Dos and don’ts for responding to owners' letters to the board
HOA Leader.com
February 2012
Surely, you get letters from owners. The question is how your should
HOA Board of Directors respond. Do all letters require a response? If
not, which do, and which don't? And who should respond? Your board
president, the property manager, or another person? Finally, what
should and shouldn't you include in responses to owners' letters?
Here, we offer dos and don'ts.
Your governing docs set the stage
You might be surprised to find that your governing documents address
this issue. "The standard answer is that you do whatever your governing
documents say you do," explains Justin D. Park, an attorney at Romero
Park & Wiggins PS in Bellevue, Wash., who advises homeowners
associations. "I've seen ones that talk about communications with the
board, and they have specific terms for dealing with those
communications."
If you get no guidance from your governing documents or state law, what
to do? Actually, that requires some board thought. "This speaks to
larger issue," says Debra A. Warren, principal of Cinnabar Consulting
in San Rafael, Calif.
"What's the association's policy for conflict resolution? You not only
want to provide information to owners, but you also want to protect the
corporation from undue lawsuits, small–claims procedures, and
situations where you have to get attorneys involved and increase your
legal expenses. Focus on what you need to do to resolve conflict in
ways that are the least costly and that take as few resources as
possible.
"More important," adds Warren, "consider the procedures you're going to
go through to minimize conflict with your owners. In some states, there
are requirements for a meet–and–confer. When that's not required by
law, your board can still adopt the process.
Usually the kinds of letters that come in that are troublesome or
create a 'what do we do?' scenario occur when people feel they're not
being heard. They're being told to come to a meeting or to put their
concerns in writing. Sometimes it's important to have them hear what
their elected board member has to say, and then the issue can be over."
Once you've considered big–picture issues, you can then create everyday
policies for addressing letters. "I tell my boards that there are
generally specific methodologies set aside for the boards to
communicate with members," explains Park. "The most common of which is
the general, regular board meeting. In most board meetings, there
should be an opportunity for people to be heard on issues. I've had
some boards where, if they get letters, they bring them to the board
meeting and treat them as if the person had shown up at the meeting."
What board members or managers shouldn't do is fire of a quick email
response. "Email is far too easy," says Park. "A member will send an
email to a board member, 'Here's my question.' The board member hits
reply, and suddenly that response is treated as a board policy.
"Personal communication like that should be prefaced with a statement
that you're offering your opinion, not speaking with the weight of the
board behind you, and that if the owner wants the entire board to
comment in an official manner on this question, the owner needs to
attend the next board meeting," says Park. "It's impossible to tell
board members not to communicate with members via email. That's why we
devised that statement."
Respond to every owner's letter?
Our experts disagree on whether to respond to every letter.
"We believe you should respond to every letter, no matter what the
subject matter is," says Chris Yergensen, senior vice president and
corporate counsel of RMI Management LLC, a Las Vegas–based company that
manages about 300 condo association and HOAs.
"That policy of whether the board is going to respond rests with them.
But our recommendation is that they always respond. Or if they'd like
us to respond, that's something they can choose, too."
Don't get Yergensen wrong. He's not saying you respond substantively to
every crackpot who writes to the board. Sometimes your response may be
a general acknowledgement that you've received a letter and nothing
more.
"We don't have a form letter, but we do respond saying something like,
'We received your letter and will forward it onto the board,'" he
explains. "When it gets into a personal attack, the board member will
usually respond on his own behalf. If board members ask us to respond,
we say something like, 'Your letter was received, and we appreciate the
feedback.' We try not to fuel the fire."
That's Magill's concern—worsening the situation. "It's nice to have a
policy on responding to general correspondence," she says. "But with
really nasty letters that aren't constructive and you're not required
to respond, by responding back and forth, you're adding fuel to the
fire. In some cases, it's better to leave the letter in a file and not
respond. Let it roll off your shoulders."
Warren falls somewhere in the middle. "A good rule of thumb is that the
board should look at the communication as if they had sent it," she
explains. "Treat other people like you'd want to be treated. Start
there.
If someone sends you a letter, try to look past the messenger and look
at the message. There may be something in that letter that needs a
response.
Generally, it's a good idea to send acknowledgment of receipt. If
you're not going to respond to the content because it's from someone
who sends letters over and over again, still be courteous: 'The board
is in receipt of your letter and understands your concerns. However, no
action will be taken at this time.' At least acknowledge the letter and
take time to ensure there isn't something in there that actually needs
your attention."
Most important, don't bicker over minutiae. "If you get one of those
letters, it's important that you respond to the owner's concerns, but
you shouldn't debate the owner's impressions or feelings," says Warren.
"If an owner's angry that a tree has been taken down, address in a
factual way that the tree has been taken down. Don't respond to the
junk. Just respond to the fact."
When can Board members offload the burden of responding?
As often as possible, advises Park, take advantage of your manager's
expertise in responding to letters. "If a letter includes a question
about the association's existing policy or procedure, I think it's
entirely appropriate for managers to respond when they have information
on that particular question," he says.
"If someone's raising a dispute or an issue the board needs to address, I don't want the manager to respond to those letters."
Magill agrees. "If a letter is about a lack of maintenance, you could
have a policy stating that it goes to your manager or particular board
member so it can be calendared or followed up on," she explains. "The
letter might say a laundry machine isn't working. The policy is that
the letter goes to someone with authority or the expertise to check it
out. It may also be appropriate to acknowledge receipt of the letter
and give a time frame for a response. Or you may want to respond after
the fact saying, 'Thanks for bringing it to our attention; now it's
fixed.'"
For less clear–cut management issues, require that your manager work
with the board on responses. "Generally speaking, advise managers that
they need to have a particular board contact," says Park. "Let's say an
issue involves an architectural committee issue. Before the manager
responds, he should touch base with someone on the architectural
committee to make sure there's agreement that what's being sent out is
correct.
"Some associations also have form letters that say things like, 'We see
you've done this' and the manager fills in the blank. 'Please appear
before the architectural committee on this date,'" adds Park. "That's
entirely appropriate because those forms have been approved by the
committee, and the committee initiates the sending of that letter.
The manager doesn't make decisions—that's the key. The manager doesn't govern. The manager manages."
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