Author: Chris Shull

Following up on our recent board election, the board has internally chosen the roles of the officers:

• Manish: President
• Bhargav: Vice president
• Mehmet: Treasurer
• Chris: Secretary
• Barbara: Member at large

Thank you all who attended this year’s annual meeting. It was great to see so many people in person.

Also a big thanks to all who mailed in your ballots – it’s great to see so many people engaged in local democracy! Congratulations to Barbara who won re-election, and Mehmet and Manish, who will be joining the Board. Our thanks go out to Satya and Margaret for their contributions, as they transition off the board – if you see them around please be sure to thank them for their service!

Please see linked document: Pre-Ballot Notice for Camino Del Prado Homeowners Association

Dear community,

I just wanted to take a moment to talk about our landscaping. We know that many of you feel the same way that we on the board do; there has been an explosion of weeds, ivy overgrowth, and other issues. Part of this is a result of entering Spring after a particularly wet Winter, and we are working with our landscaper to address the situation (but it may take a bit of time to catch up). We’re also looking at what we can do next year, so we can preemptively tackle the issue of weeds.

For the ivy, we are collecting and assessing bids to either do a deep trimming, or a complete removal. Removing the ivy entirely is very expensive, but even just trimming the ivy is fairly expensive (significantly more expensive than it used to be), so we’ll be assessing the break-even point on removal vs trimming. For those interested, please join the next board meeting.

We’re also looking at other measures to keep down landscaping costs. This past month, the board voted to authorize a major replacement of grass areas around the complex to easier-to-maintain, drought-tolerant plants (similar to the replacement that happened along the North side of Bryant Way several years ago). This can reduce ongoing maintenance costs, and make it easier to keep a high quality bar. Drought-tolerant plants also reduce water costs. We’re utilizing Santa Clara County rebate programs for this work, which will cover an estimated 75% of the costs. We estimate the break-even on savings will be around 5 years, likely less (and we have landscaping funds saved in our reserves that can be used for this project). This project will take a month or so to kick off in earnest, as we await approvals. Note that grass at the playground will remain.

~Chris

In an effort to communicate early and often, I wanted to share that the board has voted to raise the dues to $520 per month (effective starting July, 2025). While everyone wishes dues would stay lower, this increase is roughly in line with last year’s rate of inflation – which is a good “sanity check” for whether we are maintaining our budget well.

Of particular note, our reserve study has been updated and preliminary reports show that we are very well funded compared to past years: currently 88%. This means it’s currently very unlikely that we’ll need a special assessment for future projects like fencing or painting. Given this, we are taking a softer approach to funding our reserves than in previous years (only increasing our reserve contributions by a small amount, to maintain this status).

However, a few of our operating expenses have increased as we’ve looked to bring on better service providers (most notably, our property management costs), and we are hearing that we should anticipate a sizable increase in insurance costs. We’re also kicking off some bigger projects that aim to bring down other operating costs, but we’ll be able to most accurately reflect that in the budget next year (more to come on that shortly).

For those curious, here’s a quick video explaining of how reserve funds and operating funds differ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRmXVUF1jfE (Our dues partially go to the operating fund, and partially go to the reserve fund.)

Stay tuned for a much more detailed breakdown in our annual disclosure packet, which will come out in the next month or so (which will be physically mailed to every homeowner).

Please remember, the HOA will pay for most termite control! We only ask that you first get a professional inspection, which most pest control companies will do for free. Three options are:
Bay Area Termite: bayareatermite.com / (408) 337-1694
Planet Orange: planetorange.com / (888) 979-6897
Terminix: terminix.com / (877) 837-6464
Once you have a report please send it to help@caminodelprado.org for review. (Please do not schedule any treatment before your report has been reviewed.)

If you do find termites or other pests, the Board encourages you to let your neighbors know as well. It is best for them to get inspected too.

In accordance with the CC&Rs, owners of rental units must provide the HOA with a copy of the lease/rental agreement they have
made with their tenants within 14 days of entering into a lease.

While requirement this has been on the books since at least 2002, the HOA has not been very diligent in enforcing this requirement. However, we have finally set up a simple online form for registering leases: https://caminodelprado.org/unit-leases. Responses to this form are available only to the Board and our management company. As a one-time grace period, no fines will be issued to homeowners who complete this form by March 15th, 2025 for any existing lease.

Here are additional rules regarding rental and leased units:

1. Owners of rental units shall provide the HOA with a copy of the lease/rental agreement they have made with their tenants by filling out a registration form within 14 days of entering into a lease: https://caminodelprado.org/unit-leases. All Tenants must also register their vehicle(s) with the HOA: https://caminodelprado.org/vehicles;
2. Owners of rental units shall provide all tenants with a copy of the Rules and Regulations, CC&Rs, and Bylaws for the HOA prior to tenants moving into the owner’s unit;
3. Screening of potential tenants shall be the sole responsibility of the Owner of the unit. Owners are responsible for tenants who do not comply with the Rules and Regulations, CC&Rs, and Bylaws;
4. Owners of rental units shall inform tenants that a) the City of Sunnyvale has made it illegal to smoke within the public and private areas of an HOA and b) that tenants are living within 1000 feet of a school;
5. All tenants shall be subject to the Fair Housing Laws and occupancy laws of the state of California 
6. The HOA shall not allow tenant subleasing provisions in any lease or rental agreements.  The Owners of rental units agree to not allow tenants to sublet their units;
7. No lease shall be for an initial term of less than 180 days. [Please note that this requirement has been in the CC&Rs since at least 2002.]

These rules apply when a person is permitted to occupy the unit for compensation of any kind while the owner is not in residence. 

See the community rules, and Sections 4.02 and 10.01(b) of the CC&Rs for additional information.