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Felony Convictions

Started by JohnD25 • 11 replies • 2709 views

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JohnD25 (Florida)
Posts: 3
Posted:
Can an HOA Pres. who was arrested for assault/battery and a felony continue to serve as HOA Pres.? Also, current Pres. has awarded his own company the landscaping contract, cleaning contract etc. Is this permitted ? No bids were ever mentioned as being sent. Urgently need an answer. Thanks
PeterD3 (Florida)
Posts: 708
Posted:
Arrests don't mean anything. Convictions are what matters. But even that is likely moot as to my knowledge FL HOA statutes have nothing to prevent even a convicted felon from serving on an HOA Board.

How about your Assn. docs.?

As far as the other conduct issues, it is not typically possible for JUST the Pres. to award any contract for any product or service by him/herself. This would require a BOD vote.

As far as competitive bids, again the Fl. statutes for HOAs do not require this.
KcW (Florida)
Posts: 14
Posted:
Did the President hit you? Why do you care if he was arrested?

nosey neighbor.
MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836
Posted:
The BOD are usually ALL VOLUNTEERS. They aren't paid positions unless that is how your HOA is set up. If the president is up to date in his/her dues and people voted them in... they can be in office.

If you don't like that the President is being a bit of a dictator then find out how the process works. Is there a BOD? Are there regular meetings? Have you attended any of the meetings?

It could be the lack of interest of the membership that lets the president get away with such things. If there is no one else at the wheel or sitting in the back seat then the President might be doing all he/she can to get things done. It might be an easier route for them just to combine responsibilities. I know I would IF I was the only one at the helm with no one else there to HELP but gripe...
Former HOA President
JohnD25 (Florida)
Posts: 3
Posted:
He hit a neighbor and put him into the hospital with some bad injuries. As a resident I do not like having a person like this in charge of contracts and money. People are wondering if the HOA since it was listed on the law suit can be held liable since it occurred in our residential area.
Re apathy, yes... people do not come out enough and hope this is a wake up call or we will become trailer trash.
JanetB2 (Colorado)
Posts: 4,219
Posted:
Hi John:

I am sorry to hear about your HOA issue. It would appear that from your statement the HOA was named in the lawsuit due to someone holding the position of President assaulting a homeowner. Hopefully because this is a criminal type charge the HOA will not be held liable, but to get to that point will potentially incur attorney fees to defend the HOA, but hopefully will be minimal cost.

Here is a link for the Florida State Statutes:

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Index&Title_Request=XL#TitleXL

Depending if you are an HOA or Condominium there is options to recall this board member and eliminate future potential problems.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836
Posted:
If this was an act while acting a President the HOA's insurance policy will come into play IF you have one. However, I suspect this should be a CIVIL case and the HOA shouldn't be held responsible in the end. Acts of a board member while doing their DUTIES causes harm is protected by the insurance policy. However, a board member acting as an individual against another individual should be held to their behavior/damage.

I was almost assaulted by a board member while I was a board member. (Long story). I called the police and it was handled in that way. The HOA wasn't involved even though it happened on their property during a meeting. It was just baaad behavior on the other board members part.

There is a separation between PRIVATE lives and PROFESSIONAL in a HOA. I don't know all the details but hope this line is understood and NOT involve the HOA since it is ALL the owners.
Former HOA President
ShawnaT (Maryland)
Posts: 20
Posted:
Wow it sounds a lot like the community I live in...I recently had an issue in which I requested 3 bids to have trees cut down and you would have thought I asked for the winning power ball numbers...

I know on our Board, we have voted in some documents that state that board members must be law abiding citizens, etc. Sad that common sense seems to have fallen off the cliff these days.

In your case, was the president violent as the president or just as a "regular joe"? Seems to me like that would be a factor.
JohnD25 (Florida)
Posts: 3
Posted:
The Pres. is a regular joe to his friends because he buys 6 pizzas, 3 dunkin donut boxes, chest full of sodas for each meeting when he decides to have one. They eat while the rest of us do not since we do not feel it is proper to spend $2100 per qtr. on such thing (yes, it is listed as misc.).
Als, the voting booth is "guarded " by his goons as intimidation. It has been noticed that votes were being written during the count and they were collected and placed into the closed guarded room. naturally, it was a landslide for him and the board.
JenniferM10 (Illinois)
Posts: 97
Posted:
I'm not sure how the legalities of all this work, but I did read a story last year of an HOW in a similar situation. One of the homeowners actually went to the police and asked that they attend the board meeting as a precaution.

They wouldn't be able to do much about ballad stuffing, but they could at least help the homeowners in attendance not be intimidated.
JrO (California)
Posts: 7
Posted:
Does Florida have any law regarding voting in associations? I would look that up. In California that vote would be overturned. See if you have legal recourse.

Regarding the food at the meeting. I'm actually thinking about bringing food into ours so we can get better attendance at our meetings. We have 146 units and we are lucky to have 3 in attendance. I know it seems to be frivolous, but he's getting out the vote.
JrO (California)
Posts: 7
Posted:
Does Florida have any law regarding voting in associations? I would look that up. In California that vote would be overturned. See if you have legal recourse.

Regarding the food at the meeting. I'm actually thinking about bringing food into ours so we can get better attendance at our meetings. We have 146 units and we are lucky to have 3 in attendance. I know it seems to be frivolous, but he's getting out the vote.

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