Property Manager Obstructs Free Discussion at an HOA Community Meeting

UPDATE 8/21: A letter from the Office of the [Md] Attorney General helpfully offers: "Please let me know if you want our office to mediate your individual concerns. This office can mediate for an explanation as to why you were interrupted when speaking at a [Quail Valley HOA Community] meeting 'open form' ...." (See photo #4)

At this time, I chose not to seek mediation. At the most recent (August) Quail Valley HOA meeting, I was able to speak briefly and freely about the trial concerning Quail Valley HOA vs. Eric O. Segura. I will be optimistic and hope that's a sign that community members will be invited to speak, and allowed to speak about important matters at these community meetings in the future.

There is related work to do. One concern is how many community meetings will be held on Zoom each year. Community members, including board members, hold a range of opinions. I'm concerned that it's much easier to shut down homeowner speech at a Zoom meeting, as opposed to an in-person meeting at the community center. Let's have some more discussion about the pros and cons, Zoom vs. in-person meetings. How many meetings per year should be held on Zoom. All 12? 8? 6? Quarterly? If you wish, bring your thoughts to a community Listening Session (tentatively scheduled in Quail Valley for 7:00pm on Monday September 16 at the Community Center). We can make some time in our busy schedules to figure out how to uphold free speech and the democratic process in our community.

UPDATE 8/12: The minutes of a meeting should record what was said at that meeting. At the QV HOA board meeting this evening Aug 12, the board approved minutes of the last meeting that neglect to mention that I was interrupted at the earlier July 8th meeting. I asked for that info to be included in the minutes. No board member stepped up to amend the draft minutes to include my concern; two board members were absent, maybe they would have helped me. This is a discouraging moment. The HOA board members should not squelch news (a simple announcement) about their lawsuit aimed against one of their neighbors. Community members need to know that this stuff is happening. Pretending that a conflict is not happening, and leaving no trace of it in the official record, is harmful and dysfunctional behavior in any organization. We can do better.

Preamble: Residents will hold a press conference (8:00 am) and a court watch (starting 9:00 am) in support of the Segura Family on August 7, 2024 at the the Maryland District Court in Rockville. We'll also launch a petition. Rain or shine.

We would like to thank the Quail Valley HOA's property manager for assisting with the management of the landscape on various projects (e.g., the removal of hazardous trees; preventing illegal fireworks displays) over the last few months. We wish that labor could be the starting ground for a better working relationship that would focus on the real, on-the-ground challenges that our community faces every day.

I am a homeowner and thus a member of the Quail Valley HOA, which comprises 529 households. I'm neither a lawyer nor a member of our board of directors. Our HOA board hired a property management company to help manage our community. At the July 8th Community Meeting (on Zoom), the property manager interrupted my brief statement during the "open forum" portion of the meeting, when all residents are free to speak. He spoke while I was speaking.

My statement was this:

“I request that this be entered into the Minutes of this meeting: Our association, Quail Valley HOA, is taking one of its members, Eric Segura, to court on Wednesday August 7, 2024, to extract from him $5,148 for “dead/bare grass” on his lawn. For six years, this HOA has denied this family their passes to the community pool.”

The manager interrupted by saying,

“Steve, I know what you are trying to do, but this is a matter for the attorneys … (etc).”

And then he continued to speak over the top of me. But I continued to speak, and said,

"Quail Valley HOA v. Eric Olea Segura is a matter of public record. This is information to which our common community needs to pay attention. It is an upcoming civil case in Maryland District Court."

We were speaking at the same time on the Zoom call. This obstruction of a community member’s statement was both rude and illegal. Our board of directors hired this company to assist the board in managing the community, not to obstruct its legitimate business, not to stifle member input at our own monthly meeting, and not to cancel our First Amendment right to free speech.

Earlier in the day, at 6:40 AM on the morning of the Community Meeting, while acting in good faith, I sent an email to the board president and property manager, asking them to announce, at the meeting, the HOA's civil lawsuit against Mr. Segura. I asked them to please include that concern on the meeting's agenda. (Note 1) Basically, I was inviting the board to explain, in its own words, the legal action it has taken against Mr. Segura. Instead, the board members made no announcement, and the property manager squelched my attempt to speak about it.

In fact, at the meeting, no board member raised their voice to object to the manager's interruption; I expected assistance at that moment and got none. All of this behavior is consistent with that of a "bully" (namely, the HOA board of directors) who is trying to keep his abusive behavior hidden behind a closed door. The property manager is doing their bidding.

Looking ahead, the August 12 meeting will be held in person at our Quail Valley Community Center at 7:00pm. I hope I can speak briefly, without interruption, at that meeting about these matters. I encourage all Quail Valley HOA homeowners to attend, observe, and participate in our Community Meeting each month. (Note 2) On August 12, the board will read and approve the Minutes of the July meeting. I expect my words (in italics, above) to be included in the Minutes of the July meeting, as well as the fact that the property manager interrupted my speech. We are requesting that the whole community, not just the board members, receive a copy of the draft Minutes of the July meeting–so that we can perhaps suggest revisions before it's "approved." What is being left out of these Minutes?

It is our right, as members of this HOA, to publicly discuss all of these matters, and to request that our HOA board of directors hire a different property management company at the first opportunity, preferably one that is not also a debt collection company. We must remember that all actions of the vendors hired by the HOA (the property management, debt collection services, the court attorney, etc.) are ultimately, by state law, the responsibility of the members of the HOA board of directors. It is to them that we must appeal. They are our neighbors.

It is my opinion that our Quail Valley HOA's action against Mr. Segura is an attack on that Hispanic American family’s economic security, their credit rating, bank account, and home equity. (Note 3) It's also a risk to our HOA budget, as it is likely to increase the “attorney fees” and “bad debt” line items, which we all pay with our monthly assessment, and which may increase as a result of this fiasco.

Our HOA has a record of attacking its own members in court and losing. This upcoming aggressive legal action by our HOA board is both harmful and shameful. It deserves our full attention in this HOA common community, and wide public discussion. (Note 4) We have a right and a duty to speak about this situation in our community.

Steven Sellers Lapham is a 24-year resident of Quail Valley HOA in Montgomery County, MD, and author of the "Living on Cuckoo Court" blogs at tinyurl.com/CuckooCourt

NOTES:

1) My email of Aug. 8th read:"Dear [Property Manager]:
A sixth item for the HOA to announce this evening: the QV HOA is taking one of its members, Eric Segura, to court on August 7, 2024, as he allegedly owes the HOA $5,158. The board ought to make this announcement at its meeting, and the announcement should be recorded in the meeting Minutes. If there is any reason to suppress that information, it would be interesting to know why.
I can announce the trial if the board members are unwilling to mention it this evening, but it is their proper responsibility to do so, and to attend the trial themselves on August 7.
Thank you, Steve Lapham

2) While there can be advantages to holding board meetings online, there are also disadvantages. Homeowners cannot fully witness communication of important community issues. “It’s more difficult to read body language, to survey the room and see who else is attending and to gauge their reactions.” HOAs often control the microphones unfairly. Some HOA members lack knowledge of how to participate in a virtual meeting. Others may not have a reliable internet service provider. Neighbors need to meet one another face-to-face. (Quote from independentamericancommunities.com/2024/02/19/four-new-hoa-and-adu-laws-for-california-homeowners/) The July 8th meeting was held online. The August 12 meeting is slated to be held at the Community Center.

3) Case # 06-01-0011083-2021). PHOTO: This court announcement, the image captured on July 9, 2024, is at https://casesearch.courts.stat...

4) I invited the property management company to offer a written response to an earlier version of this article, but received no reply as we prepared to post. I'm sending copies of this article to the county and state elected officials that represent our district, as well as to the Montgomery County Commission on Common Ownership (CCOC), the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, and to Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown. ** *** **