No president

My state does not have laws for an HOA but we must register our by-laws with the secretary of state and follow the non profit law. My question is we have not had a President since March and the by-laws state we must have 7 board members we only have 5 to 6 at any given time. Yes we have a vice President but that person does not want to step up to president. Can a HOA run without a president?

Paula,

Sounds like the V.P. doesn't understand what the duties of his office are. Generally the V.P. takes over the duties of the Pres in the Pres' absence. What about the other board member? Any board member can be appointed as Pres. To answer your question, of course an assn can be run w/o a Pres. If the Pres is resp. for signing a contract, in his absence, the V.P.can sign it. I suggest you review the duties of the Pres and V.P. then meet with your fellow board members. The board should discuss the issue and appoint someone to the position. With 5 or 6 board members, if there isn't one who is willing to be Pres then none of them are worth their salt, IMO. Being an HOA board Pres is not rocket science!

Having said that, there is perhaps one other thing that can be done. If the bylaws give the board the authority to make appointments for board vacancies perhaps the board could appoint a member who would be willing to serve as Pres -- that is if no other board member is willing to hold that position.

FYI, from my assn bylaws:

"Any one person may hold 2 or more offices at the same time, except that no one person shall simultaneously hold theoffice of Pres and Sec."

"The VP shall take the place of the Pres and perform his duties whenever the Pres shall be absent, unable to act or refuses to act. If neither the Pres or VP is able to act, the BOD shall appoint some other member of the board to do so on an interim basis."