First go to your governing documents, then to your management company (if you have one) and lastly send every owner a letter explaining that the board is there to protect their property value. If they are interested in protecting their property value and that of your community, get off their duff and get involved. 
 
otherwise you're SOL. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. GR 
 
GR

I am in the same situation except I am the treasurer and only board member trying to manage the association because the VP, President and Secretary all resigned. No one else has stepped up to the plate to take on these roles/responsibilities. We are self managed and only have 11 units. I am preparing for the annual meeting and am worried that no one else will want to run to be on the board... Our governing docs state the board must be made up of a VP, President, Treasurer and Secretary... Can one person legally run the association solo if no one else is willing to be on the board? What is the procedure in a case like this? Please help if you can. Thank you.

If you are a condo assication in Florida, the bureaucrats in Tallahassee will help you comply by providing as many board members as you require. All highly paid with benefits paid by the Association. A few yeas ago I heard they cost $75,000 per year per board member. Your manager should know this and have current more accurate figures to help motivate your membership.

I was in the same situation. I contacted an Attorney and if no one steps up and takes responsibility the bill are not paid and so on and so on. So as President I will be doing everything for our 8 unit Association which is really not too bad since I am retired. But our maintenance we will have to see if the male owners step up. We do have Angie's List that I got for a gift & was a lifesaver when we were getting started in 2005.

It is sad when nobody wants to get involved for a few minutes a week. 
 
But let something happen to their unit or to their property around them, they come up squealing like mad people. 
 
They do not realize what can happen if their property value goes down caue some people fail to pay their dues and no money in the bank to do repairs. 
 
Maybe a newsletter to each explaining the importance of a board and what happens without one. 
We were lucky the old board was in process of going management when I pissed 2 of thm off and they quit, something I wanted anyways and then it was election time and myself and another stepped up to the plate and then talked the president into coming back with us. 
 
Management does take care of most but we still have our final say. For a few dollars a month more each owner it takes the burden off of the board a little. 
 
 
Might want to think about going management if not already. 
 
Good luck hope you think about some of what I offered. 
 
 
 
Good luck

Hire a management company. If you are the only officer you more than likely have the authority. Check the cost. We are considering a management company in Washington state for under $60,000 per year to manage 101 ground level units. You might find out that this is a lot simpler system, and your fellow owners might just go for it. Good Luck.

I'm also in a similar situation that's been going on for over 10 years. I'm the only one who "manages" the day to day operations which for the most part is depositing the checks every month and writing out the 1-2 checks to vendors each month. We are a self-managed assoc with 6 units. When something comes up I usually just put a note in everyones mailbox and ask them to vote. We don't really follow the docs and everyone is responsible for the outside of the building such as roof replacement so it's not too, too bad as long as everyone continues to pay their condo fee. I'm actually getting pretty tired of it but what can I do? Our docs say we are supposed to meet once a year. We haven't had a meeting in 2 years because no one responds to the meeting notice.

As treasurer in a 30 unit condo, we do not hear any of the horror stories I read here continuously. We did have a walk-away owner who should never have been given a mortgage in 2006. By working with a very honest attorney and using monthly certified mailings to every one (including all her family members) the monthly condo fees were processed although late. There will be an auction this month and we know that the property will be a steal for someone. 
 
Our board discussed buying it, but optyed not to.

The person that posted 60K for management. I live in a condo that is much larger and we don't pay anything close to that amount. I recommend shopping around.

First, if you don't have a management company you need to get one. Having a management company makes life a whole lot easier for the Board. However, you need to do your homework in searching for a management company. The one we had last year was not throughly vetted, a couple of Board members at the time liked who would be the Community Manager. At the end of last year, another Board member and I got a short list of potential management companies and vetted them properly. We checked their standing with the Better Business Bureau, reviewed other HOAs they were managing to ensure that we would not be unique and used that list to reach out to the HOAs and ask their opinion, also had conversations with the management company's references, and finally, interviewed the management company owner. We have had our new management company since February 1 and are elated. 
 
Even with a management company, having people volunteer is tough. While certainly there are many reasons people give you, I believe the real reason is because people cannot tolerate other people being rude as well as having someone calling your idea or opinion stupid. 
 
Check your governing documents to find out if there is any wording regarding a minimum number of Board members. I can tell you that Board meetings with fewer Board members may not necessarily be a bad thing.

The inquirer begins with the normal misunderstanding of the governance of a condo or HOA. The members, except in a few very limited number of associations, elect DIRECTORS. Each director has equal voting on matters.  
Those associations that are incorporated are regulated by the state's corporate legislation regarding officers of a not-for-profit board. This is reflected in the state's Condo Act and sometimes found in the HOA legislation. Most condo bylaws are written by attorneys familiar with these requirements. Some states do not require a vice-president, almost all require a President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Most corporation boards elect officers on an annual basis following the Annual Meeting. 
The individual association bylaws may further mandate that certain (or all) Officers be members of the Board. Often this is the President and Vice President. Bylaws may be written to permit any person to serve as Secretary or Treasurer. This allows members to serve and may even allow non-owners to serve. Officers who are not board members do not vote on motions before the board. In other cases, the VP may also serve as either Secretary or Treasurer.  
-- Currently a client association has as a board director and as its Secretary a person who is neither a member or a renter. Another small association has only one active person.  
-- This may become more prevalent as properties are purchased by investors.  
 
The challenge to these situations is that the D&O may not protect the members from actions not approved by a multi-member board. These are situations to watch in the future.  
 
For those serving in associations where the owners do not participate - one cautionary suggestion - document carefully the circumstances that lead to not having board members, always plan for the Annual Meeting and so document the notices, communicate actions with the members. They don't have to read it, the decision maker has to defend it. Good luck in these changing social issues impacting our communities.

The Vice President can hold morethan one office besides his own. He can be both tbe Secretary and Treasurer. The President can hold only one position

My association of 16 self managed units in a tourist town has 5 board members with a quorum requirement of 3 to do any business. We have a President, Vice President and Treasurer and 2 others. According to our bylaws there must be a Secretary but the Secretary need not be a board member. 8 Units are owner occupied year round. 7 Units are owned as second homes by out of state folks and 1 is leased. Other than the existing 5 board members only one other owner, 85 years old, has any interest in being a board member. 5 out of those 6 people keep getting re-elected each year because no one else wants to be.  
 
Two current board members do almost nothing. One, the Vice President, is an out of state owner and the other, who lives here year round, just does not seem to want to participate. Of the other 3 board members, the President and Vice President live out of state. The net result of all this is that the last board member, the Treasurer, bears far too much responsibility (and was recently also appointed Acting Secretary because no board member or other owner wanted any part of that job). Being one of the two board members who lives in the complex year round, and being retired, the Treasurer/Secretary also gets drawn into just about everything that happens for the simple reason that he is there most of the time.  
 
When anything major needs attention it is almost impossible to assemble board members to conduct business because for some reason most feel that all board members must be present for any meeting to take place. This is really difficult when 3 board members live out of state (even to assemble a quorum, much less the entire 5). We go months without board meetings (which are required to be held at least quarterly). Other than an annual meeting, there is little communication between the board and other owners. I have been unable to convince anyone to schedule monthly (or bi-monthly) board meetings and have the meeting as long as a quorum of 3 is present. I have also been unsuccessful in getting all board members assigned specific responsibilities so that the Treasurer/Secretary isn’t frustrated by all that he now does.  
 
Well, anyway, back to a comment about your question. In my state the Condominium Act requires an annual report be submitted to the Bureau of Corporations listing all board members and their roles. If the same exists in your state, you may hear from them if you do not have an elected Treasurer or Secretary. Our non-board member Secretary resigned last year due to illness and when I (the aforementioned Treasurer/Secretary – probably more accurately described as “sucker”) sent in the required report, I received a call from the Bureau telling me in no uncertain terms the next report better have someone’s name on the Secretary line of the report.  
 
Sometimes I wonder why I do what I do, but always conclude that this is my home, I need to protect my investment and defend it from anything that would decrease its value, including the inaction or disinterest of fellow board members and other owners. Maybe that makes me a fool, I’m not sure. Or maybe it is the one idea that should be used, repeatedly, by any board of directors to encourage participation. 
 
By the way, why is it no incumbents want to seek re-election? 
 
Sorry for being too wordy. 
 

As a past board member whose done a great deal of practical work on the infrastructure, I can tell you that I stopped running because there's a mean, crazy guy who puts himself on the board every year mainly to punish other residents.  
He can do it with his own votes and has driven four of the eight owners away from the process because he believes he is the only person who cares.  
So that's something to think about. In a small association, it's possible for one bad actor to hijack the process. The four sane owners just keep our heads down and only move to block the really bad stuff that costs us money. We've had successful suits to get documents released and no one sane will run if this guy does. No one wants to face the deluge of crazy he represents.

We also have a small association - 12 units. We were having the same issues. I obtained quotes from three different management companies and passed them out at the meeting. When everyone saw that a management company would cost each individual homeowner ~$40.00 per month (depending on % of ownership), there was a change in attitude. We remain self managed with five board members. We include all owners in attendance at meetings to participate in the discussion and decision making. We resort to board-only decisions only when necessary. Now, even though we don't all love each other, we have a nicely run association. $$$ talks in a lot of cases. In addition, our documents state that board members are elected - then they decide among themselves who will hold which position.

Check out this website. It might be useful in getting people to act. 
 
http://www.caionline.org/info/help/Pages/RightsandResponsibilities.aspx

These comments are great. To answer why the incumbents are not running is because they have been doing this for almost 8 years now. There are a couple of homeowners who are always complaining about money and watering of the common grounds. Time for new people. The Association has 23 condo's. So far we have a President, Vice President and Member at Large running. No Treasurer or Secretary. I sent out a newsletter with a threat that we might have to hire an outside company to perform these tasks and it may raise the dues. Still no response. I guess the President and VP will have to resolve this after the election. Are there no other options? Can the VP and President legally take on the role as Treasurer?

Next step is Management! Let all members know that it will raise their dues.. This may help.. Being on a board is a pain. Not every one is cut out to serve..............

You do not mention if you employ a Property Manager. The Property Manager takes care of many things, and may make it easier to recruit Board members, if they are not bogged down with day to day issues and property management. Unless you all have heaps of time on your hands, I would always recommend a Property Manager. Like anything else, if you have more time than money, you do it yourself. Otherwise, hire someone! 
 
 
 
I am on our Board. We have trouble recruiting as well every election year. When you get down to it....."S" comment is spot on. Everyone LOVES to complain about every little thing. And I DO mean EVERY little thing. But noone wants to sacrifice their time to be on the Board. Why bother? This way, you can blame everything on someone else. Easy Peasy.  
 
 
 
However, "bm" comment is the most startling and alarming....and everyone should take note of it. If you do not have a quorum, the State will take control of your HOA. And they will charge you for it.  
 
 
 
So folks should be grateful to those to sacrifice their own time to prevent this. And stop whining about EVERY LITTLE THING.  
 
Who wants to be bothered with that??

i have the opposite problem, i am new to the neighborhood and want to be on the very secretive bullying board and they know it. we had a member resign and they have yet to nominate sommeone nor were we notified of the resignation! elections are coming and they are not listing his open position as they say his term is up next year. our bylaws say we are to governed by a board of seven!is this legal.

affective jan 1,2013 our 14 unit condo complex in CT. will not have an elected BOD.What happens,how do things get taken care of. What are the legal ramifications?