Pass the Ammo - Is it time yet?

I realize that board members are volunteers, with no training or knowledge on the legalities of a community or interpreting of financial statements.   To help with those short comings property management companies are hired.  At least that is the theory behind the requirements written into some declarations.  So, why do HOA boards not posses the knowledge of basic business principles that is common knowledge to so many of us?  It makes me wonder if they have ever paid bills or had to work for their money?  It's time to restore common sense to our communities. 

When boards need an influx of income to cover up spending.  They become very strict on enforcements, raise fines, and are quick to send owners to an attorney for collections or bogus fines.  It's the watch this hand while the other hand robs you blind trick.

Our board became concerned about past due fines.  I'm not sure where they got the amount of unpaid fines from, since the management company reversed about half of the fines assessed in one year alone.  Instead of researching to ensure that the past due A/R matched the past due fines they showed.  They just made the most ridiculous rule change that the membership went along with.  

What the membership was told that because one owner got 20 plus violation in 12 months that the rule change was needed.  One owner, that is it, one new owner; someone who is not familiar with the rules or even with having a garage.  It's scary because the membership bought it. 

The rule change was to cut down on the number of violation letters the management company could charge us for.  My guess is because someone thinks they should not have to pay for a letter because someone else did something wrong.  Causing this rule change to become approved.  The board decided to eliminate fines and give one warning letter and on the second occurrence of the same violation in a 12 month period.  The owner would get an attorney authored violation notice at the owners expense.  Some owners approved the rule change without even knowing how much the letter would cost.  At the meeting the question was asked and the amount quoted is no where near the cost. 

The old rule if an owner got 20 violation for the same thing the fines were; first letter is free, second $25.00, third $50, forth $75.00, fifth $100.00, sixth $150.00 and each one there after.  Twenty violations is (15 x 150) + 25.00 + 50.00 + 75.00 + 100.00 = $2,500.00.  The cost to send 20 violation letters is $150.00.  A basic business principle says that you offset as much cost as you can without eating into profits.  Therefore, fines offset the cost of enforcement letters.  $2,500.00 - $150.00 = $2,350.00.   $2,350.00 / $7.50 = 313 meaning that because we send one free violation notice for every first violation for rule to every owner.  There is a possible to incur the cost of sending several thousand notices with no fines attached.  But, on average we send out about 330 violation notices a year.  Meaning that $2,500.00 in fines would offset all the notices send out in one year.

The new rule means the association has no hope of offsetting any costs associated with violation notices, period.  Granted fines were not intended to profit from by increasing the fines 2 fold or 5 fold.  They were intended to provide a benefit of income to offset the expense burden.  I'm actually surprised it has to worded so elementary for people to get it.  The new rule offers no advantage to the association because we now pay an hourly rate of $270.00 per hours for the attorney to write a letter that used to cost us $25.00 and offset violation notices sent out.  There is no common sense or intelligence behind this rule change.  Only the attorney and the management company who has a secrete partnership with the attorney for referral fees benefits from this rule change. 

Is it time to pass the ammo, NOW?