Home Owners Association - Going Ballistic

[Dauntless]

Can the HOA get the entire community in trouble - you better believe it.

I live in a condo community and the board had a running feud with an individual and one day decided to take action against the individual. The individual asked politely that they reconsider and they told him to go ahead and sue since the association insurance would underwrite the defense and they would bury him in legal fees. What the board failed to understand was the individual was a multimillionaire, and promptly hired a prestigious law firm, founded by a former president who sued the association in federal court. Of course, the insurance lawyers knew as much about federal court as I know about astrophysics but kept racking up the fees. I was privileged to read some of the correspondence (as a member I was entitled to all records but had to go through hoops to see them) and it was eye opening. The prestigious law firm's lawyers wrote in plain English, you done our client wrong and we are going to ask the judge to help. The insurance lawyers fired back letters full of "whereas" therefore" and legalese, the sole purpose was to increase billing.

Well finally, the insurance lawyers asked someone that knew federal law about the situation and they told them they were going to lose their a $$.

It finally cost each member of the association over $500 in a special assessment to satisfy the settlement and were it not for the fact that the wronged individual still had friends at condo association, he would have pressed for and probably won 10 times that amount.

Well, it was almost worth $500 to see the HOA get their spanking but the ringleader saw it coming and did not seek re-election and left some other poor smuck to take the blame.

So what these (choose your portion of unflattering comparison to anatomy or bodily functions here) do can and may effect everyone in the association and it is best not to ignore them as it can have serious consequences.

 

[Surface Interval]

and we STILL don't know what happened to the tanks in question

 

[D_B]

once again ... paying money so that someone else can tell you what you can do/not do on your own prperty, and then paying more money to cover their azz when they tell you what you cant do and they're wrong

 

[weeksd]

Then all barbecue propane cylinders must go to as they are a flammable compressed cylinder which burns. Alot more dangerous than an air cylinder.

 

[irishsquid]

Remember that ALL airconditioning systems have freon cylinders containing compressed gas.
Explain you will get rid of your tanks as soon as they remove the AC, both home and auto.

Let's stretch that bit further; tires on their cars, trucks, MCs, and bicycles are compressed air containers. I still think that the OP's antagonist is the biggest container of air, and foul smelling air to boot.

 

[irishsquid]

Depends upon the state.

Many (most?) have "incorporated" NFPA (& other 'guidelines') into regulations.

As I understand NFPA, they have no enforcement powers or authorities. They have set guidelines that other enforcing angencies adopt, such as OSHA for example. Many NFPA guidelines actually exceed OSHA standards, but; if an occurance is investigated, the NFPA guidelines if followed usually shows reasonable attempt at compliance. If not, good luck!

 

[Surface Interval]

Then all barbecue propane cylinders must go to as they are a flammable compressed cylinder which burns. Alot more dangerous than an air cylinder.

resulting in edible carcinogens.

 

[SSI-Bubbles]

Hi there, I might be able to help with that since I'm a Community Manager. Send me a link to your communities website or By-Laws and I'll let you know if they have a case. I have never seen a restriction on Scuba Tanks, such restrictions are normally intended to regulate propane tanks.

 

[Scott L]

It's a totally ridiculous situation. I am President of my COA after recently overthrowing obnoxious NY condo comandos. I would accept the assitance of the previous poster...

 

[EastTNDiver]

Gee, thanks... I'm president of my HOA and have been for several years. Of course there are only four units in the development so every unit owner has to be an officer. I sent a letter to the other owners mandating that they all have "cylinders of compressed air" on their decks for me to borrow when mine are empty.

Last year I did have the burst disc go on a cylinder stored out on my deck. My housemate heard it and saw it spinning around on the deck until it emptied. Strange thing was the cylinder valve had just been rebuilt and the cylinder was not in the sun.

If there is indeed a restriction, I guess that rules out common household cleaning items that are in cans with a compressed gas. As someone pointed out, propane tanks for outdoor barbecues are far more likely to cause a problem.

LOL! I once worked a short term project just north of Boston, and grabbed a by-the-month place in an old apartment building in Lynn for the four months I would be there. I stored my gear in a closet off the living room, and had the burst disc blow on a tank one night. It was a full tank, and made one helluva noise. It took me a while to figure out what the noise was after being jarred from a dead sleep. I can only imagine what the other tenants of the building thought. Did I mention it was an old building where you could hear just about anything going on in any apartment? I never did mention to anyone else in the building what had happened, and I'm figuring to this date, they probably still wonder how close that airliner came to hitting the building.