how to remove HOA president in Utah

We currently have a HOA where:

1) Fee is too high but facilities are too little
2) The HOA board does not show us any of the receipt at the end of the year. They just give us a plain statement and they dont want anyone to audit.
3) The HOA president has been sitting in that position for over 5 years. There is no talk of election at all.
4) The laws governing the HOA does not say anything about electing board members.

I want to know if there was a way we can find out about our rights and procedures so that we can remove or hold the HOA board accountable.

The HOA is in Utah county, Utah.

Thank you

Kaan

Associatins are governed by:

1. Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs)......are that dictate how the homeowners association operates and what rules the owners must obey. These legal documents might also be called the Master Deed or another name. These documents and rules are legally enforceable by the homeowners association, unless a specific provision conflicts with federal, state or local laws.

2. Bylaws.....which might also be part of the CC&R's or a separate document. Usually in the Bylaws is how a Board Of Director's is elected, their terms, voting procedures, recalls, etc.

3. Rules and Regulations.... which are usually clarifications of CC&R's and/or Bylaws but could also be simple things like the hours the pool is open. More on R&R's later.

Usually CC&R's/Bylaws cannot be changed/modified without the majority of owners agreeing. Quite often 75% and in some cases 100% must agree. Say the CC&R's/Bylaws call for a BOD of 3 to 5 members then there must be 3 to 5 members on the BOD unless the majority of the owners vote to override this. How many is a majority? Well this will also be defined in the same documents.

One common area of complaint is that the same people are on the BOD and in control year after year. Well that is entirely possible and well within many CC&R's/Bylaws. Typicaly they will say if there are vacancieas on the BOD then the BOD can appoint owners to fill the vacancies. Why vacanies? Well say there are two open positions (their terms expire) but only one person runs for election. There is still one vacancy. That one person may also have to receive a specific vote majority and if they did not, then there are two vacancies the BOD can fill.

Surprise...surprise..they filled them with those whose terms expired so the BOD consists of the same people.

Rules and Regulations cannot override CC&R's, and/or Bylaws. They can only clarify. They cannot say 7 BOD Members if the CC&R's/Bylaws say 3 to 5 members but they could define if 3, 4, or 5.

Not all CC&R's/Bylaws are alike so one can often get two different answers to the same question they ask, especially on this chat.

Bottom line is if people do not read/learn/understand their CC&R's/Bylaws then those that do could end up in control year after year after year.

Throw da bums out......LOL

Kaancho:

Seems there is a little confusion. Do you wish to remove the President ONLY or is it you wish to hold the Board accountable?

I wonder how many units make up your property? How long have you lived there? Are monthly meetings held? Do you or have you attended?

I would wonder how you have determined the fees to be to high? How much are the fees? Do you have details as to the property's finances or is this just an opinion?

What makes you believe the Board should provide each owner with receipts? And the entire Board is against an audit?

As for the President serving 5+ years that in and of itself is not a problem. Is there anyone else willing to step up and serve? Do the other Board members support the President?

How about you? Are you willing to serve? Or is it you just wish to hold others accountable?

Just how many other owners support your views? Any?

Seems to me you have a serious lack of knowledge and information reagrding your property and its operation. As others have suggested your first step would be to read all of the governing documents and state law in order to have some understanding of what is occuring and if in fact the President needs to be removed or the entire Board needs to be replaced.

Sometimes people draw conclusions based on limited knowledge and their opinions of what should be rather than real evidence of misbehavior or abuse of auhtority on the part of the Board.

What type of job does the Board do in managing your property? Acceptable?

If necessary the process to remove the President or change the behavior of the Board without removal can be long, costly and require much effort. Then that might leave you with the need to find others willing to serve who can perform the job.

Good luck

The CC&R's are considered PUBLIC documents and should be on file at your courthouse records department. the by laws may or may not be filed. It depends on the state. if not, then the HOA should have a copy if exists. The article of incorporation are filed at the State level. Should be able to do a web search for the. If they are filed.

The election and recall process should all be in those documents. As someone pointed out the board may be elected from the general membership by the general membership. the actual officer positions is then voted on between that board. The only odd caveat is that the President can NOT do the job of the Secretary. Which the duties of each position is also covered.

Apathy is the number 1 problem of a HOA. So you often get the people in charge because they are the only ones willing to take the free job...There is no "They or them" in a HOA...Only YOU and your neighbors...

Hi JonC46
thank you for your reply.

Where is it possible to get CC&R? Are we as HOA members entitled to them?

The only HOA paper I got was the one when we moved in. (http://www.scribd.com/doc/95870847/Hoadoc-Redacted). This doesnt say anything about election of board members

HOA DOC - http://www.scribd.com/doc/95870847/Hoadoc-Redacted

Melissa and Brian
Thank you for your reply.

The only paper I have seen regarding the laws governing the HOA is here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/95870847/Hoadoc-Redacted

This doesnt say anything about election of board members or removing them.

Kaancho,

The doc that you termed your Bylaws doesn't sound like Bylaws. Bylaws contain what others have written: how many directors should be on your board; elections of these directors; how long their terms are; how homeowners ("Members") vote; how often board meetings must be held; how to recall a Board.

Generally, there's an odd number of directors on the Board specified--probably three in your case. Usually, election for directors are held annually. Often directors' terms are for 2 years, but sometimes 3.

These usually are not in CC&Rs so as others have written, you must find your HOA's Bylaws. If you have a prop. mgr., that's a good place to start. If your HOA has an attorney, that's another possibility. If your CC&Rs refer to Bylaws, they're somewhere! In our CC&Rs, Bylaws are defined in a "definition of terms" section at the beginning of our CC&Rs.

I do see that your dues also would pay for snow removal and landscaping of some kind along with trash removal & basic cable. There also may be some kind of insurance. In addition, there may be a reserve account, in which X amount of $ is set aside each month.

Thank you All for the helpful information.

I think I have sufficient information because of all the help I got here. I am very grateful for the help.

Thank you

oops, let me try again.

Kaancho,

In reading the Utah Condominium Act and the Community Association Act, both laws require that Bylaws exist and be filed with the County. Therefore, if your Association isn't providing you a copy, you should be able to get one from your County Records department.

Tim