Violations are frustrating for a couple of reasons.
Violations Process for more information about the process, including:
- Reporting methods
- Confirming information
- A process flow chart
- Notification and fine timelines
Hopefully this will help explain.
After a suspected violation is reported, the management company and the Board cannot provide any status information to the reporting party, as violation information is part of the owner’s account. We cannot share one owner’s account information with anyone else. The only update we can provide is that the issue has been noted.
Sometimes, violation letters are sent, and the owner just ignores the violation notice, until we get to the stage that gets their attention by imposing fines. Sometimes owners may contact the management company about special or extenuating circumstances. In those instances, the Board has to work with the owner to resolve the issue. All of this happens without any information given to the reporting (and definitely frustrated) party.
Once a violation reaches the fine stage, we are required to send notifications by Certified Mail. Some owners think if they ignore the certified notice on their door, they can claim that they were never notified. Once the Post Office makes the first certified attempt, the attempt is recorded and maintained with the Post Office tracking service. Texas Property Code considers the recorded delivery attempt adequate proof that the owner was notified.
Texas Property Code also requires that we offer an owner a “reasonable amount of time” to correct a violation. Vague much? Meanwhile, the notification process keeps going. Unless the owner cures the violation, the reporting party thinks that nothing is being done. That is not the case. The violation and notification cycle continues, but it often takes multiple letters and fines (happening in 2-week intervals) for an owner to cure the violation.
To summarize, the Association and management company addresses violations as quickly and aggressively as Texas Property Code allows. It just never happens as fast as owners would want, and we definitely understand the frustration.