President and Treasurer?

Can a sitting president also serve as an HOA's treasurer?

I'm writing from a small 12-unit HOA. When our treasurer was removed from office and the assistant treasurer could no longer serve for personal reasons, our president took over the post. Now he doesn't want to give up either office. Is this even legal? In this situation it's not a question of character. He's a good guy, but I believe holding dual offices presents a major conflict. At our annual meeting Friday he said there was "no one in the room not currently holding office who could do the job." Can we do anything? Should we do anything? Thoughts? Help?

In our case our ByLaws do not specifically prevent this per se but that would be unwise as the Pres. & Treas. are the two required signatures on HoA checks.

First, may I ask, who removed the treasurer? The Board or the membership? How many board members do you have? Three or five?

Oops, forget that. It was the Assistant Treasurer who resigned.

The long-sitting treasurer was asked to step down when we realized she'd hidden the fact that she was YEARS in arrears. Our regs say you have to be in good standing to hold an office on our council. The assistant treasurer was appointed by the president, but a long illness and death in her family kept her from serving long. She had to step down. I've lived here four years and for the first three, I paid dues and went about my business. The board was all but defunct. A rallying meeting to address concerns about maintenence and such brought a majority of us together and we held an election. At later meetings, once we saw "the books" such as they were (they were just the check registers and bank statements, we realized we had an egregious problem with several owners being seriously behind on their monthly fees. We had to quickly place liens, work out payment plans, begin invoicing everyone (this had NOT been done before) and it's been a tough road. The board is down to four members, still missing a treasurer, really the only job that matters in the big scheme of things. ; ) Our regs are outdated and need revamped.

The following could provide you with some guidelines how a vacancy is usually filled but please check your By-laws and the Articles.

Rule 1: If the membership voted for five directors and one resigns, or is removed by the Board, than the Board must appoint a replacement.

Rule 2: If the membership voted for five directors and the membership calls a special meeting to remove a director than the vacancy is filled by the members at the same meeting.

Rule 3: Once you have five directors in place the directors vote to appoint the treasurer, for instance.

Rule 4: If your By-laws permit the president to be also a treasurer than the directors can vote for the president to hold these two positions. Or, the directors can appoint an Officer to be the treasurer. Again, your By-laws should clarify this.

At the annual meeting you may also consider to vote for a ‘financial review’ of your books which can be done by an accountant or by an ‘audit’ committee providing that none of the Board members serve on the committee.

Not sure how quickly your HOA can place liens in WV but in Florida it is a lengthy process governed by covenants and the state law.

Then, if that's what your bylaws say, I would say that implies the President and Treasurer must be two separate people.