Emailing all Board members

Your example of providing information or asking a question about a leak in a unit is not conducting business.

If this is not an emergency, I'd bring it up under new business.

I might even say, by email, to everyone:

There is a leak in Unit 6. It has been reported to the management company or maintenance man. The roof issue needs to be resolved and I will be bringing it up under New Business when we meet Friday.

But watch the concept of "discuss"

Providing information is different from discussing.

If discussion takes place, it belongs in open session or at the proper time when a motion is made. (You don't want members to think that all the discussion on an issue has taken place before it came to vote. Open debate and the revealment of information is necessary)

Bonnie,

At the end of the day, get the darn leak fixed and take your chance that property owners won't sue you for seeing a non-rain based water leak and reporting it to your board. (Just don't slip on the sidewalk while you examine the leak).

Your volunteer "job" is serving the community and you're doing that. People on these threads seem to think the law exists to co-opt one's innate common sense.

Brad,

I agree that using email is a slippery slope for any HOA board that tends to enjoy working in the proverbial dark. Legalities and proper protocol aside, email discussions will get highly passive-aggressive in a hurry, negating such a procedure's effectiveness in many cases.

Here is our 25-story high rise, residents, directors or staffers would immediately report a leak (1) to onsite management during weekdays, 8:30-5:30 or (2) security staff after hours/weekends. Our onsite engineers would inspect the leak or come in if after hours, and contact the appropriate vendor. The board would play no role. But we high rise folks take leaks very seriously!

For "ideas": if a director wants something on the next open meeting's agenda, s/he'd make the written request to the board prez & PM. If the director wants to learn in advance if there's any support for the agenda idea, s/he could contact 2 other directors (board of 7 here) for feedback so that the discussion could not be defined as a "meeting."

Because of previous boards that abused both the letter and the spirit of the (Davis-Sterling) Open Meeting Act, we play it really straight.

Well........I'd still get the leak repaired very quickly and hope the property owner was more concerned about the water than HOA law. My guess is the property manager would be the appropriate, and vote-free, method of handling this issue in a common sense method.

Kelly...agreed...when there is imminent danger to life and property in my opinion waiting for a meeting is not appropriate.

Thanks for all your responses. I had no intention of waiting for a Board Meeting to handle this problem. I emailed all Board Members so that every member would be aware of the problem. Technically we have no propery manager. (Due to an illegal vote--long story). We have a Resident Manager that has many health problems. She has a very difficult time walking.
Earlier I had emailed all Board Members about other items including an item regarding our documents and raising the fee.

Since our association began in 1981 there is nothing mentioned in the law regarding emails. We are under the laws for associations built prior to 1984.

Bonnie,

What you'll find with your new board and its new engagement is that "problems" will arise like leaks, gutter issues, etc. It's simply because your team is paying close attention to what needs to be done. The closer scrutiny will result in many "nickel-and-dime" repairs that were not previous problems because they possibly weren't identified as a need.

At one time, my board installed decorative fountains, extended flower beds (and groundskeeping costs) and other amenities. Over time, with a newer board makeup, we started noticed "stuff" that needed repairing. Frankly, we're still at it, working here and there - nothing urgent yet it needs a board discussion and vote. My thought is that previous board members maybe didn't have the eye or training for property maintenance, not that there was nefarious activity.

This is one of the better threads I've read on this forum in awhile. It had me second-guessing the addressing of active maintenance issues and whether simply notifying the board of an issue is a legal problem in the technical sense. That and I've really enjoyed the challenging points others have posted today.