HOAs are only as good as their boards of directors

I agree wholeheartedly with your editorial advocating enforcement of the CC&Rs (covenants, conditions and restrictions) for those who live in homeowners associations (HOAs).

My wife and I purchased our home in Dos Vientos because CC&Rs protect property values. In fact, I felt compelled to serve on our HOA board for two years and to enforce the rules equally and fairly.

What can you do, however, when you have a board that fails to enforce its own CC&Rs?

What do I mean? We have two real estate agents now on our HOA board. Our CC&Rs, along with city law, allow for a single for-sale sign, of a specific size limit, to be displayed in front of a house for sale. The board member/real estate agents violate the CC&Rs by displaying more than one sign and often exceed the size limit allowed, a clear violation.

As a result, we now have a community with all kinds of prohibited and illegal signs such as rental signs and various contractor signs.

Our rules don't allow for sporting equipment to be left in driveways when not in use, but we now have dozens of homes with sporting equipment and basketball hoops in driveways and sidewalks. There's even one hoop permanently and illegally installed in the ground at the curb, and another at the home of the association's very own property manager.

Some homeowners leave their trash cans out for days, and some violate other rules. Why? Because the board doesn't enforce the CC&Rs. They don't even respond to my e-mails.

How can they fine homeowners for violations when certain board members routinely break the rules themselves?

How can they send a violation notice when that same homeowner may soon be looking for a real estate agent to sell their home?

Would you list your house with an agent/board member that just sent you a violation letter?

The irony is that the real estate agent/board members led an expensive campaign to take control of this HOA board. It's been almost two years now that they've served on the board, and they've made no attempt to change the rules within the system, as the Acorn advocates.

As a result of this clear conflict of interest, we now see more and more rule violations, and we have a community in decline. Jim Olson Newbury Park