Non Resident Board Member.....

Our Board has been speaking about this for many years because some of the townhomes are rented. Majority of the homeowners feel that a Board Member should reside in the community and not be a landlord. What are other associations positions on this?

Apologies if confusing.....the homeowner does not live in our community. He is the landlord. He ran during the last election and lost but it has caused an issue within our community. I am presuming he will run again because his reasons are self serving. Just interested if any other HOA has had this issue.

The HOA is for the actual homeowners only. (There are other HOA's this isn't a requirement). I say as long as they OWN a property and are NOT the renter/tenant, they have every right to run and be elected to the board. If you don't like it, then don't vote for them to be on the board the next election cycle. Being on the property doesn't make a difference as long as you have an interest in the property.

I think this rule is confusing to some when interpreted. It would seem that anybody with an interest to be on the board of a HOA can run and be elected. Which to me translates that someone walking down the sidewalk could decide they want to come in and run for a HOA position. That is why I think this rule is mis-intrepreted.

What I believe the true intent of such a rule came from the old developer paperwork. When the HOA is developer controlled, they could have non-members on their boards. That is because they may want to use an associate in their company, a realtor, or other business interest source to be on the board. When the HOA's is turned over to the members, they haven't done much in the way of changing those documents. Most use the same documents or modify the existing ones with just removing the developer references. This is where this rule may be overlooked.

HOA means "Homeowners Association" by default. That means that it is the home OWNERS that are members in an association to upkeep and manage their property/home values. It doesn't make sense to allow someone from "off the street" or a Renter to be part of the HOA. They really don't have an interest overall. Plus these people don't pay the dues or are bound by the legal contract to be a member. (CC&R's).

I would say the translation of such rules about not being a member is leftovers from the former developer or they were adapted with the intent of allowing long-term tenants of absentee landlords to participate. Those are the only 2 reasons why I would see a non-member being allowed on the HOA BOARD. A renter can be on a committee but not on a board postion in my opinion. There's barely enough volunteers as it is and not going to begrudge a good tenant some kind of oportunity.

Review and update your documents is a good idea to do every 5 years or so. Technology changes and things need updated. It's a good time to review and form a committee to get into making changes.

Why has this caused an issue?

If the majority of the homeowners do not want to elect someone to the board who does not reside in the community, that's their right. The fact that there are other homeowners who are unhappy with the result is too bad. If the non-resident homeowner who didn't get elected is unhappy, too bad. They all have to live with it. People may not be happy with election results at any level, be it national, state, or local. But that's what majority rule is all about.

Deana:

to your question, if he owns the property he has a right to be a board member whether he resides there or not. I guess you could enact a bylaw or covenant that the board members have to reside in the lot they own within the community, that would be a question for a lawyer on legalities...

As for the other discussion, our documents allow non-members to be board members. If it is an issue within a community simple change your documents or don't vote for non-members.

Oh my gosh!..........that is BS!
You at least have to be an owner of a unit (whether, you live there or not,ie: Rent it Out). I would definitely get that changed right away........our contract states that you have to have 50% live vote, not thru proxy, but show up to the vote in person in order to change any regulations to the HOA Agreement.........THAT IS THE HARD PART, GETTING 50% INTERESTED, WHEN YOU ONLY HAVE DOOR TO DOOR ACCESS TO THE HOMEOWNERS ACTUALLY LIVING IN THEIR PURCHASED UNIT.

I live in a townhome community in Central Texas.