Unenforced Condo Rules Destroys Quality of Life for All Residents

C.F. from Hartford County, Connecticut writes:

Dear Mister Condo,

I have lived in this condo for 45 years. One of the HOA rules is one small dog (no Pit Bulls, Rottweilers). If you had 2 dogs when this rule was implemented (20 years ago) you were grandfathered. One of the board members recently acquired another small dog…these dogs are BARKERS…..she is an owner…..the renter above her who moved in has a PITBULL 2 doors down from me and barks all day long…we complained to the management and he said he would take care of it but then all of a sudden decided it was too much hassle and that is because the board member below said no we can’t do that even though she broke the rules and never even had a dog until maybe 10 years or so ago…there are more renters with multiple dogs also…..my question…can he do this without notifying us or voting on it? Also the yearly budget wasn’t mailed out to most of us except for the board members …he did email it to me when I asked… Is he allowed to do this without notifying us? Like I said 45 YEARS and now retired and have to listen to this daily…they also have 8 people living there and brought cockroaches to our building… never seen one in CT till this past summer with them… just looking for some advice…thank you!

Mister Condo replies:

C.F., condo association rules are only as valid as those tasked with enforcing them. In the 45 years you have lived in your condo I am guessing you have seen quite a few different Board members come and go. The good ones understand that a lack of rules enforcement leads to the type of quality of life decay you are now experiencing. The bad ones simply look the other way when the rules are violated putting owners like you in a really bad position as your quality of enjoyment is suffering. The only practical solution here is to elect Board Members that will restore the community’s integrity by enforcing the rules. If that isn’t possible, nothing will change. If the Board isn’t going to consistently enforce the rules, residents that don’t care about the rules, the ones you have described here, will simply do whatever they want with no consequences. As time passes, it will be even more difficult to enforce the rules. This will require a proactive Board to get involved, act against the rule violators, and restore the quality of life for all residents. Short of that, I would expect things to stay the same or get even worse. After all, if no one is going to enforce the rules, what’s to stop even more people from breaking them? Good luck!