code of ethics

Started by KevinN • 8 replies • 2095 views

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KevinN (New York)
Posts: 4

Posted:

hello

i am new to a HOA board that has had more than it's share of ethical questions in the past. one member has created a code of ethics--there has always been one. i am worried that it was written with too much legaleeze (monday morning lawyer type) to be fuzzy instead of clear. for example, "A member may not knowingly misrepresent facts in order to achieve any measure of personal gain for themselves, or any affiliated company from which he/she may benefit", i might have written that "a member may no misrepresent facts to the board or a homeowner, period!". additionally, there is a full 1/3 dedicated to gifts/gratuities--which i would have simply said "gifts from a contractor to the hoa are strictly forbitten, period!, while gifts from friends, reletives are no business of the HOA, relationships between the member and any potential or existing contractor must be explained to the HOA and any board actions for/against this contractor will result in relate member excusing himself from the vote".

am i too anal onthese issues or is there some logic?(either way)

thanks for your input

JosephW (Michigan)
Posts: 882

Posted:

Since a code of ethics is supposed to help a board member stay within the law, having a lawyer write it can sometimes be redundant. Here is an excellent code of ethics from our good friends to the north:

http://www.ccitoronto.org/Resources/PDF/CCI-N-CodeofEthics.pdf

Joe

Joseph West
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Community Associations Network, LLC
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GlenL (Ohio)
Posts: 5,491

Posted:

Another one you can look at is found here:
http://www.hindmansanchez.com/docs/sample_board_policies_and_procedures_book_of_governance.pdf

Studies show that 5 out of 4 people have problems with fractions

DonN (Michigan)
Posts: 357

Posted:

JosephW's link in marvelous. Such a smart guy. Joe, you made my day. I would only add an additional paragraph for the often-forgotten members.

Power is Derived from the Members — I will serve at the pleasure of the members. All political power is inherent in the members, and owners associations derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights. (last sentence edited from the Arizona Constitution)

I have never seen a better description of what support means in a board "Support – I will abide by decisions of the majority of the Directors even though I may disagree, but I reserve the right to express my own views to owners upon non-confidential issues." Too often, boards get overwhelmed by a mandate to "work as a team", which is wrong. It chills disagreement on issues which is so important in a well functioning board. If all the members agree, then only one board member is needed. Every board should have a discussion about this particular subject, and understand the very strong meaning in the quotation above.

The companion part is understanding fiduciary duty, An excellent paper on "Legal Duties of a Nonprofit's Board of Directors" can be downloaded at
. In case you have difficulty accessing this site, the paper is copied in my post on "Fiduciary Duties" at
.

Don Nordeen
Governance of Property Owners Associations

BrianB (California)
Posts: 2,820

Posted:

kevin, under your wording, I would not want to be a board member who's spouse asked "Does this make me look fat?"

Under your proposed code of ethics, that member is doomed.

MA3 (California)
Posts: 5

Posted:

The link did not work for me.

LarryB13 (Arizona)
Posts: 4,099

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MA3 on 03/10/2014 11:40 PM
The link did not work for me.

MA,

This discussion thread is seven years old! The nonfunctional link is one reason most of us usually prefer starting a new thread rather than reviving a really old one. Too many things may change and links are just one of them.

I noticed that you also revived another old thread about codes of ethics. May I suggest that you start a new thread?

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MA3 on 03/10/2014 11:40 PM
The link did not work for me.

MA3,

The document the broken link referenced took a whole 5 seconds to locate by going to the main site http://www.ccitoronto.org/ (a Canadian site). Here is an updated link to the document referenced earlier:

http://www.ccitoronto.org/Resources/PDF/CCI-N-CodeofEthics.pdf#search=%22ethics%22

I also agree with Larry that a new thread should be started vs. reactivating threads that are over 5 years old.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Here are updated links to other links in this thread:

Sample Board Policies and Procedures (Book of Governance):
http://www.hindmansanchez.com/resources/pdf/sample-board-policies-and-procedures-book-governance

www.clronline.org redirects to http://www.mi-community.org/ and that document could not be found on the site. However, doing a simple internet search on the name of the document, "Legal Duties of a Nonprofit's Board of Directors", found it at:

http://www.hoatalk.com/Portals/0/NTForums_Attach/171618831771.pdf

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