What should our HOA board do when it is worried about an elderly or vulnerable owner?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 28, 2026

What an HOA board can do when an elderly owner may be in trouble: welfare checks, adult protective services reports in Texas, Florida and Colorado, and privacy.

Part of the HOA board handbook: residents and communication.

The short answer

It usually starts with a neighbor mentioning that the widower at the end of the street hasn't brought in his mail for a week. The board's part is narrow, which is good news. Directors are not caregivers, investigators or family. They can do three things well. Call for a welfare check when someone may be hurt right now. Report to adult protective services when an owner seems unable to care for themselves, or when someone may be taking advantage of them. And keep the owner's health out of the minutes, the newsletter and the neighborhood group chat. Texas and Florida put a reporting duty on any person who suspects abuse, neglect or exploitation of a covered adult, and serving on an HOA board doesn't exempt anyone. Colorado lets anyone report. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents, and this guide is education, not legal advice.

Signs worth acting on, and signs that aren't

Act on change, not on age. Mail and packages stacking up for days at a house where they never did is a sign. So is a car that hasn't moved, lights left on around the clock, a dog barking inside for hours, water running out from under a unit door, or a smell in the hallway. Some signs show up in the board's own inbox. An owner calls three times in an evening with the same question. Dues paid on time for 20 years stop, and letters go unanswered. A new "friend" starts paying the account, asks for a copy of the deed, or arrives with a moving truck while the owner is in the hospital. That last pattern can be financial exploitation, which all three states cover. Colorado's protective services law draws a line worth borrowing. Section 26-3.1-101 says a person's choice of lifestyle or living arrangements is not, by itself, evidence of self-neglect. An owner who lives with less than the neighbors think she should is within her rights. An owner who has stopped eating, lost heat in January, or can't find the way back to her own door is a different matter.

If it might be an emergency, call 911 first

Call 911 for a fall heard through a shared wall, no answer at the door of an owner who is always home with the car in the driveway, a gas smell, or an owner outside and confused in dangerous heat or cold. Texas DFPS tells callers to contact 911 or local police in an emergency, and the Florida Abuse Hotline says to call 911 first and the hotline after. If nothing points to an emergency but nobody has seen the owner in days, call the police non-emergency line and ask for a welfare check. Give the address, when the owner was last seen, what changed, and a board member's name and number for a callback. Officers decide whether to go in. The board doesn't. Most declarations give the association a right of entry for maintenance, repairs and emergencies that threaten the property, and many condo associations keep a key on file. That right exists to stop a leak, not to look in on a person. Don't send a director or the maintenance vendor in with the master key to check. If officers ask for the key, hand it to them and write down the time.

Reporting to adult protective services in Texas, Florida and Colorado

Texas. Human Resources Code section 48.051 requires a person who has cause to believe that an elderly person or a person with a disability is in a state of abuse, neglect or exploitation to report it immediately to the Department of Family and Protective Services. Section 48.002 defines elderly as 65 or older, and its definition of neglect includes a person's failure to provide for themselves the goods or services needed to avoid harm, so an owner who can no longer cope alone is covered. Knowingly failing to report is a Class A misdemeanor under section 48.052. Section 48.054 protects good-faith reporters, and section 48.101 keeps their identity confidential. Call 1-800-252-5400, or use txabusehotline.org when it isn't urgent. Florida. Section 415.1034 says any person who knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a vulnerable adult has been or is being abused, neglected or exploited must immediately report it to the central abuse hotline. Under section 415.102, a vulnerable adult is anyone 18 or older whose ability to care for or protect themselves is impaired, including by the infirmities of aging, and neglect includes the vulnerable adult's own failure to get needed care. Call 1-800-962-2873 and press 2, or use the online form for non-urgent reports. Knowing and willful failure to report is a second-degree misdemeanor under section 415.111, and section 415.1036 presumes that a reporter acted in good faith. Colorado. Section 26-3.1-102 lets any person report mistreatment or self-neglect of an at-risk adult to the county department of human services or local law enforcement. Call the adult protective services intake line for the county where the owner lives. Subsection (5) protects good-faith reporters, and subsection (6) bars retaliation against anyone who reports. Colorado separately requires some professionals to report mistreatment of people 70 and older to law enforcement within 24 hours, so a director who works in health care or banking may carry a duty from the day job. None of the three states asks for proof. The agency investigates. And don't wait for a board vote. In Texas and Florida the duty is personal, so the director who saw the problem makes the call and then tells the president.

What to say on the call

Texas section 48.051(d) lists what a report should contain, and it works as a checklist anywhere: the person's name, age and address, the name of any caregiver, what you observed, and how you know it. Write it down before you dial. A script: "My name is [name], and I'm on the board of the [Association name] homeowners association. I'm calling about [owner's name], about [age], who lives alone at [address]. Since [date], [describe what you saw, with dates: mail piling up, found confused in the parking lot on the 12th, no heat in the unit]. As far as I know, [her son in Ohio / no one] helps care for her. I saw this myself on [date] / a neighbor told me on [date]. You can reach me at [phone]." After the call, note the date, the time, the intake or case number and the worker's name. Don't expect updates. Texas section 48.101 makes the report and the investigation files confidential, so silence usually means the agency is working, not that nothing happened.

Keep the owner's health out of the association's business

An owner's decline is not community news. If the board needs to talk about it, do it in executive session. The minutes can say: "The board met in executive session to discuss a confidential owner matter. No action was taken." Don't name the owner and don't describe their condition. Be careful with people who say they're family. A nephew who calls asking for the owner's account ledger, phone number or gate code may be exactly who he says he is, or he may be the reason you're worried. Ask for a copy of a power of attorney or a court's guardianship letter before sharing anything beyond what the governing documents make public. The best prevention costs a stamp. Put an optional emergency contact form in the annual dues mailing, with wording like this: "If you'd like the board to have someone to call in an emergency, such as a water leak while you're away or a time when we can't reach you, you may give us an emergency contact. This is optional. The secretary keeps the list, and we will use it only in an emergency." Refresh the list every year.

When the welfare problem shows up as a violation

Many welfare cases reach the board as enforcement problems. The lawn goes uncut, the trash cans stay at the curb, dues stop, and the violation letters get no reply. Before the second letter goes out, ask whether the owner is able to respond at all. A fine won't get a yard mowed by someone who can't remember the first letter. If your governing documents let the board waive fines and late fees, it can pause them while protective services or family sorts things out. A sample motion: "Move to suspend fines and late fees on lot [number] for 90 days while the owner's family arranges care, and to review the account at the [month] meeting." If a relative asks for more time or a different way of communicating, treat it as a possible accommodation request, which our guide on handling a reasonable accommodation request walks through. Where clutter has become a fire or pest risk to the building, see our guide on a hoarder unit.

Mistakes boards make

Stepping in as the caregiver. A director who starts collecting the owner's mail, holding her keys and paying her bills means well, and is now the person an investigator will ask about if money goes missing. Help as a neighbor if you like, but never touch the owner's money. Calling the family instead of the authorities. When the risk is real, the agency is the right call, and the family member you reach may be the one draining the account. Putting a diagnosis in writing. "She has dementia" in a board email is a medical judgment none of you is qualified to make, and board email can end up in front of a judge or the owner's family. Write "found in the parking lot at 2 a.m. on May 3 and could not say which unit was hers."

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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