It’s unfortunate that an attempt to “handle issues in a neighborly way” went awry for Joseph Coletti as an active board member of his neighborhood Homeowner’s Association.

In my experience with the Kelly West HOA, some simple steps can be taken by homeowners to avoid confrontations and misunderstandings with their neighborhood associations:

1. Prior to purchasing a home, ask your Realtor if the neighborhood has an HOA. If it does, request a copy of the covenants and architectural guidelines. Review them before making a buying decision. Our Kelly West documents can be obtained via kellywest hoa.org. In our neighborhood, some residents moved in without being properly educated by their Realtors at closing about what an HOA is, that its core mission is to increase property values through enforcing a shared set of rules, and, most importantly, being furnished with this pair of important documents.

2. Once you buy, seek out the HOA president or a board member and inquire about meeting days and times. Attend the next meeting, introduce yourself, and ask any questions that you may have. Inquire about open positions and consider joining the board during the next yearly meeting.

3. Before you make any exterior changes to your home (fence, shed, paint, landscaping, driveway, etc.), consult your covenants and ARC documents for guidance. Ask your board members if you have any questions. Many HOAs ask homeowners to request permission before moving ahead with some of these projects, so be sure to add this step into your time lines and decision making before moving ahead.

4. Remember that your HOA is run by volunteers who do their best to stay up-to-date with their communities as a whole. Unfortunately, many do not have the time to pay personal visits to their homeowners, who number from 100-500 or more based on their neighborhood size. As a result, they must rely on a contracted community management company to advise the board on legal issues and handle enforcement of the community’s shared rules.

5. If you receive a letter from such a company advising you of an issue with your home, be sure to call them back in a timely manner to discuss the issue at hand, discuss next steps to meet your obligations as a homeowner or to request a review, and keep the lines of communication open going forward to avoid fines or other possible punitive measures.

If our Realtors stepped up to educate their clients about HOAs and their roles and rules, and our neighbors took a few minutes to obtain and read their covenants and ARC documents, many challenges and misunderstandings could be avoided when it comes to our community associations. We’re lucky to have a positive, professional HOA in Kelly West and in most communities across Apex and the Triangle, and their hard work results in increased property values and civility in their communities.