BoD member can't pay dues...

A member is having trouble paying his dues and we haven't said anything about it in our annual meeting. What is the proper way to deal with a member who needs a little time to get his finances in order? Do we suspend his ammenities like a normal homeowner? Take him off the board?

Thanks

Rick:

This is what I would do, it sounds like he is willing to pay but is having trouble with finances right now. I would suspend his amenities as you would with any other homeowner and I would temporarily suspend him from the board until he can get things in line. I would give him a timeframe, say 3 months or so to get back in good standing or ask him to resign his position. I think we are all hard up for volunteers so I wouldn't run him off, but at the same time I do agree that board members should be held to a higher standard.

I see no reason to make a spectacle out of it either, treat him like any other homeowner would be treated IMO.

If this person has been a good productive board member, then I suggest talking to him privately, perhaps in closed session, to see what is the problem. Try to work someithing out so that everyone wins. A good board member is hard to find.

Don't suspend his amenities. Remember that board members put in a lot of hours without compensation, and while they should be treated equally as far as compliance is concerned, if they are having a hard time, perhaps the board can bend just a little bit to help this person through a difficult period. I would treat it as I would a family whose husband is in Iraq and they are falling on some difficult financial times; with compassion.

The board member in question is behind on his dues but I totally forgot to bring it up in the exect. session meeting. The M.C. didn't seem to care too much to remind me.
Any way, this board member has been handleing owners and violations badly. A few complaints and now its showing in the meeting where arguements start on his account. I like the idea of taking him off t he board until the finances are inorder.

A board member would not hesitate to suspend a members priviledges if they were behind on dues, so why should he get preferential treatment just because he is on the board? He is still a member of the HOA and must abide by the rules just like everyone else.

I would bring the issue up in an executive session. Remind him that board members must be in good standing to serve on the board. As like any homeowner, he could submit a written request for a payment plan and the board vote on it. If accepted and payments made as agreed, then he could be back in good standing.

Someone stated that this person probably has his HOA dues at the bottom of the list for payment because he does not have anything to lose. I disagree with this statement as everyone on the board knows that he is behind and could risk members of the community finding out. It could be that the issues in the meetings resulting from his behavior has to do with him feeling embarrassed, etc.

I recommend talking to him and going from there.

I have yet to read any further, but I would have to agree with JanM’s post completely. I do agree (as posted earlier) he is probably having financial hardships, but he is supposed to be setting an example for the entire community. It discusses me to even see that you are asking and even more disturbing that he hasn’t suggesting resigning or at least making some sort of payment arrangements until he is current! What kind of example is the board setting when (because he is a board member) he doesn’t lose his amenity privileges? I’m sure any other member that is delinquent in their assessments, certainly would!

I personally would approach him and discuss his situation, making him aware that ALL board members must be current on the assessment/dues and that the board feels that it would be best to suspend his use of the amenities, while offering him a payment arrangement. I would inform him that the board could remove him completely, but being a “board member” you would like to help you any way we can.

IMO, I feel it would be wrong of the board to do absolutely nothing! I hope he, you and the board do what’s best for your community association.

Best of luck,
Chuck W.

Why is the guy behind on his dues? A sick wife?, a kid with problems? Did he catch a bad break?

Getting out the million pound dung hammer is not the way to start off solving the problem. As a neighbor, I would be inclined to throw in with some other residents and help him out, rather than add to his problems.

Douglass G. Norvell, Ph.D.

I started out with 7 board members one year. 4 of them moved out, 1 went to Iraq, 1 went into a nursing home, and 1 was the one behind on their dues. We ONLY had elections ONCE a year! The last 3 months of my Presidency I moved out!!!
My only choice was to keep the Vice-President in office despite him NOT paying his dues. (He was on a heart transplant list). It was a well-known fact that he was behind in his dues. However, it wasn't due to health issues it was his way of "Protesting". His kitchen would flood everytime it rained. The developer was long gone making the HOA responsible for fixing flooding issues. Unfornately, he was about third on the list for MAJOR repairs. He had voted to allow the 2 other homes to get repaired because they flooded about 4 feet in the rain. When it came to his "turn" the HOA no longer could afford to do the work. So I can understand why he "protested" by not paying. I didn't hold it against him but it sure didn't help any. Without him, I would have been the ONLY person running the HOA!!!
I believe everyone gets behind on their dues once and awhile for every reason in the book. That is why we put a 6 months and then we lien policy into place. I wouldn't consider a member NOT in good standing if they had NOT reached the 6 month mark or that amount of money owed. Usually, I would request that the person behind DOUBLE their dues payment when they are able to "catch-up" sans the late fee. If they owed us $200 (that's 4 months dues) I would request they pay $100. Normal dues are $50 a month with a $20 late fee. It would allow them to catch up faster and us receive the money. It was a good compromise. Otherwise, it just becomes a situation where it is "threatening" and people don't respond well to that. I also kept the reasons under discretion unless it was blatant disregard they weren't paying.

Our rules didn't allow appointments. Plus I was basically the only one on the board! It would have looked "unfair" if I were to personally picked someone. It took us over 2 years and $1700 to ammend the rules the first time around and that was for an address change and water meter reference!
Our HOA was okay with me running the place. What I lacked in board members I didn't lack in other homeowner's opinions. I just used the people who were interested and attended most of the meetings opinions. Even though I couldn't put them on the board, I could atleast use their input.
Lucky for me, I ran the HOA so well that I quickly had a group of new board and officers to replace me. Can't be complimented more than encouraging a group to want to kick you out and take over considering for 3 years I couldn't get but 5 people to attend a meeting! The new board that took over quickly destroyed the HOA completely but atleast I wasn't stuck running the place by myself for years.

Our dues are set and due in January of each year but the previous Board President (the attorney no less) declared that he would pay them when he was "damn good and ready!" That turned out to be July! Knew he could bully most of the other Board members and did.

Board members should be among the first to pay their dues but one again most Bylaws are silent on specifics like this and you're relying on what would be considered "best business practices", which are also not enforceable. On a true hardship case I would agree with Brad. Give them a timeframe in which to get current or allow them to graciously and quietly resign.

If the neighbors (as individuals) want to help him pay his dues, that's fine but the association should not be paying or forgiving his payments or late fees.

It would be unfair for the association to forgive his debts unless it is willing to forgive everyone's debts. And of course, it could not continue to operate if it did this.