Lisa Arpi Tashjian

In revising our CC&Rs Ms Tashjian guided our board in presenting to our community a highly prolix, more than an inch thick, complicated revision of the CC&Rs and By-laws that resulted in shifting a massive amount of known problematic maintenance issues and balcony water intrusion problems directly to... homeowners, this while indemnifying the HOA from all future issues relating to these problems; problems that had previously resulted in litigation and costs exceeding $200,000. These changes were buried deep in the document, a document that most homeowners will find extremely difficult to comprehend in the event they should take the time to read it. Ms. Tashjian in representing the board vehemently refused my personal request as a homeowner to properly alert fellow homeowners to the nature of the proposed changes in simple language after being made well aware that homeowners were apathetic to the HOA and highly unlikely to either read the complicated and intimidating inch- thick legal document, or understand it if they should. She nastily stated that it's every homeowners responsibility to know what's in the revisions. And, that if they vote without knowing, that's their problem. On the recommendations of the board, that not once mentioned the massive shift to homeowners of numerous maintenance responsibilities and liabilities in its notices to the community, homeowners voted to approve the revisions. To my mind, these tactics were deceptive and purposeful in their intent to take advantage of homeowners known to be apathetic to the HOA. This abuse is so common that Arizona passed legislation requiring that ALL revisions to HOA governing documents be outlined in clear and simple language in a document separate and apart from the revised documents themselves. Recognized HOA law expert David Swedelson recently wrote an article on such shifts stating that they were a bad idea and highly likely to result in neglected maintenance, litigation, and homeowner conflicts. So far, our board has made no attempt to either alert homeowners to their new responsibilities, or to perform inspections insuring that the maintenance is being properly performed by homeowners. Of course, individual homeowners are unlikely to perform the required maintenance, after all, who moves into a condo expecting to have to perform maintenance and be responsible for leaky balconies and doors and windows.