Leaving the HOA, any advice?

I am the president (for life, it seems) of a small HOA in arizona. I am a board of 1, as the other two elected board members were late with their dues once, and that automatically removes them from office. We have not held elections or even an annual meeting in 4 years, as we cannot get anyone to even nominate another human being for potential election. And, with Az law, i can't have an annual meeting without an absentee ballot, and I can't do an absentee ballot with nomination. We once had a meeting to discuss spending $10,000 or more on landscaping, and only got 3 members, one of which was me, so threatening to spend money does not impact apathy either.

My issue: I might be moving to another state very soon, which means that the HOA will be leaderless. When i leave, the check signer, tax preparer, and bookkeeper go as well, as all of those functions reside in my household. So, as the last living person in my HOA who cares, what should I do? Walk away without looking back? Appoint someone to take my position as president? If so, who, since no one is willing to serve. Can i just appoint a couple people and hand over the keys to the mailbox, spreadhseet and checkbook?

Any advice?

Brian, have you asked the two who were automatically removed to please come back and serve on the Board? As the remaining Board member you have the authority to appointed them to the Board. If they are not willing then I would send a letter to all owners explaining their choice to step forward or an attorney will be paid to go to court and set up a receivership. Emphasized how much this would cost each owner in money and loss of Covenant enforcement.

I was in a similar situation. My last 6 months in office 5 of my 7 board members either moved or were put into care facilities. The 2 left, one was didn't attend meetings and was rumored to be deployed to Iraq. The other was my Vice-President who was on a heart transplant list and seriously behind on his dues. (A fact that got brought up constantly.) Our documentation did NOT allow for mid-year elections. My term was up in January and I had MOVED out in November!!! Although I moved to the neigbhorhood NEXT door (can see it out my front yard) I had kept my HOA as Rental property.
My HOA was extremely dependent on me. I even ran and formed the neighborhood watch! Some people's view was that because I was the only person for all intense and purposes that I was some kind of "Dictator" and made up my own rules. NOTHING could have been farther from the truth. It was because I was the ONLY person that I depended on the other General members and stuck CLOSELY to the by-laws/CC&R's. I acted more of a "Facillitator" and did what the members wanted done. If they wanted the streets painted "red"... I went out and got bids and budgetted "red" streets.
I think this is what you need to start doing. Start acting as a "facillitator" and give the people their own "power" to make decisions. Educate the people who are willing to volunteer and participate. Have a meeting and discuss your responsibilities and theirs. Let them know how a HOA runs. Give the HOA back to the members and let yourself go.
It's been over 2 years since I left the HOA. I still get phone calls from residents! At one point, I was going to be voted back in and I wasn't even running nor lived in the neighborhood! It was hard for me to "let go" and realize that my goal to educate and empower the members had come to fruition. Unfornately, the new board members were and are a selfish irresponsible group of ingrates. (Being EXTREMELY NICE!). However, because of their bad behavior, the good apples are "floating" to the top. I had left behind enough "seeds" that the HOA has been able to keep afloat.
Your decision to "turn over" the HOA is NOT your decision to make. It's a MAJORITY of the members choice. It's in your documentation on how that process goes. One person can't decide on disolving a HOA. In our HOA, it takes a 75% MAJORITY vote of ALL members to dissolve the HOA. It still doesn't get dissolved. The HOA has to be turned over to a management company. That means that the residents will no longer have a right to vote for anything.
If your that concern. Discuss hiring a Management Company or Bookkeeping service. Sooner or later, when someone understands a HOA setup, they will empower themselves to the same position you are at. Believe me, there's ALWAYS a BIGGER fish!

Brian,

I can understand your concern, I sympathies with you. I appreciate all your insight on HOA situations. Your knowledge has helped educate me, tremendously. You and many others have posted and replied to many situations, other board members are confronted with on a daily basis.

I hear what you’re saying. I do what’s best for me and my family it’s generally what I would do for my community as well.

I too would suggest, as previously posted, writing a letter. Let the community know exactly what will come become of the HOA, if someone doesn’t step up to the plate and relieve you of some of the responsibilities. Go into details explain to them the expenses that will accrue.

Does the HOA have funds for printing, mailing, ext.? I would type this letter. Perhaps even show a budget of these expenses. Write it in view of a homeowner to a homeowner. I think many of residents within your community will be more understanding of such recourse.

Your knowledge and drive to be an HOA president, Vise President, Treasure, and Secretary, ext is very admirable indeed. I commend you!

I don’t know if it in the “forum rules” or not, I would really appreciate it if you would continue to post on this forum though. Your advice has and will continue to help me and my community.

Best of luck
Chuck W.

Yes! I agree with WilliamT. Brian, we welcome your continued participation here and hope you will continue to join us after your move. You have valuable insights and knowledge and we want to thank you for all your postings thus far. We hope you will continue in the future.

Best Regards,
HOATalk

Brian, I would second the advice William gave you about legal aspectes of a real estate sale. If it comes to having to go to a receiver, and I was aware of it, I would not tell my real estate agent but would consult with another knowledgeable real estate agent or attorney as to what needs to be disclose. I think if I knew and did not disclose to the Buyer, in Colorado they would have a good case if they wanted to pursue it.

I don't believe you have any obligation to disclose anything about the association other than the assessment and possibly the governing documents. That's all that was disclosed to me when I bought my property.

Good points, William..

Here' is how I would answer in court:

"Line 26 states: Are you aware of any proposed or existing association assessment(s)? Explain" No, there are no proposed or existing association assessments other than the standard annual assessment for operating expenses, which is currently $240 per annum.

Line 217 is a very important catch all question:

"What other material (important) information are you aware of concerning the Property that might affect the buyer's decision making process, the value of the Property, or its use? Explain."

Given it is impossible for me to know any or all of the thoughts that might be in another person's head as they make a decision, i could not assume to know what might be material to them and what might not be. The legal use of the property is completely explained in the CC&R's, and the value of the property was determined at the time of the sale and agreed upon by all parties concerned. The HOA has to this date shown no impact, positively or negatively, to the actual value of the property.