What can an HOA member do if the Board is not doing their JOB??

Dyana,

The short answer is the same I stated in responses to your other postings, become involved and try to encourage others to become involved.

If something is broken, politely report it, in writing and request a response as to when it will be fixed. Then follow up on it. Basically, the squeaky wheel gets the grease approach.

Request to see a copy of the landscaping contract. This will tell you if the landscaper is meeting the requirements. If you believe that the contractor is not fulfilling the contract, offer to chair a committee to solicit bids for a new contractor.

Remember that the management company works for the Board. If there are issues, bring them to the Board along with any documented proof. Be polite and explain that you are just trying to understand what your money is being spent on. If you do this in writing, copy all members of the Board - as this eliminates the possibility that the issue will be forgotten.

Hope this helps,

Tim

All documents (other than those that violate privacy acts) are owned by the community and, as such, are open to all homeowners. I would get copies of all contracts, all budgets, and expenditures for the current and several past months. Enlist a few other homeowners to help review what the Board is doing, and make it obvious that this is happening. If the Board knows that someone is looking over their shoulder, the Board may start acting in the real best interests of the community. If discrepancies are found, don't hesitate to call for an independent audit, and keep doing so until it happens. Of course, the audit will cost money, but the end result will be a yardstick of how well the Board is serving the community.

I agree about getting a look at the contract. Most people believe that lawns just need to be watered and mowed. This is not the case. My father was a landscape gardener.

Most lawns I see are half weeds cut down to size.

Look and see what kind of lawn care you need in your area and the recommended grasses.
Also look at what the water and power company recommends and if there are things such as watering days One summer in California we could only water twice a week and that's not enough to keep a lawn alive. Worse yet, this schedule allowed the pressure to build up in pipes and many burst and a year later, the city changed the requirement to three times a week for a certain amount of time.

Lawns need to be re-seeded, thatched and aerated regularly (one or twice a year). But because most people do not know this, the lawn slowly dies.

Does your contract include pruning? If you have trees, your state/city might require a license to trim them over a certain height. In some cases, the gardeners who are hired do not have that certification.

The plants need mulching in the summer. You might have plants that aren't meant for the heat and need too much pampering.

I don't know much about pools.

You ever think that there isn't any money in your HOA budget to cover all these items you want done? A HOA is ONLY funded by it's owners FOR it's owners. If you or others are NOT paying their dues because they don't see results, don't you think this causes the results you want NOT to happen? I am sure you would love to see a porsche sitting in your driveway instead of a Honda. However, since you don't have enough funds for that Porsche your only choice is the Honda... Same with a HOA. You can imagine the Porsche should be there but reality is the HOA is keeping a broken down barely running Honda in the drive...

My suggestion...If you want the things you want, then participate in your HOA more and find out what issues they truly face in making decisions on what to do with the money they have. The expenses of keeping a HOA afloat may surprise you and make you wonder why you and your members aren't paying more to have the things you want or need.

Mark,

Associations are typically established to maintain the common areas, provide specific services (trash/street lights/etc.) and, typically, to create an approval authority for exterior changes to the lots.

In addition to the members (you and your neighbors) the governing documents extend the same authority the membership has to enforce the covenants to the Association. I have yet to see any language within governing documents that require an individual member or the Association to actually exercise that authority and enforce the covenants. Similar to the members, the Board may choose when to exercise that authority and when not to.

Mind you, I don't agree with a board enforcing some and not others. However, it appears that governing documents are written so the Board does have the option.

If the membership disagrees with the board decision they may:

1) Not reelect those same people to the board at the next election.
2) Go through the process of recalling the Board.
3) Enforce the covenants themselves by bringing legal action against their neighbor
4) Exercise their option to run for the board and, if elected, be part of those decisions.