COMMENTS
My first question is, what are they going to gain by sueing?
Wayne's right "what for"? It seems a 6 unit association has more to do than sue each other. Besides, you might look in your governing documents. In most states the board can not be sued it has to be a class action against the whole membership. If there are no records, start keeping some today and tomorrow you'll have some records...go solve your problem...make love not war! GR
You can't sue stupid. Or ignorant or negligant.
And as stated above, what do you hope to achieve except foster ill will in your tiny association? I have exactly the same issues: the board does not behave, so I could sue them to behave; what would happen; they would resign, and noone whould step up and be on the board.
There is a higher bar, depending on your state and the declarations in your CC&Rs and ByLaws. Unless the conduct was criminal, willfully fradulent or egregiously and willfully neglectful of fiduciary responsibilities you cannot sue the former board members individually. They are protected while acting in good faith as board members. You would be suing yourselves. You cannot sue and win for bad record keeping. The court will in all likelyhood summarily dismiss the case unless you have specific acts that violated law.
You better have the new board review the law, the condominium documents.
It may be a cliche, but the only ones who gain in a suit are the lawyers. Any business man could tell you that. People who sue are often angry, bitter people and the real reason for their suits lie way back in their personal history.
No one has to go to the past to find reasons to sue--instead they should look forwards and see what they can improve and fix. Running meetings the right way is not grounds for suits.
Make sure that your lawyer asks the judge to consider making them pay for your legal costs.
Voluteer Board members are usually protected. I know our insuranc policy has 1 million dollar coverage for Board members in case they are sue.
Also suing the association is like suing yourself. Who do you think will pay your legal fees? Of course the owners would either by increse in fees or a special assessment
Don't waste your money because in essence as other have said you would be suing yourself. How long have you been President and what state are you from? Most bylaws exempt Board members from suits. As a new board member, I would make sure I follow the current documents, current state condo laws. Do you have a good management or CPA company and a good attorney? What does your attorney advise? You can contact your bank and all vendors you do business with for that matter and get all invoives and statements and I would make sure they all know who the current Board is and who is making decisions.
A law suit is a costly waste of time and money - especially in a small association. We had a similar issue (12 units) and although we sometimes thought about suing those who screwed things up, we knew that would result in nothing tangible for the association. My humble recommendation is to let bygones be bygones, don't ever let them on the board again, and make things right now. This will take some time, but will be worth it in the long run.
We had no reserves, very little accounting for where our money went, fees for non-profit status weren't paid for years, and I could go on and on. We let all that stay in the past, fixed everything, and are well on our way to stability.
Look ahead - not back. There is nothing back there for you!
My understanding is that you are not suing, but that the old board is suing YOU! Since this ocurred after you requested records, which are necessary for the new board, the old board might be setting up a smoke screen, to possibly keep the new board from perhaps detecting possible fraud. I believe you have nothing to fear, their case against you might backfire, as there record keeping can be called into question. I am not saying there is wilful fraud, but, violations may have ocurred due to the old boards neglect to follow the decs, state laws etc.
In the meant time, get busy-know your decs and state laws. Where will the old board get money to sue? The new board now has the money don't they?
If the former board is suing the current board for improper procedures just correct any thing thats not according to state laws and your docs and run the association as it should be. Forget about any lawsuits.
Get a hold of your lawyer, sounds like some do not know what is what!! Having some past experience is to have one in your back pocket, providing, he is a not a $1000.00 an hour one of which I have run into ask up front.. You should have state attorneys that may help you. Depending which state you live in!1 Best of luck..
Our association has D&O coverage (Directors and Officers) with no deductible. You should check your insurance policy and then contact your insurance company who will provide a lawyer to defend you in a lawsuit.
Everyone pays for a lawsuit in the end. Your sueing yourself
This happened with our association the same way. Not once but twice in the past. You know the old saying " fool me once shame on me, fool me twice shame on you".
Well when water flows over the dam, it's gone forever.
So unless you think you have something to gain by seeing the former board members, and spending money for a lawyer out of the associations money, I would chalk it up to the loss all the members end up having. This also happens when an association thinks they can be their own board.
Get up to date and let a management serve you and stop thinking that you can handle things yourself. And stop thinking you have something to prove.. It is what it is. You are wasting money and time, so let It be a lesson to be learned when you don't want to spend extra money by letting the professionals do the job.
We will never again try to handle the assocition on our own ever again.
Give it up, you have nothing to gain.aa
COME ON! WHAT AREN'T YOU TELLING US? WHY WOULD THEY SUE A CURRENT BOARD? MAKES NO SENSE. IT COSTS TOO MUCH. IF YOU SLANDERED THEM, THAT'S ONE THING. BUT COME ON. TELL THE TRUTH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD OR STAY OFF THIS BLOG.
Baloney post. I re-read it it says the former board is sueing the present board. For what?
You must have mentally ill people or a lot of facts you need to explain. Otherwise DO NOT POST HERE.
If your board did something that did not follow all the rules for meetings and notice, then I would suggest that you quickly re-do it and this time follow all the procedures in your governing documents. Also be sure to check your state laws, since some states have laws regarding meetings and notice. Once it is re-done legally, they won't have much of a case against you.
Sorry I didn't realize this was posted so promptly! The issue lies with an amendment to our declarations to limit renting. The prior president is suing due to lack of records and claiming fraud against the current board even though all meetings took place under his authority. He refused to pass down any Association votes regarding the amendment and is now claiming a vote was never conducted. It just seems ludicrous that he can sue others for his specific actions in the past and claim a technicality that he himself did not follow in this situation.