Voting for President

Hi group, I have a question, our President and whole board quit, so I thought I would make a run for President, they emailed out ballots to only 27 homes which is a bit short of the total of homes there,so i decided I would print out the ballot and go ask the neighbors to vote, then turn those in, there are 2 running myself and someone else, the current board sent out an e-mail and said what I was doing was not legal, I searched the local laws and bylaws nothing said about this activity, I also would challenge the legitimately of the election because not all the neighbors where notified and not all were given the opportunity to vote. as I was talking with the neighbors about the election many of them had no idea that it was taking place and never received a ballot. What are your thoughts on this? BTW I am in the state of West Virginia.. Thanks Tom

Tom,

There are a couple of issues here:

One does not run for the position of President; one runs for the position of board member. Following the election' the board members elect the officers of the board (president, vice president, secretary, treasurer).

Do you know how many of the members are "in good standing"? That means they are current on their dues, have no outstanding fines or other enforcement actions pending, etc. Only members in good standing can vote, so the fact that not everyone received a ballot does not, by itself, mean that some are being improperly excluded.

While it is laudable that you are willing to step up and volunteer, you must follow the provisions of your governing documents with regard to the election procedures.

The reason not everyone got the ballot, is that not everyone is on their e-mail list, It is a very long story, and I don't want to write a book, The current board is in place however they are all stepping down, not sure of the reason, but I have an idea, nominations did take place, and then the ballot went out via e-mail, to those on their list, I believe the reason they are stepping down is that no one cares, they also have 2 pending law suits against them that they will lose, because they did not get the vote properly for a special assessment, the assessment was for road repaving and they got about 15 votes out of 36 homes to proceed and then threaten everyone that did not pay with leans, one of the couples that did not pay, don't even use the road, their driveway goes out on the state road. they told me that they never did sign the CC&R's either, their lawyer cant find anything that says they did, and I believe they did not. anyway the only reason I am running for the president is because I want to stop this foolishness. I am worried that they will get sued, the insurance company will pay out then come and find a way to re-coop their losses.
right now I am currently looking for a lot to build a new home on and am just trying to buy some time, These people think they can do what ever they want, I send them emails with the law attached they sent one back that said what do these documents have to do with out HOA!! Then they want to try and enforce a bunch of CC&R's which have been ignored since 1998, I cant even begin to tell ya how many violations there are, every house has at least one. I am really worried about my property with these idiots running the HOA, which in my opinion is a lost cause....Thanks Tom
BTW I spoke with my lawyer she said that it is such a mess that they would be better off just having a road mait association and get rid of the CC&R's altogether, I also know that there are just some that will not pay no matter what, and pursuing this is a very dangerous proposition. But then again what do I know......

What a mess

Sounds like the election is flawed and likely invalid. Sending ballots out by email? Really?
Read your documents. Surely they have a section titled ELECTIONS and state exactly what process must be followed in order to hold a valid election. I'm guessing what they're doing ain't it.

Hi Tim, they are currently serving, one of the positions are expiring, the other two are quitting, or just sorta dropping out, My only concern in this is the possibility of the lawsuits leading to a larger problem, I am hoping I can get the President position so I can head off the lawsuits, it just isn't worth it. Meantime I am looking for a lot to build a home on and I will never live in an HOA community again!!
I know there are some good ones, but It only takes a small group of uninformed people to mess up. and when Lawyers and insurance Co and Money is involved, it can get ugly quick.

Thanks for the reply Tim, I am aware of that, but as far as I can tell there is no other people involved, with the rest of them stepping down, I think this will be the only position, some of my neighbors told me they would be happy to be on the board, but wont get involved with the current crew involved. In other words they say "win" and we will help. other than that they have no interest. I feel I am wasting my time...

No Dave, they Resigned, here is a copy of the e-mail.
Dear Homeowners:

We apologize for you receiving this note a little later than planned.

According to the By-Laws, “the annual meeting shall be held on the first Friday in February and the terms of at least one-third of the Directors shall expire annually.” The term of the Treasurer, **********, expires at this time. Unfortunately, the President, ************, and the Secretary, *************, have opted to step down also.

If you are interested in one of these positions (President, Secretary or Treasurer), please submit a note with your name and position desired to **************.com or let one of the officers know. Please do not nominate someone else – this has happened in the past and the person was not interested in the position. Please submit your name by April 1, 2013; ballots will follow.

Please consider running for one of these positions and supporting the ************* HOA.

Tom,

Don't take the e-mail you received as gospel. The writer may not have realized what he was writing was not necessarily correct. Read your bylaws.

As others have said, typically, in an HOA, an individual does not run for an "office" as an officer position (president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer). Typically, an individual runs for a position as director (board member) and the board members elect the officers. There may be exceptions, but that is typically how it is done.

Officers and directors are not the same, even though an individual may be both an officer and a director. Typically, directors have voting rights on the board; officers do not. When an individual who is an officer and a director votes, that person votes as a director; not as an officer.

Again, read your bylaws.