questions & answers

Question: I moved into a condo where the walls are extremely thin. I am a middle unit and have no problems with the unit to my left, but the noise to my right. HOA board members, neighbors, and police officers have been in my unit to witness the noise. The noisy neighbor is a renter. We had a mandatory meeting with myself (owner), the renters, the HOA board,and the other owner, to no avail. The HOA wants me to get incident numbers for every time I make a noise complaint (at least 2x/wk). They say they fine the owner per complaint, but this has been continuous since Nov. It's Aug. What can I d0?

Answer: As a general rule, under Arizona law (A.R.S. Title 33, Chapter 9) these sorts of matters are governed by the rules and regulations of each HOA. So as long as you have submitted a formal complaint in writing to your HOA, and your HOA, in response to your letter, has submitted a formal complaint of its own in writing to the owner of the other condo unit (and provided that owner with an adequate opportunity to address the noise issue with his/her tenants), then your HOA can do whatever its bylaws permit to encourage/compel the owner of the other condo unit to act. You may wish to (1) ask for and read through a copy of your HOA’s bylaws and other rules and regulations to see exactly what each condo unit owner’s obligations are and what your HOA’s enforcement options are and (2) ask for copies of all correspondence (letters, fines imposed, etc.) between your HOA and the owner of the other condo unit. This will allow you to determine whether or not your HOA is doing everything within its power to address the noise issue.