HOAs Respond to Extensive Storm Damage

Storm season has arrived early and often in North Texas.  If your homeowners are hit with extensive damage, your Board of Directors or ACC Committee should consider making some special allowances for homeowners faced with damage repairs.

For example, one board has waived ACC submissions for external paint repairs  as long as the paint is replaced with the same color. Some ACC committees have convened a special team to review and act upon storm related damage applications within 1-2 business days.  Notification has been sent to owners on how to flag applications as STORM DAMAGE and submit documents for review.

Another association sent a letter to owners outlining a temporary suspension of violations, such as:

The violations are being suspended for 120 days for the following: 

• Roof/shingles (damaged/missing)
• Fascia/Soffit damage
• Chimney damage
• Shutters
• Windows/Window frames
• Fence damage
• Garage doors
• Exterior light fixtures
• Solar panels
• Most exterior damage, except for weeds

The requirements waived for ACC requests are for the following: 

• The shingle type/color doesn’t change
• Replaced shutters are the same type/color
• Front doors are the same color
• The fence height/material remains the same

If it is a new fence and you are staining it, the ACC request for staining is waived if the following pre-approved stains are used: (Be specific about what is allowed!)

1. Olympic (http://www.olympic.com/color/stain-color-and-finish)
   a. Clears (any)
   b.  Toners: Cedar Natural tone, Honey Gold
   c.  Semi-Transparent: Cedar Naturaltone 716; Sierra 700 Naturaltone; Fir/Pine 718; Olive Brown  Light Oak 909. 
2.  Cabot (http://www.cabotstain.com/colors-and-finishes/families/Semi-Transparent-Colors.html) a.   Semi-Transparent: Desert Sands, Cavalry New Cedar, Frontier Bark Mulch 
3.  Behr (http://www.behr.com/consumer/colors/stain) (Select Semi-Transparent or Transparent, click on color and it gives you name/number to the left)
   a. Semi-Transparent: Cedar ST-146; Cedar Naturaltone ST-533
   b. Transparent: Cedar Naturaltone 501/401; Golden Honey T-170, Chocolate T-129; Natural Sequoia T-172

Spring storm events, whether rain and flooding, hail, high winds, or tornadoes, require weeks and months of work and recovery to restore the community.  It's an opportunity to build good will with neighbors and address these, and other service outage and damage events in your community's disaster recovery plan.

Contact your association manager for assistance to plan and communicate a timely response to storms and emergencies in your community.