Oh, FFS yourself. It’s easy for something like this to get lost in the shuffle catching up on stuff that piled up over the holidays when many people are out of the office and decisions get put off. If it’s important to the OP, that is. And it’s important enough to bring it up to an online forum. Not being a fucking prick. Are you?
lol. Whatever. There’s a definite difference between a gentle reminder after not following through on what was promised in the email which wouldn’t have happened by the 2nd or being an asshole and “turning up the heat” prematurely. At least give them a chance to do what they said they’d do.
Ok, perhaps what I had in mind when I said “turn up the heat” was actually more akin to a ‘gentle reminder’. Something more along the lines of, “I hope your holiday season was well, and I also hope you remember my parking situation. It’s a relatively minor concern but if we don’t get it squared away I’m afraid it’ll become a permanent misrepresentation of my parking area…blah blah blah….please let me know at your earliest convenience.” I certainly did not imply getting an attorney to write a threatening letter or anything, but it’s important to keep this top of mind for them or it may well be forgotten as it’s likely not as big a deal to the HOA as it is to the OP.
Moderating:
This is pretty close to calling the poster who gave this advise “a fucking prick”. We aren’t in the pit. Dial it back.
Same to you. If you don’t think a response was appropriate, just report it.
It sounds like it’s not just a matter of the OP’s parking situation that’s screwed up, but the parking spaces for all of the homeowners. So this issue is likely to be front and center in the minds of HOA management.
I’m w/ ricepad.
While “turning up the heat” may not be the phrase I would use, there is no reason not to remind them promptly - to try to nail down a timeline of when it will be corrected, as well as to document a history of what has transpired to date. If it was a mistake that is to be corrected, it could just as easily be corrected next month, rather than 6 months down the line - which might turn into NEVER.
The HoA already had what is IMO an overlong response time. It took the OP 3 phone calls over 2 weeks to get a response. IMO they ought to have been able to send a, “Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We are looking into it and will get back to you promptly.” message within no more than 3-5 business days. While it might be too early to “turn up the heat,” there is no harm in ensuring that it remains on a front burner.
Actually I don’t think it is because it only affected one side of one street. The vast majority of the parking spots were just repainted. For some reason they repaved our side of the street. There was no real reason to that I can think of, the spaces were all nice.
I will send an email saying thank you for getting back to me and ask them to tell us when they will be able to repaint.
It is always a good idea to send an email summarizing any business that was conducted during a phone call. I deal with contracts and contractors every day at my job. I frequently work through issues verbally with contractors (either in person or on the phone), but I always follow up with an email that restates what was decided on in the verbal conversation.
Emails like this do not harm the relationship, but actually strength it. Remember, good business emails should be concise, polite, and clearly state what is supposed to happen next or what question needs to be answered.
C.O.
I don’t know how your state works but for the most part I can’t speak for the board to residents or even discuss board business with other board officers outside of announced meetings. That makes for very slow timelines.
Like, not even little administrative things? That sounds like a really unhelpful rule.
Yeah, I can see not having a conversation about anything of substance, but not even something that could have been an auto-reply seems a bit ridiculous
AFAIK, each state has laws concerning condos/HoAs. I also understand that there are restrictions on what types of actions can be performed outside of formal meetings. However, it would shock me if any board member was prohibited from responding to residents’ requests outside of regular meetings.
“Water is pouring into my unit from a hole in the roof!”
“Thank you. We will get back to you at our regularly scheduled meeting in 3 weeks.”
In this case, it took two weeks for the officials to even acknowledge receipt of the complaint. When they did respond, it was not following a meeting. In your experience, no one can on behalf of the board even acknowledge receipt of a question or concern outside of a meeting?
That’s not the word I’d use here. The property management company responded. If someone emails my personal email I just forward it to ours without responding. Eventually. I’m not getting paid to do more and the lawyer we paid to give a spiel at the start of the year told us not to. Oh wait I’m not getting paid at all.
For emergencies, our manager has contracted permissions and will muster us if needed. We then have to retroactively vote at the next meeting.
OP may want to ask the board at the next meeting if their contract with the management company requires prompt responses to residents.
This is the only property where I’ve dealt with this so I haven’t a clue how well it translates. I didn’t even run for a position. The rest of the board saw a sucker when I attended a couple meetings and appointed me.
Apologies for using the word “official” if you think some other word more appropriate. I thought it sufficiently descriptive yet general enough to apply to the board members and property managers.
I also had overlooked that the response was from the manager, and not the board.
I am glad to not live in a condo/HoA. So I suppose I ought not express any more opinions as to what I think may or may not be appropriate response time by whom. Still, I would document the communication from the manager to BOTH the manager and the board, and would present a copy of that letter/email at the next scheduled meeting (if the lines were not repainted before then.). I would also ask the board to clarify the appropriate communication in such situations - who am I supposed to call or email?, and the expected response time.
Personally, I am not sure I would consent to someone else “appointing” me to a board position. But I understand how frustrating it must be to have other owners refuse to step up, and for a responsible person to think that contributing to a professionally run board would be worthwhile. From what I read, it is not uncommon for boards to be unable to fill their requires seats. Everyone is happy to complain, but few are willing to assume any responsibility…