My association notified us in writing that the current resident (one member of an LLC that owns the condo) had violated a rule of the association when his girlfriend went to the community pool unaccompanied by an owner or tenant. We then received a notice of a “Fining Committee Meeting” that would be held on July 28th, for “unaccompanied guest at pool”. We acknowledged that she unknowingly violated this rule and that she had indeed been to the pool on two occasions without being accompanied and that it would not happened again. We requested that the hearing could be rescheduled because I was out of state and the association refused to do so, therefore I did not attend and the meeting was held. During the weeks that preceded this, the resident was being continually harassed in numerous ways. This including 1) inviting 3 guests to a dinner party (owners are allowed to have 6 guests at common areas) at his individual unit, not the common grounds, and the gate guard allowed only 2 cars in and told the resident that he had “enough” guests and denied entrance to the other car forcing the resident to take all of them to dinner. 2) approaching the residents girlfriend in the parking lot and asking to “see” her gate key, then confiscating it. 3) Being verbally assaulted and harassed in public in the parking lot in front of his girlfriend by the Association President, telling him to “move out, the sooner the better”. The owner did after these incidents move out of the property, resulting in monetary loss from his contributions to the LLC. A demand letter was sent to the Association by us on August 23, for monetary losses as a result of their negligent interference with a contractual/business relationship. According to the Rules, the association can assess a fine of $100 per day for not more than $1,000 total. On September 15, we received a “Fine Hearing Results Notice” that we were being assessed a fine of $1,000 for “Unaccompanied Guest at Pool”, and $1,000 for “Unapproved Tenants in your Unit”, for a total of $2,000. We were not given notification that the hearing committee would also hear a case for the Unapproved Tenant. My question is, 1) According to the By-laws the Association has 21 days to notify an owner of any charges assessed after a hearing. The fining committee hearing was held on July 28th, and the results were mailed on September 15, well over 21 days, does that negate the fine? It appears like retaliation, since our demand letter preceded this. 2) Since I was not present at the Fining Committee when I had my Due Process chance because I was out of state and they wouldn’t reschedule, do I have any ability to argue this point now? The office manager stated the girlfriend was seen at the pool twice, we admitted she was there twice, and I am happy to pay the $100 per day for a total of $200, but to fine us $1,000 because a tenant’s girlfriend laid at the pool two times is absurd. 3) The girlfriend maintained residency at another address which we have documented while they were dating. Although she visited him 3 or 4 times a week, she never re-established her residence, received mail there, moved her furniture there, nor ever had a car parked there. Another $1,000 because of having a girlfriend, not an “unapproved tenant! His residency began April 1st and the harassment began almost immediately, until he moved out the first of July. There is nothing in the bylaws that limit the number of hours or days a friend can stay, only the number of friends. I asked for a copy of the “minutes” from the fining committee and was told they don’t keep minutes. How can I obtain what "evidence" they used to assess this fine (since I know there isn't any) What can I do now that the fine has been imposed? When do you consider going to the State Attorney under the RICO act?
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