What should an HOA board do when a vendor is not doing the work it was hired to do?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 23, 2026

What an HOA board does when a landscaper, pool service, or contractor stops performing: document misses, send a cure notice, hold payment lawfully, and end the contract.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

Treat it as a contract problem, not a personality problem. Start a written record of every missed visit and defect, meet the vendor once with that record in hand, and then send a written cure notice that follows the termination clause in the contract. Pay for work that was done properly and hold back only the disputed amount. If the vendor still does not fix it by the deadline, end the contract the way the contract says to, and have a replacement lined up before you do. The board that skips steps usually ends up paying twice: once for the bad work and again for the lawyer. Rules vary by state and by the contract itself, so read yours before acting. This guide is general education, not legal advice.

Start a log the week the complaints start

Owner complaints are not evidence. Dates, photos, and the contract language are. Pick one director, usually whoever chairs grounds or maintenance, and have that person keep a simple log with the date, the location, what the contract required, what actually happened, and a photo file name. For a landscaper that might read: 'Tue 6/10, north entrance beds, contract says weekly weeding April to October, beds not weeded since 5/20, photos 0610-1 to 0610-4.' Take photos with the date visible or keep the originals, since the file data carries the date. Save the vendor's own service tickets, pool chemical logs, and invoices next to the log. Three or four weeks of entries turns 'they never show up' into something a vendor cannot argue with, and it is the same record you will need if the dispute ever reaches small claims court or arbitration.

Hold one meeting before anything goes in writing

Many performance problems come from a crew change, a new route, or a supervisor who never saw the scope. Call the owner or account manager, not the crew lead, and ask for a 20-minute walk of the property. Bring the log and the scope page from the contract. Stick to facts: which items were missed, on which dates, and what the contract says. Ask what they will change and by when, and write their answer down while you are standing there. Send a short email the same day that repeats it: 'Thanks for meeting on June 14. You agreed to add a second crew visit on Thursdays and to finish the north entrance beds by June 21.' That email matters later. A vendor who fixes things after one meeting is often worth keeping, because switching vendors in the middle of a season costs money and board time.

Send a written cure notice that follows the contract

If the fixes do not happen, open the contract to the termination clause and do exactly what it says: who receives notice, how it must be delivered, and how many days the vendor gets to cure. Ten to thirty days is common. A notice sent by the wrong method, or one that skips the cure period, can turn the association into the party in breach. The board should authorize the notice by a vote at a properly noticed meeting, or by whatever written-consent method your bylaws allow, and the minutes should say so. Sample wording: 'Under Section 9 of the Landscape Services Agreement dated March 1, 2026, the Association gives notice that Contractor has failed to perform the following services: [list with dates]. Contractor has 15 days from receipt of this notice to cure these failures. If they are not cured, the Association may terminate the Agreement for cause.' Send it by the method the contract requires, and keep proof of delivery.

Withholding payment without starting a second fight

It is tempting to stop paying everything. Don't. Pay the undisputed part of each invoice on time and write down exactly which line items you are holding and why. State law often limits how much an owner may hold. In Texas, the prompt payment chapter of the Property Code covers contracts to repair or landscape real property. Section 28.002 requires payment of a proper request within 35 days, and section 28.003 lets an owner in a good faith dispute over work on property other than a house or duplex to quadruplex, such as common area, withhold no more than 100 percent of the difference between what the contractor claims and what the owner says is owed. Section 28.004 sets interest on late amounts at 1.5 percent a month. Florida's construction payment statute, section 715.12, says a dispute does not allow withholding payment for work that the dispute does not affect. If the contract allows retainage on a project, use it. A treasurer who withholds too much can turn a strong complaint into a counterclaim.

Ending the contract and watching for liens

If the cure period passes without a fix, the board votes to terminate and sends a termination letter by the contract's notice method. Say which section you are relying on, the effective date, and where the vendor should send a final invoice. Ask for keys, gate codes, and any association equipment back, and change codes that the vendor knew. Before the final payment, get a lien waiver or release from the vendor for the amount paid, and from any major subcontractor or supplier if the job involved one. Construction and landscaping vendors can claim liens on real property. In Colorado, a claimant must serve a notice of intent at least ten days before filing a lien statement, and most lien statements must be recorded within four months after the last work or materials, under C.R.S. 38-22-109. A letter warning of a lien is a signal to call the association's attorney, not to pay the full disputed amount on the spot.

Line up the replacement before you fire the first vendor

A pool that goes green or a lawn that goes a month without a mow will produce more owner complaints than the original problem. Get replacement quotes while the cure period runs, so you can sign the day the old contract ends. Check whether a bidding rule applies. In Florida, section 720.3055 requires competitive bids for a contract that will cost more than 10 percent of the association's total annual budget including reserves, though it allows needed services to be bought in an emergency without bids. Use the log you built to write a tighter scope for the next contract: if the old vendor skipped bed weeding, the new contract should list it with a frequency. Our guide on HOA vendor contract red flags covers the cure, termination, and auto-renewal clauses to fix this time, and our guide on whether an HOA has to get competitive bids covers the bidding question in more depth.

Mistakes that cost associations money

The most common one is a director who fires the vendor by phone after a bad week. That is usually a breach by the association, and the vendor can bill for the rest of the term. Next is letting individual owners call the vendor with complaints and demands. Name one contact, and tell owners to send problems to the board. Boards also forget the notice deadline in an auto-renewing contract. If the renewal date passes while the board is still arguing, the vendor gets another year. Another is withholding a whole invoice over one missed service, which gives the vendor a claim for interest and fees. The last is failing to change gate codes, alarm codes, and portal logins after the relationship ends. Put the termination date, the final invoice, the lien waiver, and the code changes on one checklist and assign each item to a named director.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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