New York State Rural HOA, Prez out of control w/authority

We have purchased property in a rural area as a seasonal property, several years ago. The prez has been a year rounder. There are 5 year rounders and 25 or so seasonal properties. All board members are year rounders and prez wife is treasurer. I know I did not like this off the start. The Prez is abusing his authority to gain things to his liking and has created some what of clique to gather votes. I am suspect of the finances. It seems the Prez likes to use the people he knows and not set out a biding process, which is against By-laws. He also thinks he is in charge of everything. Most of his decisions have been hap hazard and lacking knowledge. I would like to ask someone for legal consult as to how to proceed to oust this A-hole.Any ideas??

Tim has a point. Legally, you could run for president and run the HOA. If you plan on getting someone out, have a plan on who will take over. Someone needs to do it.

Lad

It is quite common for the fulltimers to believe they better understand the situtations as they are living there year round plus they are in a better position to handle issues as soon as they arise versus wait for some parttimer to get around to it. There are merits in these arguement.

As to how to make changes, there are tons of posts on here and the bottom line is how to make changes will be outlined in your Covenantys and/or Bylaws. I suggest you become familiar and knowledgeable on these documents before you say/do anything.

I also suggest you do not go in like a bull in a china shop. Go in polite, respectful. Make nice. Get a handle on things. Make friends/allies that you will need to help you make changes if you decide changes are needed.

Hope this advice helps.

Please put this in perspective. The President or any member of your board are NOT "Professionals". They are volunteers from the community who VOLUNTEER for the job. 9 times out of 10 because no one else will do it. What you get stuck with some times are people who don't have the natural ability to lead or manage. The documents recognize this fact by having board members added into the mix as part of the "checks and balances".

Many times board members or uh-um "Presidents" (wink) can tend to run the place like their own households. If it's good enough for their family then it's good enough for everyone. So sometimes you do get those people like in church that have all the good intentions but lack execution.

My saying is if you think you can do better, then do. Otherwise, volunteer to help out or get people voted out. Throwing your money into the HOA pot and expecting results without attending or participating is never ever going to get you the results you think should be there. It's just not going to happen. Money doesn't manage itself and it doesn't always know what it is doing. Consider this when evaluating the job someone is doing.