CONFLICT OF INTEREST?

Started by MaryS7 • 15 replies • 1818 views

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MaryS7 (Texas)
Posts: 37

Posted:

I reside in Texas. Our Board positions are filled except for Director. Our board recently filled the Directors position with a woman whose son is our contractor and whose daughter-in-law is our pool/clubhouse monitor. Complaints have been filed with our Property Manager and Board. The Board then came out with a statement saying that the director will not be voting on issues regarding the contracting work or pool/clubhouse issues. Do you find this as ridiculous as I do and a total conflict of interest? What if any recourse do we have in making this right?

JohnB26 (South Carolina)
Posts: 1,569

Posted:

vote 'em out at the next election

JohnB26 (South Carolina)
Posts: 1,569

Posted:

.....remember:

unless you are volunteering: quit yur f*****k*** b*****h***

MaryS7 (Texas)
Posts: 37

Posted:

Real adult response, John. I gave 4 yrs of my time to my Assoc. in past years. I plan on voting them out ASAP

BradP (Kansas)
Posts: 2,640

Posted:

Mary:

Boards are often faced with a difficult decision of filling positions with limited volunteers...I see no issue with this appoitnment if the director recuses herself from discussions and votes affecting those two areas.

CarolR11 (Colorado)
Posts: 2,563

Posted:

As is often the case, I'm with Brad on this. She recuses herself on any topic that involves those categories. The board, i believe, also can ask her to leave the room during sensitive discussions about those topics, e.g., consideration of renewing the contractor's contract, so that the board can speak freely.

Mary, what is a pool/clubhouse monitor? Is it a paid position? Does she have a budget?

Also, how many are on your board? How many units in your HOA? Just curious.

OnO (Texas)
Posts: 5

Posted:

It sounds that it really is a conflict of interest . Did this Director position really need to be filled or is it a ploy for votes in the future. A pool monitor is one who gets paid to watch the pool. No one is swimming in the winter its out doors likely. A club house may get an occassional use but if it is rarely used they probably shouldn't have to throw away money paying this monitor all year for this job. Pool monitor I think is the wife of the person that has been given lots of jobs in this particular subdivision. Now the mom is on the board and they all live in this subdivision. How is this not a conflict of interest. Sounds like HOA board just picks who they like.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Mary,

I was recently the only person elected to the Board. It took three months of begging for volunteers before members stepped forward. My options were extremely limited:

Conduct zero business (as the Board could not seat a quorum). - bad choice as contracts needed renewed or awarded.

Petition the court for receivership - bad choice as members have zero say and they must pay the salary of the receiver.

Appoint friends, relatives, whomever I could find to the chair so business could happen - not a great choice as there is the appearance to the membership causes more issues.

I published these options to the membership and it still took three months before 2 individuals finally stepped forward.

If the members are not actively involved in the running of their Association then the membership is stuck with those who are willing to serve. Good or Bad.

OnO (Texas)
Posts: 5

Posted:

Tim are you saying there was only one (you) on the board.
What if there were already 4 on the board do you really have to fill the director position?

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

At one point, yes I was a board of one.

The minimum number required for a Board is found in your governing documents. Ours was three.

I will say that one of the volunteers has a wife on the Architectural Committee. Therefore, he was only appointed providing he recuse himself from any architectural matters before the board - this way we minimize the appearance of impropriety and conflict of interest. Similar to what is happening in Mary's Association.

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

This woman is related to paid employees of the HOA.

Unless you can prove that she directly benefits monetarily as a result of their positions (she got a kickback) or has some other advantage over other Members because of this (like getting free maintenance work done), she is NOT in conflict of interest.

JeffR7 (California)
Posts: 251

Posted:

If you have 4 on the board you might have to fill the position because your Bylaws state so and because you don't want to be in situation when there is 2:2 vote and you can't conduct business.

It's board decision who to fill vacancy with until the term expires. In this case it sounds like the board is aware of potential conflict of interest and still believed that this was the right choice. You elected these people to their current position so you should probably trust them enough to make the right appointment. When there is next election you can simply vote for another board member if this one doesn't work out.

OnO (Texas)
Posts: 5

Posted:

I understand what you are explaining about votes. A good portion of votes are likely to be around maintance which that person is the son of the new board member. It just seems like it is a ball of favortism running wild. Decisions about the pool will come up soon as well related to new board member But the maintance is on going.

MaryS7 (Texas)
Posts: 37

Posted:

The Pool Monitor/ Clubhouse lady is a paid employee postion. She oversees the pool in the summer and clubhouse rentals thru the year.
On our board is Pres. Vp. Sec. Treas. and Director
352 units in our HOA

MaryS7 (Texas)
Posts: 37

Posted:

Also, these board members continue to make their own rules as they go along.They consistently disregard our by laws and appoint board members that are their friends . There is a trust issue with these women.
Thanks to everyone who voiced their opinions, I appreciate it!
Looks like we will have to vote them out this year, if we are able.

OnO (Texas)
Posts: 5

Posted:

Do you think the BOD hired the pool monitor and the maintance person as a possible trade off like maybe they were having a hard time financially and couldn't pay their HOA dues. If that was a possibility, what about other people in your HOA that have trouble keeping up with payments. Now, that surely would be a conflict of interest. Especially, if there is incomplete work occurring, poor workmanship is done, unnecessary monthly payments to pool monitor, and mom on board wheras to others being treated with letters from lawyers threatening to take away their homes.

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