There’s no doubt that as a whole, Americans are stressed out. Too often, frayed nerves can cause people to take out their frustrations on their neighbors.
With people living closer together than ever, even in single-family homes, neighbors often butt heads. That’s why HOAS need to have a clear harassment policy in place – and to enforce it consistently and fairly.
Defining harassment
It’s critical to clarify what is considered harassment in a community. Typically, it includes:
- Verbal abuse, such as offensive and derogatory words directed at someone
- Threats of violence (written or verbal)
- Sexual harassment (particularly unwanted touching)
- Assault
To be defined as harassment, the offender typically must intend their behavior to be offensive. Everyone can slip up and say something unkind or fail to realize that their behavior (like playing loud music) is bothering someone else. Using racial or other discriminatory slurs or intentionally causing someone to feel afraid is indeed harassment.
It’s also important to ensure that people know how and where to report harassment if they’re unable to resolve the matter with their neighbor. The HOA should also outline specific steps that it’ll take when it receives a valid harassment complaint.
Just telling neighbors to call the police on one another for behavior that doesn’t threaten their safety, as some HOAs do, will likely only worsen the tension between neighbors. It’s also important to establish penalties, such as fines, that can be levied against a homeowner who fails to stop their behavior after receiving at least one written warning.
Does the HOA have a duty to act?
If a situation escalates to a point where one neighbor sues another, the HOA could also face liability if the organization knew about the problem and failed to act. Further, the federal Fair Housing Act states that HOAs can be held liable if they don’t “correct and end a discriminatory housing practice by a third-party” that they knew existed.
It’s important to enforce anti-harassment regulations consistently. It can help to put one person in charge. Enforcing these regulations against people who engage in harassment against one group while going easy on those who harass another group, for example, can lead to charges of discrimination, which is something no HOA wants to face.
Having experienced legal guidance while developing or modifying an anti-harassment policy and, as needed, as individual situations arise, can save an HOA considerable time, money and aggravation later.