards tend to focus on immediately. However, the real answer is first to understand exactly what the issues are about. If the problem is personal or based on personalities, your best advice is to stay totally out of that battle. However, many problems stem from the actions of one party that interfere with the other person’s ability to enjoy their own property. Check your governing documents; you most probably have what is called a nuisance provision. If you do, then you have the right to create a rule to prevent that neighbor or another homeowner from doing that action and interfering with the neighbor’s reasonable expectations to enjoy the use of their property. Make the rule applicable to all homeowners and try to word it in a manner that is general and not specifically focused on one specific person’s acts or behaviors.
Dennis
Thank you Dennis. We do have a nuisance clause in our CC&Rs and have sent letters to each of the homeowners telling them that they need to stop the actions that the other is claiming is bothersome.
I really wish the issues were substantive as then we could actually do something about it.