Condo Association Management Blog

Check your bylaws. In our association if a Board member resigns, the position is filled by a homeowner who the Board chooses. The Board also has the power to remove a Board member by majority vote (as you stated). That new member has the same tenure as the person that they replaced. Voting for a member by the homeowners only occurs at the annual meeting for those positions whose term is ending (3 year terms). We do however have the ability to remove a Board member(s) and that process is also explained in the bylaws. (That has not occurred to my knowledge)

In Florida.... The Florida Statutes may be the guide to why this is occurring. The Statutes give the right to the Associations Board of Directors to remove (recall) whomever they want AND even 'without cause'. I'm surprised the issue hasn't been protested long ago, because the Owners vote them IN but the Board Members can vote them OUT with no say from the Owners!. (imo) This is wrong.... A few fair and intelligent Condo or HOA Associations have made rules against this corrupt practice by stating in their By-Laws that only the Owners can 'recall' a Board Member, but most Bylaws allow the Board Members alone, to deal with their 'recalls'....

I don't know where you live but in Florida our homeowners elect the Board and ONLY THE HOMEOWNERS (or State) can remove a Board member. The Board can remove an officer from an appointed office but they CANNOT remove that director from the Board. Vacancies CAN be filled by the Board if a director has resigned. This is the only time a director can be installed by the Board, and this assumes there are no other qualified persons interested in the vacancy and requires the Board to offer the opening publicly in a meeting to anyone interested. Then they must vote in that person they wish to server. 
 
Now we do have a process in our State laws as well as our By-Laws to remove any member of the Board by Recall. Check your bylaws or State laws for that process. 
Lastly, if the Board is filling its ranks with personal friends and cronies, then be sure to gather together others who wish to serve and run against them at your next election. Just please remember this, working as a Board member is almost a thankless effort; you're bombarded with all sorts of requests, decisions and some hostility and for this you have the privilege to do it for no pay. Believe me, it ain't easy!

Over a year ago, our condo voted out of office by a landslide, a board member who approved projects that didn't need to be done and used so much of our reserve when he held the president position on the board when someone retired. We voted in this president's place an honest and kind retired doctor. Unfortunately, this lovely new board member visited her family overseas during the holidays and upon her return without any reason the current HOA president threw the retired doctor off the board and put the same man who was voted off by a landslide back on the board. What honest man would even accept that position back when he knew the female doctor won by a landslide? To hurt this decent doctor by throwing her off the board is so nasty and mean and there was no reason for this being done expect possibly to do more work with a conflict of interest in mind that the honest doctor would not have approved. I have lost every bit of trust in this president and most of the board. I have great reason to believe that this president is on the board for all the wrong reasons. The past president and the current one may have both been involved in replacing items that didn't need to be replaced because of a conflict of interest. Of course, unless this horrible president has hurt you by doing work on your condo that didn't need to be done and possible replacing items that were worth more sold used than the ones he put in your condo, you would never know his behavior was so very unethical and wrong. Unless you lived in the condos with the shoddy work, you would never know that the contractor's shoddy work was repaired by other contractors that the association paid and not the contractor who did the work. Many of the condos that the contractor damaged from his project and many of the personal belongings damaged are being overlooked and even the honest board members are not getting involved in helping those that this horrible president hurt. Please do be careful who you complain about as one condo owner has gotten fake fines, been harassed horribly by the PM, is unable to use the amenities, and not one bit of work has been done on her condo by the mgm. co. for years. This lack of response by the management company is almost an alert that possibly the mgm. co. and the past and present preidents might be all involved in the conflict of interest. The new honest board members who these condo owners were depending on to help them, don't want to help at all. Even honest board members are being fooled by the HOA president allowing the same contractor with the shoddy work to do other projects here when he never fixed the first project done. What makes good honest people turn their heads on the people who need their help when they promised to help before they became board members? Does being a board member make you different and uncaring?

Over a year ago, our condo voted out of office by a landslide, a board member who approved projects that didn't need to be done and used so much of our reserve when he held the president position on the board when someone retired. We voted in this president's place an honest and kind retired doctor. Unfortunately, this lovely new board member visited her family overseas during the holidays and upon her return without any reason the current HOA president threw the retired doctor off the board and put the same man who was voted off by a landslide back on the board. What honest man would even accept that position back when he knew the female doctor won by a landslide? To hurt this decent doctor by throwing her off the board is so nasty and mean and there was no reason for this being done expect possibly to do more work with a conflict of interest in mind that the honest doctor would not have approved. I have lost every bit of trust in this president and most of the board. I have great reason to believe that this president is on the board for all the wrong reasons. The past president and the current one may have both been involved in replacing items that didn't need to be replaced because of a conflict of interest. Of course, unless this horrible president has hurt you by doing work on your condo that didn't need to be done and possible replacing items that were worth more sold used than the ones he put in your condo, you would never know his behavior was so very unethical and wrong. Unless you lived in the condos with the shoddy work, you would never know that the contractor's shoddy work was repaired by other contractors that the association paid and not the contractor who did the work. Many of the condos that the contractor damaged from his project and many of the personal belongings damaged are being overlooked and even the honest board members are not getting involved in helping those that this horrible president hurt. Please do be careful who you complain about as one condo owner has gotten fake fines, been harassed horribly by the PM, is unable to use the amenities, and not one bit of work has been done on her condo by the mgm. co. for years. This lack of response by the management company is almost an alert that possibly the mgm. co. and the past and present preidents might be all involved in the conflict of interest. The new honest board members who these condo owners were depending on to help them, don't want to help at all. Even honest board members are being fooled by the HOA president allowing the same contractor with the shoddy work to do other projects here when he never fixed the first project done. What makes good honest people turn their heads on the people who need their help when they promised to help before they became board members? Does being a board member make you different and uncaring?

First of all the Pres alone does noit have the authority to make appointments to the board; the whole board must vote on the matter. If the other board members allow the Pres. to make this decision on his/her own, then that is a whole different problem. A dictatorial Pres can only serve at the pleasure of the other board members! 
The FL condo statute -- 718.112(2)(d)8 gives the board the authority to either appoint someone to fill a vacancy or to call for an election. The person appointed or elected would serve the remainder of the term. There is no statute in the FL HOA statutes therefore HOAs must rely on what the bylaws say with regard to filling a vacancy on the board. 
The members have no control over who the board chooses to appoint to fill a vacancy on the board. However, if the members are not happy with any board member serving their voices can be heard at the ballot box!

Anna, 
 
I don't believe a person's character changes once they are elected to the BOD. What really happens is that their true character surfaces -- be it good, bad or indifferent. Some people are leaders and some are followers ("yes-men"). Oftentimes a board Pres is a very strong-willed person and many people don't have the backbone to stand up to this type person.  
One other thing to keep in mind is this. Oftentimes when a board is replaced, the new board members find out the old board wasn't doing anything wrong afterall. In many instances it's because of a lack of communication with the members that preconceived notions are formed which are not always true. Perhaps this is what happened with your old board versus the new board members elected to "clean up the mess". I'm not saying this is the case in your assn, but it does happen very often. Why not have a little private talk with some of the new board members? Try to find out exactly what their position is. These people can always be replaced at the next election.

The conduct and standard of the president or officers of the board very often is fraught with substandard performance and even fraud. The tactic to keep the turf for them can also be unlawful and fraudulent ones. However, you need not try to correct them. Instead fill in your excel spread sheet the following data to get an answer as to how much money the CASH BALANCE OF THE ASSOCIATION "COULD" HAVE BEEN. Use this formula instead of excel if you do not have that software. 
 
What the bank statement of the association say it has as "beginning balance" of the beginning of the year? (say, January 1st? ____________ 
ADD 
What is the total income if all units have paid, for the 12 months period from Jan to Dec. 31? 
LESS 
What is the total uncollected condo fees during that 12 months. 
EQUAL  
Available money for that 12 mo. 
LESS 
What is the total expenditure shown in the board's financial statement during the 12 mo.? 
EQUAL 
what is the balance in bank 
at the end of the 12 mo.? 
LESS  
What the financial statement prepared by the board says the association has in bank balance.(s) 
EQUAL 
The difference of the two or the amount embezzled from association fund.  
Next is to call the association's insurer to report the refusal of the board to show books and records to verify true financial condition of the association while keeping in secret the amount you have found embezzled until you have completed the inspection of receipts, bank statement, invoice and contract of the association, After that, seek a copy of the insurance policy and contact my website unless you already know by then how to fact the board or challenge the integrity of the board. 
Sincerely, 
BETP Inc.

Betp, 
 
Why are your talking about embezzlement? The OP made no mention that the accounting was questionable. And, your analysis of suspected embezzlement leaves a lot to be desired. There are many variables to take into account such as transfers to the reserve account and whether the accounting is accrual or cash basis, which are not noted in your equation. IMO, it's HOA members like you who cause problems for boards by spreading unfounded accusations and half-truths.

BETP - what the heck is going on with your ridiculous comments? It is getting tiresome to read them, and they are often of no practical help for the person with the problem! 
 
And embezzlement by anyone other than Management is next to impossible. 
 
Please stop hiring outsourcers to post relevant content on blogs to promote your business.

Dear Mary, 
 
Thank you for your comment about the character of the new board members. I never even thought that they could have character less than desirable. As an honest person, you tend to think everyone will be as honest. 
 
The HOA president I spoke about in my first email was put on the board & not elected in the first place only because the president right before him was thrown off the board by some board members because he wanted to fire the PM and her management company. It seems really unusual to me that the board would rather get rid of their president of about 3 years and keep the PM and her management company when the mgm. co. has the worse reputation in our state and the PM was intimating & rude to the condo owners giving fines for no reason if they disagreed with her and she finally was removed in order for the mgm. co. to keep our account. The feedback this mgm. co. received consists of warnings to others to stay away from their management company and if you have them to get rid of them fast before they run down your condo and your reserve. Getting rid of the mgm. co. may have been the best thing that could have happened to our association & I am wondering why those involved found it necessary to throw their president out of office rather than firing the worse PM and Mgm. co. we ever had unless there was a conflict of interest which just might be the case. Sadly, the men involved in throwing the president out of office and keeping the horrible PM and the mgm. company run two of the most important type of companies in the USA and I only pray they do a better real job than they have done with our condos.  
 
 

Anna, 
 
I've found that many instances businessmen make the worst board members. Perhaps it's because in their business they have others doing the real work! 
I think there should be laws about firing board members w/o just cause, especially if they have been elected by the members. Some bylaws only allow the board to remove a director if he/she misses a certain number of meetings and/or is delinquent in paying assessments. AZ state law requires the members to remove an elected director but an appointed director can be removed by the person who made the appointment -- IF the articles of inc or bylaws do not provide a procedure for removal.

Are the board members obligated to listen to the members at large on issues that come before the board, like rules for commons areas, etc?

Check your gov. docs. and also state laws to find out exactly what the rights of members are. Some states and most gov docs do not even require that board meetings be open to the members, much less that the board members listen to the concerns of the members. As for members' input or even vote on new rules, some states (CA I believe) require the members to agree to any new rules but most states do not even address this issue. Most gov docs allow the board to make new rules w/o input or a vote of the members. Again, check your gov docs and state laws. 
In AZ, members MUST receive notice of all board meetings and have the right to speak at the meeting at an appointed time and also before the board takes action on each agenda item -- regardless of what the gov. docs. say.

The president of our HOA makes decisions without the approval of teh board and gets away with it. Recently she negoiated with the current management company a reduction in their fees for a few months. The management company knew the HOA was looking for another company and offered the president money - under teh table - to be retained. that money was accepted and teh president kept it for herself. The office manager was fully aware of this and warned the president about this illegal activity. Consequently the office manager was fired and replaced by the cleaning guy who is also the future son-in-law of the president. The board will not do anything about this - they are afraid of this president!!! FYI - this is happening in Tampa, FL!!!

Catherine, 
 
 
 
IMO, the whole board needs to be replased ASAP -- not just the Pres. 
 
If the other board members are "afraid" to do something about the Pres then they shouldn't be on the board either as they are ineffective, to say the least. 
 
You may want to gather all the members you can to form a concerned group of members willing to mount a recall of all the board members. You will also have to find members who are willing to run for election to replace these board members should the recall be a success. If the members are not willing to take steps to replace these errant board members then they are getting what they deserve!