Frequently Asked Questions

Our Bylaws require the HOA Board to conduct a meeting of homeowners once a year. You can find a copy of the Bylaws on the Documents and Forms page. 

This meeting is usually scheduled for a weeknight evening in May. The actual date and location is announced a couple weeks in advance. Flyers are usually distributed to each home. Emails are also sent to each homeowner. Remember, it's usually a good idea to check the email address that you have on file with MLHOA from time to time. 

The typical agenda includes a review of our finances, progress on open issues, and election of new board members.

Please attend! If you have a new issue or idea to discuss or have input on an existing issue, we want to hear from you. We have a long history of homeowner involvement and your input is an important ingredient to make our neighborhood work well.

In order to keep our annual maintenance costs to a minimum, we have work parties each year. This is usually in May. The exact date each year can be found on the MLHOA online Calendar. 

Homeowners volunteer to spend a weekend day working on routine maintenance in the neighborhood. No special skills are needed. Each home that participates gets a discount on their annual dues.

In past years, we have:

• • Re-stained fences

  • Spread bark dust

  • Pulled weeds and trimmed trees

  • Posted and repaired signs

  • Planted trees and plants

  • Rebuilt docks at the ponds

  • And more...

At the end of each work party, we have a meal together and enjoy our neighbors. We encourage everyone to attend. But if you can't make it, there is a way for you to contribute and still receive the discount on your annual dues. Just contact a  board member and tell them your situation. We always need help organizing the event,  ordering food, ordering a dumpster, picking up supplies, and more. These tasks will also qualify you for the discount.

Please don't feed the ducks or other wild birds and animals!

MLHOA prohibits the feeding of ducks and other wildlife on neighborhood common property.

The ponds naturally provide very high quality nutrients in abundance for birds and fish alike. Bread and other foods do not contain the right nutrition and can cause disease, obesity, as well as pollute the ponds.  We ask everyone's assistance, homeowners, renters, and the public, to assist in providing the best environment for the wildlife that inhabit these ponds.

People found to be feeding the wildlife can be asked to leave the premises at any time by any homeowner.

Fishing is permitted for homeowners, residents, and their guests except during pond maintenance projects. Public fishing is prohibited at all times. Specific details can be found in the current public fishing document. Please click the link to learn more.

These ponds are private property and it is within the rights of any Mallard Lakes homeowner to restrict access to these ponds as well as to restrict behavior while others are on this property.  Anyone found to be violating the fishing rules can be asked to leave and/or be reported to the police as a trespasser.

This policy is subject to change at any time, so please check the current public fishing link (above) before each fishing trip.

Garbage pickup is provided by Pride Disposal. Pickup day is every Tuesday. Pride publishes an annual calendar of what is picked each week of the month. You can find this year's copy at this link.  Pride also provides instructions regarding where to place your garbage cans for pickup. They are quite flexible about this, so you may see some neighbors placing cans in the street and others on the sidewalk. Both are acceptable.

MLHOA requires everyone to store their garbage cans out of sight except within 24 hours of scheduled garbage pick-up. This means that garbage cans, recycling bins, and related containers need to go behind a fence, in the garage, or in the back yard at all times except for when they are out on the curb shortly before and after pickup.  Thanks for your support! This really makes our neighborhood appear well kept.

Our HOA Board is staffed 100% by volunteers from our members (home owners). The primary duty of the board is to protect property values and create a sense of community. This includes ensuring maintenance of common areas, collection of dues, paying bills, filing taxes, working with real estate agents to facilitate sales, working with members who are out of compliance with CC&Rs, and working with adjacent neighborhoods as well as the city, county, and state regulatory bodies as needed.  It also includes maintaining and communicating a calendar of neighborhood events

Parking issues are handled by the City of Tigard and the Tigard Police department. Please contact them for any issues related to parking on a public street in our neighborhood.

Our HOA has no restrictions on pets. Most homes in our neighborhood have had cats, dogs, or other pets at one time or another.

Still, it's always unfortunate when one neighbor's pet interferes with another neighbor's plans. The MLHOA Board does not intervene in issues involving pets. Our preference is for neighbors to talk with each other and see if there is a way to resolve the situation neighbor to neighbor.

If your pet is involved in an issue, please make keep these things in mind:

• Everyone is usually doing the best they can with what they have. Perhaps this is a starting point for common ground

• Every neighbor's situation is different. For example, some work late at night and need to sleep during the days. Please be considerate and try to find a win-win solution for everyone involved

• Everyone wants to feel safe. If your pet is aggressive, highly protective, or just every excited when playing, we ask that you take measures to help your neighbors (especially children) feel safe

When that fails, the City of Tigard and Washington County Animal Services have ordinances that cover pets and their behaviors. They are there to help. We encourage you to use these services.

The simple answer is Yes! Like many neighborhoods in the area, homeowners have reported seeing deer, coyotes, raccoons, and once in a while skunks in our neighborhood.  In addition, there have been many reports of ducks, geese, egrets, herons, hawks, osprey, bats, and occasionally bald eagles; not to mention frogs and turtles. One year we even had a beaver take up residence in the lower pond.

These are very exciting events. And since the inception of our neighborhood, there has never been a single report of someone being hurt during these sightings. Wild animals are very cautious about humans. They do not approach us and they do not like to be approached by us.

So, please enjoy any sightings that you have and keep your distance.

Skunks

Skunks deserve some special consideration.  For the most part, they don't cause problems. They are few in number, mostly active at night, and usually stay close to the ponds. They live all over Tigard and neighboring cities. It is believed that there is a population of them living near Fanno Creek Park and this population occasionally ventures into our neighborhood as they follow Fanno Creek to our ponds. There are years when we don't see any skunks and years when we will see half a dozen.

If one ventures into your yard, it's a good idea to put your pets in the house and leave the skunk alone. Of course, some dogs find skunks irresistible and get sprayed. If this happens to your pet, PetSmart sells several products that effectively combat the odor (tomato juice is not very effective!).  Also, please tell your neighbors. If there are enough sightings, some neighbors have been willing to pay someone to trap and remove them. Keep in mind that the cost of this service is being paid by these neighbors and not the HOA.

If you see a trap by one of the ponds, do not disturb it. There may be a skunk inside and we don't want anyone to get sprayed. Trapped skunks should be removed by professionals and relocated miles away.