Installed a Tesla charger in my condo garage. Other owners are forcing me to remove it. Thoughts?

[drawfour]

Why borrow trouble? I know, this was likely a joke.
Making people resent something they see as 'special treatment' is the way laws get changed.
Educate them, don't rub their nose in it. Especially since they are your neighbors.

Yeah it was. I wouldn't actually recommend doing that because he still has to live next to them, and you never know when he'll have a problem that he needs the HOA to help with in the future. It's best to just show them the law, and tell them firmly, but respectfully, that he is legally allowed to install it, so he will be keeping it.

But if he did want to do a mic drop, I'd recommend recording it.

 

[TaoJones]

A good goat slaughtering sounds like just what the offending board member needs. Problem is he probably doesn’t own goats.

The OP has a golden opportunity here to a) educate the neighbors with a one-pager and copy of the statute, and b) to retire as president.

Although if they won’t listen to reason, I’d let them go to the trouble of a recall in the face of the statute.

Hopefully, a little education smooths the waters and everyone can go back to counting light bulbs and kvetching about CAM costs.

After all, it’s worth noting that within 10 years, half of those neighbors may well drive EVs too - and they’d probably like a place to charge them - perhaps even at home.

And agreed - HOAs are the Antichrist of organizations.

 

[Candleflame]

i hope there are cameras in the condo because someone will probably key your car in the future......

 

[bhzmark]

It's only 8 units. Tell tell each of them you want to apologize to each of them individually, while letting them test drive your new model 3.

 

[TaoJones]

It's only 8 units. Tell tell each of them you want to apologize to each of them individually, while letting them test drive your new model 3.

That is both brilliant and an excellent use of a referral code in the end (at the bottom of a top 10 FUDbuster 1-pager), along with leaving each of them a highlighted copy of the statute and a couple of referrals for good electricians plus a how-to for the permit/inspection process as needed.

With really good cookies. Education always goes better with cookies. 3 regular, 3 sugar-free, 3 gluten-free. And no nuts. Can’t be too careful these days.

 

[davewill]

You DID abuse your power. "Mentioning" it at the meetings doesn't cut it. You should have followed the proper procedure, then you wouldn't be in this pickle. Unlike everyone else in this thread, I think you'll end up having to remove the install, THEN follow procedure. It would be different if they had turned you down, or had approved it, then tried to raise a stink. You would then have had the law on your side.

I'd kiss up to whomever you need to to try and get them to let you approve after the fact.

 

[RubberToe]

You DID abuse your power. "Mentioning" it at the meetings doesn't cut it. You should have followed the proper procedure, then you wouldn't be in this pickle. Unlike everyone else in this thread, I think you'll end up having to remove the install, THEN follow procedure. It would be different if they had turned you down, or had approved it, then tried to raise a stink. You would then have had the law on your side.

I'd kiss up to whomever you need to to try and get them to let you approve after the fact.

This could be the case. The issue with getting lawyers involved is that money starts disappearing real fast, and it doesn't stop. I have served on HOA boards as both president and treasurer. The absolute last thing any board ever wants to do is get involved in litigation of any sort. That is the last resort.

A prior board at the condo complex I live in had a couple board members who were "litigation happy". Someone had violated a minor CCR covenant, and instead of working the issue with the owner, decided to go the legal route. Turns out the owner in question had a lot of spare cash, and didn't like being told what to do. So after several years and about $50,000 in wasted legal expenses the owner sold his unit and skipped out. End of story, no legal recourse to recover the $50,000. Lots of hand wringing over whether to keep pouring money to the lawyers in order to recover the expended funds...

Lesson learned was: Only the President of the HOA is allowed to initiate contact with the legal team (at $425 per hour), and only after being authorized by the board. Ever since that happened, I have run for and been elected to every HOA board at the complex, despite the job having no pay and the source of incredible frustration, for the sole purpose of insuring that the board does not cork off six figure reserve amounts because someone thinks getting lawyers involved is going to be the right thing to do.

My $0.02. Curious to see how the OP's situation works out.

RT

 

[Electroman]

Making you remove the charger vs the HOA removing the charger is just semantics.

It is like someone pointing a gun at you, and forcing you jump off a cliff.

If this keeps up you can just claim its a religious symbol and your car is the temple.

Just tell them you are now in the "Cult of Elon".

Maybe slaughter a goat every month and smoke it for the Condo Association and do some weird chant about referral links to strangers.... they will believe you - when they see you in the wee hours of the morning rubbing down your temple with microfiber towel, carefully cleaning the windows and running out to check which firmware version has downloaded, or you sitting in your driveway for an hour after work listening to music or talking to friends with the "engine" running in the garage. Also doing the "feel the force Luke" trick for the neighborhood kids while you summon the car... They really should have made the key fob a nice carbon fiber ink pen.... so we can wave it around like Dumbledore...

Funny. I literally laughed out loud reading this

 

[David29]

i agree with the notion that your action probably did abuse your role as president. So maybe you should resign, or at least offer to, and apologize for that., and then fight it as a homeowner using the CA law about charging. You will need a lawyer, though, i think. If the CA law supersedes the condo rules, that will be an important factor in resolving it.
You need to separate your role as board member/president from your role as a property owner while you resolve this.
Good luck. I live in a condo myself, and it took me a year to get approval. My situation was physically more complicated than yours, but at least i did not face accusations of conflict of interest as a board member.

 

[miimura]

You DID abuse your power. "Mentioning" it at the meetings doesn't cut it. You should have followed the proper procedure, then you wouldn't be in this pickle. Unlike everyone else in this thread, I think you'll end up having to remove the install, THEN follow procedure. It would be different if they had turned you down, or had approved it, then tried to raise a stink. You would then have had the law on your side.

I'd kiss up to whomever you need to to try and get them to let you approve after the fact.

I actually agree with this. I have been the president of a small HOA (~50 units). The OP did not follow the normal procedure that would be required for any other member of the association. He should have put it on the agenda for a properly noticed meeting and sought a vote of approval from the other board members. Now he has to ask forgiveness and approval after the fact. I understand why the other association members don't trust him.

 

[ArizonaP85]

I actually agree with this. I have been the president of a small HOA (~50 units). The OP did not follow the normal procedure that would be required for any other member of the association. He should have put it on the agenda for a properly noticed meeting and sought a vote of approval from the other board members. Now he has to ask forgiveness and approval after the fact. I understand why the other association members don't trust him.

Oh you guys should get over it. This is a small 8 unit building, not a 40 story tower. One small hole drilled in a wall for a charger half the size of a kid's school backpack mounted on the wall in HIS parking space! And California law apparently prevents HOAs from blocking installation.

I bet the real problem is lack of understanding by the complainer - wrongly thinking that other owners would somehow pay for OP's electricity.

OP talked about it at a meeting and no one in such a small building cared until one complainer stirred things up. No abuse here (except by the complainer), move along, move along.

OP: just stress that YOU pay for the juice and statute allows it. If the other 6 owner besides the complainer have the sense God gave little ducks, they'll forget about the whole thing.

Good luck!

 

[TheLocNar]

I’ll bet you anything their beef isn’t the equipment, but that you didn’t follow proper procedure. While the law may be on your side, code of conduct/procedure is on theirs. Always do what you can to be a good neighbor. Just my $0.02.

 

[Eclectic]

Don't assume that California law is so clear in this particular case. The process required in the law is there for a reason...some HOAs have very particular design standards. The law required the OP to submit the application for approval to the HOA as if it were an architectural modification to the building.

As a practical matter, I agree that the HOA is being ridiculous. As a legal matter, though, the HOA is not without a case. In fact, they could have a strong case if they argue that had the application been submitted, they would have had conditions to approval, such as having the charger installed in this location rather than that one, with some sort of covering, etc. It might all seem like BS to lots of people, but if the HOA wants to fight OP, they really do have grounds under the law.

It will be an expensive fight and one that may result in OP having to relocate the charger or make modifications. Again, I'm not saying that relocation would be logical, but if the HOA wants to be obstinate and they can articulate a reason for why the installation would have been different had it been submitted for approval, there's a good chance they will prevail...to the extent they force OP to incur even more expenses to have the installation done as they want it done.

 

[animorph]

Looking over the newsletter from my son's much larger HOA, they have had several owners make changes to their property without prior approval. Providing the changes otherwise met the rules and were OK with the proper committees, they were approved after the fact but the owner also had to pay a fine, like $250. That seemed fairly reasonable and could provide a "punishment" for the OP that would make his mistake more palatable. Don't want everyone making changes and then seeking approval.

 

[davewill]

Oh you guys should get over it. This is a small 8 unit building, not a 40 story tower. One small hole drilled in a wall for a charger half the size of a kid's school backpack mounted on the wall in HIS parking space! And California law apparently prevents HOAs from blocking installation.

I bet the real problem is lack of understanding by the complainer - wrongly thinking that other owners would somehow pay for OP's electricity.

OP talked about it at a meeting and no one in such a small building cared until one complainer stirred things up. No abuse here (except by the complainer), move along, move along.

OP: just stress that YOU pay for the juice and statute allows it. If the other 6 owner besides the complainer have the sense God gave little ducks, they'll forget about the whole thing.

Good luck!

Being a small association likely made it worse rather than better. A big association would have professional management and clear rules, and probably less emotion and personality conflict. Also, the install would likely never have gone forward without proper approval.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Can we see a photo of the conduit and 'hole' for the charger? Is it a shared parking garage or connected to the house? How much of the modifications really impact other owners (visually)?

(not that any of these things matter, it just would be nice to see what we're actually talking about.)

 

[Graffi]

OP, what was the outcome? I suspect it is all resolved by now. Please let us know or we will continue with page after page of speculation....

 

[mkspeedr]

One great thing about California. A great lawyer usually beats the state laws.

Sadly it usually costs more than following the law

 

[BrokerDon]

One great thing about California. A great lawyer usually beats the state laws.

Sadly it usually costs more than following the law

Yup. Best example is O.J. Simpson and his Kardashian / Cockran / et al team of attorneys.

 

[TaoJones]

Did I miss the goat slaughtering? They said there would be goat slaughtering.
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Red staplers for everybody.