Is my HOA illegal?

Started by KristinS • 4 replies • 2487 views

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KristinS (Tennessee)
Posts: 2

Posted:

We are located in Knoxville, TN. Our current HOA has not had a meeting since Dec. 2008. At that meeting, it was decided to wait on elections until a larger crowd was present because there were only about 6 people present. So time went by and here we are Feb. 2011 and still nothing. The last election was Dec. 2007. They are supposed to be every year. Does that make our HOA void or illegal? If that is the case, can homeowners refuse to pay their dues until a new board is in place? Who might I call to find out the right answer or does someone have some insight?

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Kristen,

What type of a HOA are you, such as a condo or stand alone homes? What is happening to your dues? Is the old Board still being considered as the "Board"?

Your Charter will say what kind of number of members is required to constitute a quorum to hold a valid meeting. Members of the association can petition the Board to request a meeting and election. Chances are that because no one was showing up for the meetings, no one will care if there is or is not an election.

Having said that, the members by refusing to participate in the business and operating structure of the HOA will not make the HOA go away. I would say that you are fortunate to have any type of Board members that have stayed on to keep things running. But that is a bad thing.

Who watches the Board to insure that they are doing a job, good or bad as it may be? The answer and blame to all of this lies in the apathy of all of the members of the association.

No matter what, DO NOT REFUSE TO PAY YOUR DUES!!. You might be leined or forclosed on for doing that. Yes, you still have an association and are responsible for it despite no one taking up the responsibility to become involved.

JanetB2 (Colorado)
Posts: 4,219

Posted:

Does that make our HOA void or illegal? … NO

If that is the case, can homeowners refuse to pay their dues until a new board is in place? …
Dues are like taxes, stop paying them and you can accumulate attorney fees, a lien against your property, and potential foreclosure. Please do not stop paying your dues.

Who might I call to find out the right answer or does someone have some insight? …
First I would call your neighbors and all work together to get your HOA on the right track. Who has been taking care of the HOA business during this period of time? Everyone in your HOA needs to realize that if you purchase a home in an HOA, you need to be willing to participate at least to some extent especially attending one meeting per year. It always amazes me that people will purchase a home in an HOA then stick their head in the sand and not attend one meeting every 365 days.

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

Kristen - if there HAVE been attempts to hold an annual meeting of the members and a quorum could not be reached, then sometimes there are ways to hold the meeting anyway, even if 6 people show up. Sometimes an election CAN be held without a quorum being met.

Check your bylaws and see if the quorum is reduced for the next meeting called because of not meeting quorum for the first meeting. In any case, insist on the board calling an Annual Meeting. By law, you are supposed to hold one.

BTW - Are election ballots being sent out with the agenda? They could be return-mail ballots.

ShawnaT (Maryland)
Posts: 20

Posted:

Can you talk with the "current" members of the board and try to build some kind of interest within the community? We have a small association (about 385 homes) and our annual meeting quorum is 25, believe me, we sweat until 7pm when the meeting starts which is right about when the 25th person joins us! We also struggle from time to time to get board members to show up for a board meeting, so I understand your frustration.

Are you on the board? Do you know people willing to serve? What are your dues used for? Do you have any community events that build goodwill? We have been doing quarterly newsletters, installed a bulletin board, made a Facebook page and a community forum, started a spring and fall pot luck, and easter and christmas event for the kids...perhaps if you do something to get more people involved you can overcome the 6 people problem? Obviously, this is something that the current board members should be doing!

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