Residents of a large San Jose condo complex are celebrating after successfully ousting the HOA board they say was responsible for hitting residents with tens of thousands of dollars in excessive and petty fines over the past two years.
After the board’s critics gathered enough signatures to force a recall vote, all but one of the HOA’s previous board members – who had been in place for more than a decade, according to residents – were voted out last week.
“I feel so excited,” said Alberto Hernandez, who was selected to be one of the new incoming board members. “I’m happy because we received a lot of support from all of the neighbors and people who have been with us since the beginning.”
As NBC Bay Area reported in February, the controversy stems from a wave of recent fines that residents say went overboard and amounted to harassment. They also had privacy concerns about new security cameras installed across the complex and inspectors who they say routinely climb up on rooftops to spot violations within private patio areas.
Residents said they tried to reason with the HOA’s previous board to no avail, so they took matters into their own hands.
“Honestly, they gave us no other option,” said Liliana Alvarez, one of the organizers of the recall effort who was also elected to a board position. “It was either we do the recall, or we would be stuck with them.”
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Homeowners and renters alike say they had been slammed with expensive fines that came without warning, for issues such as leaving garbage cans out too long, patio umbrellas that were the wrong color, or unattended vehicles outside their garage. Multiple residents say they were fined even when the parked car wasn’t theirs.
The fines, some say, were becoming an extreme financial burden on the community.
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Alvarez has been hit with 10 fines and owed nearly $2,000. Hernandez had racked up nearly $3,000 in parking violations alone, he said.
Both new board members say they plan on making changes to the HOA’s rules and business practices and will explore whether they can wipe clean any fines that haven’t yet been paid by residents.
Alvarez said people should get an opportunity to correct violations before having to shell out money to the HOA or its property management company.
“Just send a warning,” she said. “I feel like that way it’s going to give everybody an opportunity to know, ‘Ok, I’m not supposed to be doing this’ and correct it.”
Neither the complex’s former property management company, which was recently replaced, nor a representative of the former HOA board have responded to NBC Bay Area’s request for comment.
While the process has been an ordeal, Alvarez said, she hopes it brings the community closer together.
“Together I think we can make this community safe without having to fine people to make it safe or make people follow the rules,” she said.
