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March 24, 2006
Creaking Bed - Worthy of Fine?
Here is a problem that is more common than you can imagine. The question posed to me on the website was: "My HOA has levied a fine against me because my bed creaks; can they do that?"
In California, before a Board can impose a fine on any owner there are steps required to provide the owner with a fair opportunity to present their side of the situation. Civil Code Section 1363(h) says: " When the board of directors is going to meet to consider or impose discipline upon a member, the board shall notify the member in writing, by either personal delivery or first-class mail, at least 10 days prior to the meeting. The notification shall contain, at a minimum, the date, time, and place of the meeting, the nature of the alleged violation for which a member may be disciplined, and a statement that the member has a right to attend and may address the board at the meeting. The board of directors of the association shall meet in executive session if requested by the member being disciplined. If the board imposes discipline on a member, the board shall provide the member a written notification of the disciplinary action, by either personal delivery or first-class mail, within 15 days following the action. A disciplinary action shall not be effective unless the board fulfills the requirements of this subdivision."
This law does not require that the Board wait until an owner can attend the meeting, or compromise the date (although there are many boards that try to accomodate an owner) It does, however, require that the Board do its due diligence and actually consider the matter at a meeting that the homeowner is invited to, and requires a timely written decision.
Now to the creaking bed. This is really not much different than a situation where someone in a below unit has to listen to beds moving across a wood floor, the headboard hitting the wall, or other "bedroom" noises. Believe it or not, these are fairly common complaints. Wny? Because many condominiums and townhouses with up/down units do not have very good soundproofing, or because owners install hard surface flooring such as hardwood or laminate, and do not put rubber casters under the bed, or because owners are not sensitive to the fact that the downstairs neighbors have to listen to everything above a whisper in the bedroom when the units are "stacked" on one another. Its a common complaint (the nighttime noise) when a day sleeper lives below a night person or insomniac who watches tv all hours of the night. Nighttime flushing of a toilet or running a shower can drive the neighbors below crazy. These kind of complaints seem to be exacerbated in a condominium conversion, or development that does not prohibit installation of flooring materials that increase sound transmission between units. The question is: What should a board do about these noises?
To be pragmatic, the Board has to look at whether there is a violation of the governing documents. There is often a nuisance clause that prohibits activities that "disturb the quiet enjoyment" of the neighbors. And a situation like any of the above puts the Board in the very difficult position of determining what is reasonable nighttime noise. There may be a prohibition on hardwood, laminate or tiled flooring surfaces in the living room and bedroom. If someone installs the product without approval, there may be recourse in that area. In any event, the Board's position is not an enviable one, and the owner who lives below is not in an enviable position either. It is really up to the owner who lives above to make a reasonable accomodation if some condition in their unit is causing extra noise. But sometimes the lower unit owner can help themselves by either working with the upstairs owner, asking for courtesies about what shoes are (or are not) worn on the floors, what action is encouraged or discouraged of children, or creating a source of "white noise" in their own space .
Maybe in the case of the creaking bed, ordering that it be repaired was not unreasonable. The owner commented that she did not feel the board should fine her when it was not her fault that the bed was broken (apparently it was broken bhy movers).
So there you are. You be the judge here - to fine or not to fine.
Posted by Beth Grimm at March 24, 2006 9:10 PM