What is trespassing?

Trespassing is unauthorized entry onto someone else’s property, or unauthorized use or occupation of it, and it applies to HOA common areas just as much as it applies to any individual homeowner’s lot.

Why does trespassing matter?

Trespassing on shared amenities, a pool after hours, a clubhouse without authorization, is a common enough issue that boards benefit from having a clear, consistent response ready rather than improvising each time it happens. Not every uninvited presence qualifies, though: a tenant using amenities under their lease, a guest there with a resident’s permission, or someone with a reasonable basis to believe they had access isn’t trespassing just because a board member didn’t personally approve them. The safer path for a board is a neutral, consistently applied access rule, key fobs, gate codes, posted hours, backed by a call to law enforcement when there’s an actual security concern, rather than a board or resident trying to handle it themselves.

When You’ll Run Into This

This becomes an issue the moment someone, a non-resident, a guest without a host present, is found somewhere they’re not supposed to be within the community.