Psychological Changes Once on the Board

I have been attempting for at least three years to "put into words" the reason a very nice person changes
once they become on the Board. Their mentality changes..... their outlook changes...... they become like
politicians and the first thing they want to do is to spend money and also to do SOMETHING to make a
name for themselves. It can be very costly (and very wasteful) for an HOA and home owners have to pick up the bill for this
psychological change in people. They become(in their minds) very important and in many cases, very antagonistic and
defiant. I am still wanting to put these changes (in great psychological terms). No... I am not attempting to
be funny and am very serious in trying to find the answer.

Lawrence - Amen!

I volunteered to be on our Board because it appeared that they may be only two Board members. Even without knowing the state law requiring at least three Board members at the time, I sensed it was not a good idea to have only two Board members.
Once on the Board my perspective did change. We are spending money, but we are not going on a "shopping spree". Our building has been neglected for many years. An example of obvious neglect is not having the furnace/air conditioning filters changed for over two years. If our on site "building manager" (at that time) had not been away due to surgery who knows how much longer these filthy filters would have remained unchanged.
We have had to replace gutters on one side of the building, replace two air conditioners, and are in the process of bringing a heating/air conditioning unit less than 5 years old up to code and replacing our oldest heating/air conditioning unit. We are also in the process of repairing the tube heaters in our condominium garage. To some of our owners we are just spending money. Some owners do understand that previous neglect of the building is costly when correcting this neglect to the best of our ability.

Alex, I would be interested to know if you now serve on the Board or have ever served? IMO whether you have done so makes understanding what takes place much easier.

In many cases those you wish would serve don't have an interest. While those who feel they can do it best you would never want to deal with as a Board member. Now this all comes back to human nature and what type of person you are before and after Board membership.

Some folks find authority and power, whether perceived or make believe, to strong to resist. Suddenly, their way becomes the only way. Suddenly, their agenda becomes the ONLY agenda. Some people simply can't set aside their opinions and goals in favor of doing what's best for the propery. We read that here on this site all the time.

And of course politics comes into play. People don't want to risk losing the support of others either other owners who vote them in or other Board members with whom they must work. It can be a fine line and many people simply don't know how to exist in that condition.

I am always amazed how many people feel with little if any understanding that they can or could simply move into a Board position and take over without so much as a hiccup of trouble. Have they ever served on a Board? NO Have they managed the operations of any organization? NO Do they have any area of expertise which might lend itself to handling a position on the Board? NO And my favorite, Have they managed their OWN lives in a manner most outsiders would come to believe as successful or satisfactory? NO

The system of HOA governance is as weak as those people, human beings, who take on roles within the system. If you have competent, smart, goal orientated people the system works. If on the other hand you have insecure, power hungry, dishonest, selfish, selfdealing people you will fail. IMO service on any Board is more complicated and demanding that ANYONE might consider if you have never served. That is of course if you plan to actually do your job to any level or degree of satisfaction.
There are MANY who serve do nothing and think this is rather easy.

And one final observation. Once on the Board, if your eyes are open, you see the owners and the world in which they operate in a completly different light. Your neighbors can become now a group of demanding, never satisfied, unwilling to get involved, whiners who see you now as their employee or servant obligated to every wish and demand they might impose. When I am out on the property 99% of those I meet have suggestions, complaints, ideas, and seem to be able to find nothing positive. Not many are able to have ANY level of appreciation for my willingness to do a job they will not or could not do. Sort of sets a new tone from the days when you did not serve. Human nature in today's modern world.

This week I visited our MC's office. In speaking to the staff they expressed the reality that about 80% of the calls they recieve from property owners, boil down to nothing more than nonsense and stupidity.
That's the ugly side of human nature. But that's the reality they see every day.

So to conclude, don't judge the actions or behavior of others until such time as you have walked in their shoes. Don't conclude simply because the Board or any one Board member doesn't abide by your wishes or views they are mean, nasty, or simply not doing what you feel is their job. Until you have the entire picture you can no make an informed opinion on the matter.

These people are working for FREE to manage the biggest investment in YOUR lives in most cases. In many cases they are doing the best job they can to the best of THEIR abilities. And until such time as you and others become willing to do some work, best to just say "thank you".
Judging people and their actions from the "cheap seats" of doing nothing is the easiest way out.........

All

One of the worst BOD Members I ever had to deal with was a former productiuon line, union worker. This man never had any authority nor made any decisions in his life. He was basically told where to be, when to be there, and what to do his entire life.

Once on the BOD and elected President, he reveled in control. He wanted his fingers in every decision there was to be made and wanted all to know he now had control and it was his way or the highway.

It took a few years of people being exposed to him to figure him out. First go around was electing new BOD members that would not elect him to any officer position nor let him head anything. Then a concentrated effort was made to be sure he did not get relected to the BOD. It took about 3 election cycles (3 years) and some work but finally he was no longer on the BOD.

The other pain in the butt was an owner/lawyer member of the BOD. He cost us a fortune in legal fees as he was afraid to make any move without a legal opinion. Talk about being scared of the law....LOL

In the neighborhoods I have lived in and dealt with the BOD, I got the impression that they were not necessarily bad people but that once surrounded with like minded individuals, groupthink started to settle in. They shut off any voice of opposition and the BOD meetings turned into a giant echo chamber.

For instance, they wanted a wall built. They canvassed the neighborhood. They held a vote. They lost - by a lot. So instead of moving on to the next project they pushed for a MSBU and got almost $1,000,000 in taxes placed on the residents to build their wall. This was done with roughly 19% approval from the homeowners (MSBUs are approved based on affirmative votes from returned ballots) They did the same thing to build speed humps and they want to add another wall!

With no guaranteed income stream the BOD decided to install entrance lights and sprinklers on county right-of-ways and when trying to determine how to pay for it all they decided to change the C&Rs of the surrounding neighborhoods to force non-members into paying maintenance assessments. Those individuals would of course have no say in HOA business, including how much they would be forced to pay. This is in part what led to the giant lawsuit in which they pretty much lost.

What was their thought processes?

The court needs to clarify and that they will continue. They are still talking about walls. Nobody wants to cut any service for fear it would invite crime and low property values (it won't considering the neighborhood has some of the largest lots and is located adjacent to some high-profile communities like Bay Hill). They fail to prioritize what little money they do have coming in. They found it important to pay a pest service a year in advance but not budget for electric or water, and they have upped the money for the off-duty patrol. They also had their lawyer deposed by the courts and were forced to hire new council, and that doesn't come cheap (especially when having to review over 4 years of legal documents).

There is most likely no reserve (I say this because while I am not allowed to look at their financial records they do not have a budget for one and with decreasing membership into their association they don't even have enough to pay what they had already budgeted out). When I was at their last meeting they pretty much blew through through 75% of their yearly budget and that was in May!!!

When homeowners have tried to point out suggestions they would silence them with gavels or deny them admittance to their meetings. Since opening their meetings back up they now hire a police officer to stand guard and when my family first attended a board member told him I tried to get him fired from his place of employment and then the officer threatened to remove us when we walked in through the doors. A bit of an intimidation tactic if you ask me.

And forget about joining the board to make a difference. A pro-HOA neighbor of mine joined the board and the clique already in power kept him out of the loop to the point that he didn't even know what was going on with the lawsuit, their finances, or even any volunteer projects they had going on. They never even included him on the state filings and eventually he just gave up on them.

Communication is key. I think that some individuals when on the board seem to think that the only ones in the room are the only ones with opinions but they are wrong.

I agree with Alex and Jon.

Yes, there are some people who get on the board with good intentions, but part of the reason some people go rouge, so to speak, is because they soon find that as long as no one questions them for whatever reason, they can do whatever they want and get away with it. Some are masters at making horse dooky look like chocolate mousse and by the time people realizes the pile doesn’t’ – smell good – they have a mess on their hands.

I’ve been on my board for 9 years and there have been times when I get extremely cynical about my fellow board members and the residents – from the some board members who seem to be nothing more than warmers for the chair to residents who won’t even show up for an annual meeting that takes 30 minutes or less, but when you come across them during a community inspection, they proceed to rant on how lousy the community is. When you ask if they’ve notified anyone about their concerns, they say “what’s the point – nothing every changes.”

It would be tempting to do whatever I wanted on the board because half the board members don’t pay attention no matter what you say and the residents don’t have a clue and I could probably get away with it. But they say integrity is what you don’t do even if you know you could get away with it. I think what keeps me in check is the I remind myself that the quality of life and value of my home is at stake, so even though it’s a townhouse, I try to make decisions as if it was a detached home and EVERYTHING is on me. With that approach, I’ve learned I have to take time to review and study and ask dozens of questions, weight everything, make a decision and run with it. Since I’m not at all interested in shooting my own damn foot off, I hope this approach will help me make decisions that will benefit everyone in the community.

It’s taken 9 years (!) but I’m learning to do the best I can and leave the rest to God (whatever you perceive Him/Her/It/Them to be – or none of the above). When it gets to the point that I’m getting entirely too cynical, that’s the time when I’ll need to step away.

Add to that the fact that very few of them have the education and experience that would qualify them for the responsibilities of serving on a board. Even the smallest of associations have an aggregate property value in the millions and larger associations may be worth billions. That's a lot of responsibility.

A board member needs to know the state laws governing property, corporations, and HOA's or be willing to seek legal advice. On my own board I found that most of the members had little knowledge and felt that consulting an attorney was "a waste of money." In one discussion I was told by several board members that court decisions are not law. (Tell that to the judge next time you get sued.) Our board is made up of mostly retired blue-collar workers who resent that lawyers charge ten time the hourly wages that they once were paid and, in their working careers, seeking legal advice was not part of their experience.

The board ends up being populated by those who are marginally successful, at best, controlling large investments having no knowlege or experience and refusing to seek out advice.

The Connecticut legislature already tried that several years ago. It never made it out of committee.

I think that is a great idea. I am still amazed at how many former Board members did not research and just made decisions by what they thought. Fortunately we have 4 Board members who do research. The only person who has shown no interest in researching is our President. Sometimes I am concerned when I post on here that other Board members may read my posting, but I have no concern tha our President will read any of my postings on this or any other site like this.

Our HOA provides, at HOA expense, a membership to CAI (Community Association Institute) for each board members. Also, following each board election the association attorney presents a half-day training session for all board members covering their legal and ethical obligations as board members.

In my case, I served as a member of the finance committee for a year and as chairman of the finance committee for a year before being elected to the board and being selected as treasurer.

Have I changed since getting on the board? I don't think so. I am certainly busier with HOA business than when I was just on the finance committee. I am having to consider issues other than financial ones, particularly staffing considerations.

Kevin:
What are you referring to? what kind of lawsuit? Against who and by who and for what?... just curious

http://www.caionline.org/Pages/Default.aspx

Lots of good info on how to run an HOA even without the premium membership.

Not to detract from this thread but here is it put simply:

Basically, my neighborhood had 12 different sections with 12 different C&Rs. The neighborhood was also built by different developers over several years back in the 70s and 80s.

One of the sections decided to rewrite the C&Rs of the other sections to grant them greater authority then they previously held, including being able to impose a "maintenance assessment" of any amount at any time at the discretion of the BOD on non-members, as well as forcing mandatory membership on future owners or on homeowners who decided to voluntarily join.

They had a simple majority of homeowners sign a joinder and consent form to their title approving the C&Rs and then started sending out enforcement letters to the non-members.

One homeowner decided to sue not only the HOA but the close to 50 homeowners who signed these joinder and consent forms that claimed to impose these new C&Rs over his property.

The HOA told the home owners not to worry and that their lawyer will take care of it and to ignore the documents that were delivered to their home. 4 years have gone by and the HOA has since lost every motion they have filed. Their original attorney has also been deposed. The first judge in the case originally dismissed the lawsuit against the homeowners (or something along those lines) and the HOA claimed a victory but a second judge later stated that the lawsuits could proceed. Because the HOAs misunderstanding of the law these homeowners now face huge bills - the case has gone on for 4 years (mostly because the HOA's attorney filed pointless motion after motion) and the latest tally is in the hundreds of thousands.

Only one homeowner was smart enough to settle with the plaintiff in the case. At that time I think they settled for 500. If you do the math (500*50), that is $25,000 in 2008. A lot has changed.

In my opinion, if the board had sound legal advice and weren't so ignorant in regards to the laws that govern HOAs and the nature of the business in general, a lot of home owners would have been kept out of harms way and the community would have been better off.

I have had horrible experiences with the two HOAs I've dealt with and I have a bad taste in my mouth. I am not opposed to HOAs but I don't think I will ever live in one again (my properties were purchased with the understanding that the HOAs were voluntary. I do not like the idea of a conversion to mandatory).

I really think there is an interesting case to be made about the psychology of those who join. I found my bunch of BOD to be arrogant, ignorant, condescending, and hateful, but that is not the case with all the individuals. A new board member is actually quite the idealistic bubbly personality who wants to create a better community but I fear they may be corrupted by the current board and that anything they try to act out in the future while with good intentions may not be the most legally sound.

Thanks to a new Board member this year, I do not feel like I am alone in some of my ideas. We now post the agenda at least three days before a meeting and have opportunity for owners forum on the agenda. When I was first on the Board we got the agenda at the meeting. Being transparent prevents misunderstanding and getting input from owners has helped us.

This makes perfect sense to me now. I have two other categories: Volunteers who what to improve the lives of owners, and volunteers who wish to enforce rules and add new ones.

I've thought about this a little bit more and know that 5-1/2 yrs. Board service has changed my behavior a little, but not my personality.

I tend to be an impatient person, who wants to get things done in a hurry. Because of meetings only once a month, etc., I've become more patient (at least in the context of Board work!).

I'm very inquisitive and that trait has been heightened while I've been on the Board. Always a lot to read & learn, but that's always been "me."

I'm a neat freak, which has prompted me to take the lead in revising our gov. docs. Again it's just a different direction for my basic personality.

So I think that board service can enhance the good parts of our personalities. But given other replies, it look like it can bring out the worst aspects of others' personalities.

I do agree with Lee that some want to be on boards who are "law & order" types; I've known a couple of them. But, for them that's what motivates them to serve and stems from their basic personality. The composition of the board and of the community as a whole, it seems to me, would further shape their rigid personalities--one way or the other.

Unfortunately true, sad and frustrating.