SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 2018 | 7A
FLORENTINE from page 1A
Bad renters
The question on Florentine
Estates’ ballot asks whether or
not to amend the estates’ declara-
tion to change who can rent out
their properties. Currently, any-
one can rent out properties they
own, and manage them either by
themselves or through a property
management agency.
Currently, there are only a
smattering of homes that are ac-
tually rented out.
“I think we had upwards of
above a dozen at one time,” Nel-
son said. “I think we’re confident
it’s below that now. I know of two
rentals that have been put up for
sale and sold.”
Of the renters that have re-
mained, some residents have
stated they are creating problems
in the community.
“If there’s a problem that comes
to the board with a home, about
90 percent of the time it’s going to
be a renter,” Waide said.
He recalled a time when one
renter had children living in their
home. The neighbor felt that they
were making too much noise.
“The neighbor wanted to build
a fence to get rid of the noise,
but a fence doesn’t fit in the le-
gal standards that are set in our
guidelines. So, the board couldn’t
help her,” he said.
Nelson also stated that, on the
whole, renters have less incentive
to take care of their yard because
it’s not written into their lease
agreements.
Complicating the issue is that
Nelson can’t address any issues
with the renters themselves and
instead is required to deal direct-
ly with the owner of each proper-
ty. This creates a gap in the time it
takes to respond to a complaint,
especially when the homeowners
live in a different state and have a
“hands off ” attitude toward their
renters.
This is not to say that it’s a fre-
quent issue, according to Nelson.
In fact, he hasn’t really experi-
enced problems with renters, and
often doesn’t even know if a per-
son living in a unit is a renter or
not.
And not all renters are prob-
lems.
“We have a couple of renters in
here that are wonderful,” Waide
said.
“And it’s not that we don’t have
similar issues from homeown-
ers,” Nelson added.
There is also the possibility
that residents are more vocal
about issues regarding renters
while letting problems with local
owners slide.
Opponents of the measure be-
lieved that restricting rentals is
essentially throwing the baby out
with the bathwater, punishing all
those who rent — or plan to rent
— their properties.
Corporate takeover
Another fear that residents
have involving rentals involves a
postcard that was delivered by a
realty agency in Clackamas. “My
name is Jesse and I would like
to purchase your property,” the
postcard stated.
Those who called the phone
number on the card stated the in-
dividual offered to buy the prop-
erty and rent it back to them.
This created a fear by some
members that corporations
could come in, buy tons of prop-
erty and drastically change the
atmosphere of the community by
making it a majority rental estate.
The Siuslaw News attempted
to contact the realtor who sent
the postcard to see what their
motivation was behind buying
property, but did not receive a re-
sponse to inquiries.
“Scare tactics such as ‘outside
developers will take Florentine
over if rentals are allowed…’ are
being deployed by proponents to
influence votes,” one opponent of
the measure said.
Is such a takeover possible?
“If you ask me, if one corpo-
ration will come in here and buy
up a majority of the places and be
able to turn this into something
else, I would be hard pressed to
say ‘yes,’” Nelson said. He points
out that in the many years that
the community existed, no such
thing has occurred.
But in part, it was because of
those fears and complaints that
the measure to curtail who could
rent was created.
Banning rentals
The HOA’s own description of
the ballot measure can seem con-
fusing.
A packet about the vote that
was circulated by the HOA sug-
gests that rentals will be banned
altogether, with one header read-
ing “Arguments in favor of ban-
ning rentals.”
This has created concern in
rental owners that they can lose
their properties.
It has also raised hopes for
some “anti-renters” who believe
that the measure will forever ban
rentals in the estate.
Neither of these assertions are
correct. The measure exists not
to ban rentals, but to limit how
many are in the estate.
“They’re trying to make it so
there can’t be an excess of rent-
als,” Nelson said.
All current rentals are grand-
fathered in, though there are
caveats. If an owner sells their
rental property, the home would
then fall under the new rule. It
also states that after a lease is ter-
minated and a new lease is not
signed within four months, rent-
al rights will be taken away.
But Nelson and Waide believe
that renters will be given leeway.
“I was talking to a gentleman
who had long-term renters that
moved out,” Nelson said. “That
house hadn’t had anything done
to it for 10 years. Ironically, the
day after the renters left, a pipe
broke underneath the floor.
They had an extensive amount of
re-piping to do. The owners came
in and explained it could take me
six months to repair. I talked to
our board president, who said he
viewed [the rule] as meaning the
four months starting when the
home is ready to be rented.”
But after the repairs are done,
what would happen if they sim-
ply couldn’t find a person to fill
the vacancy?
“How
much
are
they
charging?” Waide asked.
Nelson said owners “might not
get the sympathy of the board” if
they are charging an exorbitant
amount for the rental.
Waide added, “I wouldn’t vote
to give them more time, unless
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they lower their rent.”
If someone is having difficulty
finding a tenant, both suggested
that the owners of the property
come to the board for help.
However, the question arose
about the creation of new rental
properties.
Another exception in the mea-
sure is the “economic hardship”
clause. For example, if a person
becomes ill and has to leave their
property for a long period of
time, they can come to the board
and ask to rent out their property
to help cover the bills.
“An economic hardship could
be the stock market crashing
again,” Nelson said. “It could be
a tsunami that knocks out ser-
vices here and you don’t have
any choice but to move back with
your kids.”
An example of this would be
the housing crash of 2008. In that
instance, many of the properties
in the estate became rental prop-
erties so owners could cover the
mortgage.
But the measure does not give
any specifics on what “economic
hardship” is.
“The wording of that will be
hammered out in rules and pro-
cedures,” Nelson said. “The mea-
sure is not meant to be 40 pages
long. The board is actively work-
ing on the procedures.”
If people are concerned, Nel-
son and Waide said they hope
that people will attend future
work sessions involving the pro-
cedures.
The next session with be held
on Monday, June 18, at the Flo-
rentine Estates main center.
Generally, these sessions have
had little participation, and both
Nelson and Waide hope that
more people show up and ex-
press their opinions.
The final concern with the
measure is that “economic hard-
ship” is left to the discretion of
the board. Because of that, some
people fear that rental exceptions
will only be given by the board to
people the board likes.
“There are people that are ex-
pressing fear that the board is try-
ing to do strange things,” Waide
said. “It’s amazing how things can
get blown out of proportion.”
He said that that there had been
a rumor that one board member
used their influence to allow the
HOA to pay for a sidewalk in
front of their house. What Waide
felt was lost in the story was that
the director paid for the sidewalk
to be installed.
“For years, people said, ‘all you
have to do to get a sidewalk in
front of your house is to get on
the board,’” Waide said.
But now, some board members
are afraid to even ask for repairs
to their property lest it be mis-
construed as favoritism.
The Siuslaw News was unable
to confirm Waide’s story.
“We’ve had in the past people
who get on the board and try and
push their own agendas. I’m not
going to say it doesn’t happen,
but each person is one of seven
members on the board. It’s hard
to sway.”
Waide suggested that if anyone
did have fears about the board,
they should get involved.
But engagement with the
board has been limited. Board
meetings are not well-attended,
sometimes holding only six audi-
ence members.
“We’re having a board election
right now. Two of us wanted off
the board out of the three that are
running. No one else would run,
and we begged people to run.
So consequently, two of us who
wanted off agreed to one more
term.”
Confusing ballot
While the pros and cons of the
vote can be debated between the
residents of Florentine Estates,
what has caused major problems
with the vote is how it is worded
on the ballot. If people are for
“banning” rentals, you vote “yes.”
If you are against it, you vote “no.”
However, there’s another way
to read it. If one wants thinks
there should be no rental, they
should vote “no” on the ballot.
“People were confused,” Nel-
son said. “Normally when you
vote, a ‘yes’ is a yes and a ‘no’ is a
no. In this case, it’s switched. We
had people come back and ask to
have their ballots changed back.”
So far, Nelson has had seven
people enquire about the ballot,
and only one person change their
vote. They did change it from a
“no” to a “yes,” but Nelson said
he would perfectly happy to help
out if someone wanted to change
their ballot to a “no” vote.
It’s about getting people to vote
their will.
How the votes are counted is
also confusing. To pass a measure
this consequential, 75 percent of
the estate needs to vote “yes” to
make an amendment pass ¬— a
very large majority.
For those who don’t decide to
vote, their inaction counts as a
“no” vote.
“Anybody who didn’t get it in
the mail, or went on vacation and
it didn’t get forwarded, or lost it
on their table, and they don’t vote
¬— it counts as a “no,” Nelson
said.
In that case, it’s important to
get the entire estate to vote to get
an accurate read on how people
truly feel about the issue.
“I’ve had four people indicate
that they didn’t think we should
restrict rentals,” Waide said. “And
I’ve talked to a lot of people, ex-
cess of 200. And actually, two of
those no votes aren’t sure.”
An online straw poll was taken
before the measure was released,
which found that 90 percent of
estate residents favored a ban on
rentals.
However, the poll was unsci-
entific. It was placed online, and
many individuals in the 55+
community don’t use computers.
Only 30 percent of residents re-
sponded to the poll.
Whatever the outcome is, it’s
important that Florentine Es-
tates get every vote in to ensure
that the actual will of the voters is
heard. To do that, the HOA board
had to ensure that every resident
had a ballot and turned it in.
And that’s when the problems
and rumors really started occur-
ring.
board or management. This can
be done in person, or anony-
mously through written corre-
spondence.
Propaganda
Fears about intimidation have
led some to believe that the
board is creating propaganda
about the vote.
Florentine Estates has a news-
letter, “The Focus,” that is re-
leased by the association once
a month to all estate residents.
It gives details on street repairs,
election deadlines, opinions, sto-
ries from residents and birthday
notices.
Opponents state that the
newsletter is being used as an of-
ficial mouthpiece for proponents
of the measure, and that the an-
ti-measure voice is not being
heard.
“Anybody in opposition to this
would have to mount their own
campaign, which would be very
expensive and time consuming,”
one opponent said. “The thing
about that is that they hold all the
cards because the official mouth-
piece is the newsletter. And there
are all kinds of articles in there
trying to persuade you to vote in
favor of this declaration.”
The June issue of The Focus
mentions the vote twice. In one,
it describes what the vote is, and
explains that some people were
confused about how to vote. It
suggests that if someone feels
they miss voted either way, to
come into the office and have
their vote changed.
Neither of the articles appears
to push voters one way or the
other.
But Nelson pointed out that
it actually would have been nice
to have opposite opinions in the
newsletter. A robust conversa-
tion would have been welcomed.
The problem is, Nelson stated
that nobody submitted an article
either pro or against. He said he
would have gladly included them
Voter intimidation
One of the biggest concerns in the newsletter because that
about the process is the accusa- kind of conversation should be
tion that proponents of the mea- happening.
sure, particularly board mem-
bers, are pressuring people to Manipulating ballots
vote “yes.”
Finally, because of the acrimo-
“Proponents are mounting a ny surrounding the issue, some
‘door-to-door’ campaign includ- opponents have raised fears that
ing strong lobby encouraging a the board will manipulate bal-
‘yes’ vote and offers to hand-de- lots, or target individuals who
liver completed ballots for lot voted “no.”
owners,” one resident said.
A large part of this comes
Another stated that a person from the how the ballots are sub-
was practically yelling at them to mitted. A person mails in their
vote “yes.”
ballot in an envelope that has
Because the board needs each their address on it. The board
resident to vote, board members has been using these envelopes
are going door to door to hand to see who has and hasn’t voted,
out ballots and make sure that which is important because they
people are voting.
want to get an accurate vote. If
“My instruction was to hand they don’t see an envelope with
out a ballot,” Waide said. “So, someone’s address on it, they try
we carry ballots to the homes to and make sure that non-voting
give them out. I personally had residents had the opportunity to
two people who said, ‘I never vote.
go down to the office.’ So, I went
But the fear is, the board will
down to the office and got them look at the envelopes with the
a ballot. Maybe I shouldn’t have ballots and target those who vot-
done that.”
ed “no.”
But when board members
Nelson explained that there
come knocking on the door to is a process in the vote count to
ask for a vote, it can be seen as work against manipulation. One
intimidation, particularly if it’s person discards the envelope,
known that the board member is while other individuals actually
in favor of the ballot.
count the ballots.
“They are aggressively trying
Usually, the process is done
to go around door to door to get behind closed doors. But when
people to sign up,” one opponent Waide was told about fears, he
said.
said the board would be willing
Because people expressed con- to do the count in the open in
fusion on if they should vote “no” front of an audience to ensure
or “yes,” Waide has been explain- people feel comfortable with
ing the difference to voters, and how the vote is calculated.
stating that if there is confusion,
Ultimately, Waide and Nelson
the vote can be changed.
came back to the notion that
But some take this as an ag- they had not heard about any of
gressive campaign to influence these concerns surrounding the
voters to change their vote.
vote.
When Waide and Nelson were
“I wish people who had these
asked if someone was getting ag- concerns would bring this up to
gressive, they stated it was not us so we could have dealt with
proper.
this,” Nelson said.
“I would be very upset if some-
They found that people some-
one was pitching one way or an- times complain to each other,
other, quite frankly,” Waide said. but rarely speak out.
“That’s just wrong.”
“Word travels through this
Nelson said that, as far as he community so fast,” Waide said.
knows, no one has come to the
Nelson agreed, saying, “There’s
office with complaints about some people who are pretty loud
such instances.
against this when they talk to one
However, this is not definitive another. But they don’t tell us.”
proof that intimidation hasn’t oc-
And when that happens, bu-
curred.
reaucratic missteps and miscom-
“I can’t tell you everything that munication can become ram-
was said and done,” Waide said. pant.
Both Waide and Nelson said
Ultimately, Waide said the
that if intimidation or aggres- goal is a simple one.
sive campaigning has happened,
“We just want to get the vote
these issues should be brought in,” Waide said.
up to either members of the