It was April of 2018, and Old Man Winter was still running amok. Smashed icicles littered the sidewalk and a bulldozer was pushing snow around the parking lot.
My coworker and I were discussing plow routes when he mentioned his mother’s condominium near the old college. I immediately knew where it was, given that my grandparents had lived there when I was a kid.
Tucked into a forested notch, opposite a baseball field, is a quiet enclave of forty-two homes—all identical—with manicured lawns, maple trees, and lampposts resembling old lanterns. On autumn evenings, after the lights come on, the view from the curb is like stepping into a postcard.
It’s a suburban dream.
Curious, for nostalgia’s sake, I asked him how the neighborhood was doing nowadays. He sighed and said, “It’s a long story.”
The next day, he brought in three stapled documents, each folded down the middle. Together, they comprised an impersonal, passive-aggressive dialogue between two board members of his Homeowners Association.
These sometimes feverishly-written notes were wedged in the mail slot of every house in the neighborhood, over the course of a month, thereby involving the entire community in their spat. As you might expect, it played-out as gracefully as an elementary school musical.
The following are those three memos from the HOA.
Memo 1:
Lee Brooks — 3 Briney Drive — 8/30/17
Fairfield Place Residents:
It has become necessary to let you know the state of your elected leadership here at Fairfield Place, Jennifer Covens, 8 Briney Drive. It has become painfully obvious that Jennifer is completely incapable of being in the position Jennifer is in. It is beyond frustrating to interact with Jennifer as she is incapable of listening or comprehending. Jennifer has absolutely no knowledge of contract and knows little about contractors.
Below I have listed a small sample of key contractual mistakes that are missing from the 2018 season contract that has already gone out.
For those of you who have tire tracks in the immediate area of your house from the painter’s boom truck, there is nothing in the contract that covers lawn repair for this damage.
For those of you who have normal lawn damage / dead spots etc. in the immediate area of your house, there is nothing in the contract that covers lawn repair for this issue.
For those of you who have exposed roots from trees tracks in the immediate area of your house and would like loam and seed to cover this, there is nothing in the contract that covers lawn repair for this issue.
There is an extensive list. It would be burdensome to list it all.
A basic example of Jennifer Coven's inability to comprehend:
23 residents signed a petition that I circulated this summer. The first sentence of that petition states: “The residents of Fairfield Place who have signed the petition below are seeking to NOT renew a Landscaping Maintenance Service Contract with Saint’s Landscaping in 2018 due to dissatisfaction.”
Jennifer sent out an email to the residents of Fairfield Place on July 17 that said this petition stated “the contract be cancelled immediately.” This obviously shows the inability to understand. This inability on a continual basis is nothing short of painfully frustrating.
A basic example of Jennifer Coven's inability to listen:
Jennifer included Saint’s Landscaping in the 2018 bidding. Either Jennifer did not read what the 23 residents want in the petition, or she did not comprehend what you want or lastly, Jennifer could care less what you want. What an absolutely ignorant decision by Jennifer to include Saints in the 2018 bidding. She could care less what 23 homeowners think.
A basic example of Jennifer Coven's inability to care / inability to interact:
A resident on Juniper Circle had trees removed from the immediate vicinity of the rear of their home. The residents were not notified this was going to be done and they should have. At the last homeowner’s meeting, the residents from Juniper were there and were explaining that they would not have even bought the house if the trees were not there. Jennifer was smiling through the entire explanation by the homeowner. Jennifer appeared to have a nearly laughing expression. The homeowner asked Jennifer in front of everyone do you think this is funny? How half-baked can you be?
A basic example of Jennifer Coven's inability to hold contractors accountable for damage:
Many residents told me when you were signing the petition that you had damage to the surround area of your home due to the landscaping contractor. Some of you even wrote that statement in the petition itself. Some of you incurred quite a significant expense. Not one of you was reimbursed for the damage you incurred.
A basic example of Jennifer Coven's inability to focus on sheer basics:
For the residents that drive in and out of the entrance by Casey, are you not tired of seeing a Fairfield Place sign where you drive in that has a three inch hole directly in the center of the sign? The hole has been in that sign for over a year. This entry sign is the gateway to the community. It is ludicrous that this issue has not been resolved.
A basic example of Jennifer Coven's inability to see a task through completion:
There is a resident on Briney who had a light pole knocked down near their front yard by a contractor’s bobcat last winter. 8 months later, the pole is not replaced. It is ludicrous that this issue has not been resolved.
A basic example of Jennifer Coven's inability to see basic maintenance resolved through to completion:
How many residents went the summer with broken sprinkler heads near their residence that still do not work?
Being the President or being on the Board of the HOA is a volunteer position. But there is immense responsibility at stake. Being on the board and especially as president of the HOA, there is a fiduciary responsibility to all of the home owners in the association. $14,000 a month is received through HOA dues and the three most costly expenses: Winter Maintenance, spring through fall maintenance and Great East are managed extremely poorly.
Being a volunteer is NOT good enough. The President of an HOA needs to have extensive knowledge of contracts, experience with contractors and the ability to focus on what is important combined with the ability to see subjects through to completion as well as the ability to hold contractors accountable.
The residents of Fairfield Place are spending over $300 a month on HOA fees and you are getting an extremely poor return on your investment. Every one of you in this association is impacted by this issue.
You would never suffer this level of incompetence in the work place. The absolute last place you want to suffer this level of incompetence is in the development where you live, by the president of your HOA.
What can you do about this?
Demand Jennifer Coven's resignation
Jennifer is incapable of meeting the fiduciary duties of president of Fairfield Place HOA as well as incapable of acting in good faith or the best interests of the HOA.
— Lee Brooks
Memo 2:
Fairfield Place Condominium Association
* * NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING * *
August 29, 2017
Dear Fairfield Place Condominium Owner,
In the past, residents of Fairfield Place have volunteered their time to serve on the Board of Directors and they’ve been cordial, respectful of others and supportive of the Condominium Rules and By-Laws. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Mr. Lee Brooks. Ever since he joined the Board of Directors this past February, we have struggled with Lee’s aggressive behavior, unprofessionalism, insults, inability to work as a team member and total lack of respect for the Condo policies and procedures.
Examples of Lee’s unacceptable behavior and comments include:
During the spring walk-around, Lee aggressively approached Dirk Galloway (Director), bumped him in the chest, and threatened, “I’m going to take you out.” The Board cannot function effectively with threats of physical violence and intimidation among its members.
After we issued a letter via broadcast in response to the petition that Lee had circulated among Fairfield homeowners, Lee sent an email to Jennifer Covens (Board of Directors President): “Jen — I must say, the feedback I am getting is hysterical. I had 3 different home owners come up to me tonight when I got my mail that gave me feedback on the retarded email you sent. You made yourself look like a complete idiot. Thus far, I have received 4 emails from homeowners that basically say you’re a complete dope. Congratulations!! You won the award. Obviously I won’t do a mass reply as it serves no purpose to banter with someone who does not understand language, facial expressions or body language.” The Board finds comments such as this to be completely unacceptable and a hindrance to accomplishing board business. The Board cannot effectively function when members are afraid to speak for fear of a vicious rebuke from Lee Brooks.
When the majority of the board members approved to maintain the current tree removal company, Lee responded “Bringing in a Tree guy from Amesbury, MA 1) Serves no Purpose, 2) Wasteful, 3) Shows mismanagement…… Your logic makes no sense and your decision making is completely flawed. The only reason to use the place in Amesbury is because Robyn is getting a kickback.” Due to Lee’s comment, Great East Property Management is prepared to take legal action for slander.
When residents began complaining about mysterious piles of brush left on sidewalks and streets throughout the development, Lee admitted: “There are brush piles that I accumulate all over the place whenever I walk the property. They get put out on the street/curb for Saints to pick up.” Jennifer respectfully asked him to refrain from this practice and if he chose to pick up random brush, to please pile it in front of his own unit. Lee responded: “That’s not going to happen.” This is an example of Lee working outside of the Board and ignoring the wishes of the group. The Board can only make decisions by majority vote and he is not authorized to take actions such as making brush piles on common areas. Other comments from Lee regarding issues mentioned previously include: “This discussion is a complete waste of my time.” “Robyn — the mismanagement is rampant. I will have every resident of Fairfield sign a petition for a new management company. You should let your management know why.”
During the preparation of the 2018-2019 Landscaping & Snowplowing bid proposal specifications, Lee asked to review the specifications, stating: “There are numerous omissions in the previous contracts due to people not having any idea what they are doing.” When all of the other board members disagreed with adding certain requirements that Lee proposed, he responded directly to the property manager Robyn, stating his requirements were missing from the contract and should be added, commenting “I’m all done with dealing with Asperger’s syndrome.” Robyn explained to Lee that the majority of the board did not agree to including the requirements; his response was “that’s a retarded statement.” Again, you can see an example of Lee’s angry, aggressive and uncalled for comments. These comments have a profoundly negative effect on board members.
When a board member emailed Lee, “Your insulting comments to Robyn are inappropriate, unfounded and totally unprofessional. Please try to state any concerns you have professionally and constructively.”, Lee responded, “That’s too bad. I will send an email to the development explaining exactly what is being left of the spring contract due to board member incompetence.”
Above are just a few examples of the verbal insults, mini-tirades and uncooperativeness we’ve dealt with over the past several months.
We have asked Lee to refrain from the type of insulting behavior itemized above but he has not changed his conduct. We also asked Lee to resign from the board but he declined. Therefore, upon advice of counsel, we’re taking the unprecedented step of requesting that Lee be removed as a member of the Board of the Directors, as outlined in the Fairfield Place By-Laws:
10. Removal of Directors. A Director may be removed with or without cause, and his successor elected, at any duly called regular or special meeting of the Unit Owners Association at which a quorum is present, by an affirmative vote of a majority of the votes represented and voting. Any Director whose removal has been proposed by the Owners shall be given at least ten (10) days notice of the calling of the meeting and the purpose thereof and the opportunity to be heard at the meeting.
We respectfully request your support in removing Mr. Lee Brooks as a member of the Board of Directors.
A special meeting of the Fairfield Place Unit Owners Association is scheduled for Wednesday, September 27th at 7:00pm, in order to hold a vote on this. This meeting will take place in the Great East office building at 76 Northwest Blvd #28. If you are unable to attend the meeting you may submit your vote via the attached proxy; in order to do so, please complete and sign the enclosed forms as soon as you can. Note that as specified in the bylaws above, Lee Brooks will have an opportunity to speak at the meeting regarding why he should not be removed from the board. There must be a quorum in order to hold a vote, so we ask that you do respond.
Please understand that we have not taken this step lightly. We feel that we must take this step for the betterment of the Board but more importantly of the community as a whole. If the board can function better with open, positive and free flowing dialogue, the whole community will benefit from better decision-making.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Covens, President, Fairfield Place Board of Directors
Arturo Lombardi, Treasurer, Fairfield Place Board of Directors
Dirk Galloway, Director at Large
Patty Horton, Director at Large
Memo 3:
Lee Brooks — 3 Briney Drive — 9/15/17
Att: Fairfield Place Residents:
On 8/30/2017, each of you received a letter from me with an outline that details regarding the failed leadership of your elected leadership here at Fairfield Place, Jennifer Covens, 8 Briney Drive. I stated that is painfully obvious that Jennifer is completely incapable of being in the position Jennifer is in as well as it is beyond frustrating to interact with Jennifer as she is incapable of listening or comprehending combined with the fact that Jennifer has absolutely no knowledge of contracts and knows little about contractors.
I would like to share with you a sample recent response from Jennifer regarding an incident with a fellow neighbor and resident here at Fairfield Place at 6 Juniper Circle.
The subject matter surrounds the issue that sometime after the owner moved in to 6 Juniper Circle in June 2017, someone attached a hosed to their house. Whoever did this left their hose behind as well as the water running. In the summary, the owner of 6 Juniper called Great East to see why water appeared to be running at their house. Great East showed up at 6 Juniper turned their outdoor spigot off and that ended the problem. The owner of 6 Juniper Circle received a bill from Great East for $148 for literally turning the spigot off on the side of the house. Who attached the hose to the house is unknown. I walked over to 6 Juniper and talked to the owner in-person and was briefed on exactly what took place regarding this incident.
I would like to bring to your attention, specific answers that Jennifer gave via email surrounding this issue:
2nd Paragraph: Jennifer’s Assumption:
“I’m sure it wasn’t the landscapers — they know where the water lines are located on Juniper.”
Lee: This response makes no sense. We have no idea how the hose got attached to the house. The owner of 6 Juniper told me directly in-person, it was not her hose. It belongs to someone, we just do not know who.
2nd Paragraph: Jennifer’s Assumption:
“It’s hard to believe anyone in Fairfield would be so hard up for money that they would try to use someone else’s water.”
Lee: This response makes no sense. This response is so off base it’s senseless.
2nd Paragraph: Jennifer’s Statement:
“Where is this unit located?”
Lee: This response shows a complete lack of understanding. Jennifer has absolutely no idea where 6 Juniper Circle is.
2nd Paragraph: Jennifer’s Statement:
“Is it close to the people who are never able to pay their association dues/payment plan?”
Lee: This response insinuates that person who is behind on HOA fees hooked up a hose to 6 Juniper and is stealing water.
3rd Paragraph: Jennifer’s Statement:
“A phone call to acknowledge this would probably help a lot. My suggestion is that Robyn call her to.”
Lee: This shows the unwillingness or incapability to interact with people face-to-face. This also shows the inability and a lack of willingness to talk with other people. This does show the willingness to pawn-off the dirty work of dealing with the owner of 6 Juniper.
3rd Paragraph: Jennifer’s Statement:
“Suggest that she keep the water to her outside faucets turned off except when she herself is using them so that no one can steal her water.”
Lee: This statement is beyond bizarre. The suggestion that someone is running around Fairfield Place stealing water is positively clueless.
BEING A VOLUNTEER IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. I stated this before: The President of an HOA needs to have extensive knowledge of contracts, experience with contractors and the ability to focus on what is important combined with the ability to see subjects through to completion as well as the ability to hold contractors accountable. I gave a specific overview of what types of contractual language is specifically missing from the contractor contracts which have already been bid on. I let you know as the homeowner, specifically how you are impacted.
YOU, the residents of Fairfield Place are spending over $300 a month on HOA fees and you are getting an extremely poor return on your investment. Every homeowner in this association is impacted by this issue.
The absolute last place you want to suffer this level of incompetence is in the development where you live, by the president of your HOA.
What can you do about this?
Jennifer is incapable of meeting the fiduciary duties of president of Fairfield Place HOA as well as incapable of acting in good faith or the best interests of the HOA.
Jennifer Covens, 6 Briney Drive needs to be removed as President of the Fairfield Place Board of Directors.
Please bring the letter signed to the meeting on September 27, 2017 @ Great East or mail directly to Great East at: 76 Northwest Blvd #28, Nashua, NH 03063
YES: I wish to have Jennifer Covens Removed as President of the Fairfield Place Board of Directors as well as a member of the Board of Directors for Fairfield Place.
Name_____________ Address_____________ Signed__________________
— Lee Brooks
And how did it all end? Well, Lee Brooks attended that meeting on September 27, expecting to be leading a coup, but the troops were uninspired. Only two people had signed his letter against Jennifer Covens.
Despite some frustrations with the HOA, the majority of the neighborhood disliked Lee more for his slanderous, vulgar, and often violent, incoherent behavior. He didn't fit with the “suburban image,” much like a puzzle piece found in the wrong box.
By Christmastime, his antics had ballooned. He outright referred to Jennifer Covens as “autistic” and he shoveled snow into her driveway. The community held another “special meeting” and a quorum voted Lee Brooks out of Fairfield Place. He vacated his condo a month later, with a policeman on scene to ensure he went peacefully.
Word on the street now is that Lee lives at a nearby apartment complex—one with no community forum, which is for the best.
And Jennifer Covens? She's still there… leading meetings, signing contracts, and smiling.
