New to the HOA Board

I'm new to this online community. I'm also the newly elected President of our HOA Board.

Oue development is about 4 years old and the HOA really hasn't had a functioning HOA Board. One person has been trying to serve in all capacities because he couldn't get anybody else to help out. So last night we essentially had a meeting where we were either going to disband the HOA or elect a new Board. So here I am.

As you might imagine there has been very little organization or communication in the past. And I don't have much information to go off of. Our residents have several complaints (speeding, junk cars residing in the driveways, etc.)

My thought is that the first priorities must be 1) getting a handle on the budget and 2) getting the HOA properly organized with a complaint system, regular Board meetings, etc.

I would deeply appreciate any advice or if you could point me toward helpful reference material.

Welcome, and get ready. I am also on a new board and will give you what advice I can, there are lots of people on this forum that can and will give you great advice, so when you have a question, just ask.

First, get your bylaws and read and follow them to the exact point. The bylaws were written to protect all and if you follow them, then your doing your job. Second, educate yourself, I recommend the Homeowners Association Manual, it has some great advice for new board members, you can find it at amazon. This site is also a great resource for education as well, especially state by state info. Third, restrictions, get a committee together to review and know all restrictions, then start enforcement, the restrictions as were the bylaws are given to the homeowners to protect all, so if everyone is against a restriction, change it or remove it, do not ignore it. Get a good attorney, sooner or later you'll need one, and its better to be prepared. The budget handle is great, you have to have a budget and it needs to be updated annually if not more often as problems arise, and its better to prepare people for what will happen than to keep doing special assessments due to lack of planning. Involvement, keep everyone you can involved, monthly newsletter, phone committee, social committee, invite to come and listen at board meetings, whatever you can do and whatever it takes get as many people as you can involved. Start from fresh, let everyone know your intentions and that you are starting as though it is day one, you intend to do things right and treat everyone equally and fairly. Lastly, remember everyone is equal, everyone has one vote, at least in most situations, so treat each owner equally and keep all contacts that you can in writing or follow up person visits with a note or email to confirm what the discussion was. By all means keep good records to pass on to the next board and let all board members have areas of responsibilities, don't try to do everything yourself, all that will do is wear you out.

Good Luck and remember if you have questions put them on the forum.

Depending on the state, county, etc., the documents should have been filed with a government office (the county recorder of deeds in our case). You might be able to check there for any missing documents.