BOD Meetings Now Going Secret!

Randal:

Kansas has open meeting laws so ours are public. Sounds shady at best, the red flag is waving.

Our ByLaws state "The Board of Directors shall meet at a time and frequency as the Board shall deem necessary." Doesn't address anything about notifying the residents or whether it has to be an open meeting or not.

It also states that "notice of all regular and special meetings of the Board of Directors shall be mailed by the Secretary to each member of the Board of Directors at least five days prior of such meeting, which notice shall be effective when mailed." Of course in the past no one was ever told of a meeting unless I just happened to mention it in one of my email updates (which is independent of the HOA). This latest email from the BOD was sent out at 9:32pm on Wednesday and the next meeting is Monday at 7:00pm so it doesn't technically doesn't give you a full 5 days notice about the meeting or the policy change.

As for an attorney, that costs money which is something I as an individual don't have to spend over something like this. Though the current Board is now threatening to take me to court if I don't stop using the name of our neighborhood in my updates (I do have a disclaimer that my updates are not associated with the HOA).

I think it would be interesting to ask that they make available for review all rules and regulations governing the HOA. I was on the Board for almost 4 years trying to keep things honest and open and I don't remember ever seeing anything other than outdated and poorly written covenants and bylaws, which were conveniently ignored when the majority of the BOD didn't like them.

In Calif our law's states that when a majority of board members are present the meeting should be noticed via newsletter or posted in the Public box at least 4 days in advance. 24 hrs is suffficient for emergency meetings. All General Meetings are open to the owners, Executive session is only for board members. In our case I complain that most of the business is conducted during Executive session, therfore the owners are kept in the dark.

NancyM2

Randal, unless someone challenges them in court they will continue with their ways. They bank on no one wanting to spend the money to challenge. Even if you have state laws requiring open meetings, there is no state agency who will enforce them, so you still need to go to court. I'm sure quoting laws to these guys won't faze them. Too bad. Laws are written by Lawyers for a reason. Harold

They are certainly a fun group to deal with. I had hoped the influx of four new Board members would bring some cooperation and openness to the situation but it appears that the President and VP are intent on pursuing their own personal agendas. Attacking me and my independent communications with the neighborhood certainly seems to be high on their list at the moment. As for Davids question about TN not having any laws regarding HOAs, I've searched as thoroughly as I can with what resources I have and cannot locate anything. Someone suggested that I investigate rules pertaining to non-profit corporations (which our HOA supposedly is) but since this was just sprung on us there hasn't been time before tomorrows meeting. I did find a non-profit discussion forum that seemed to indicate that the Board can pretty much do whatever it wants unless the Bylaws specifically require open meetings, which they don't. Of course they don't say the Board can hold them privately either.

Why not drum up support for open meetingss within the homeowners and ammend the By-laws to include this. That is what will come up at our annual meeting.
If the board refuses to change their policy of closed telephone conference meetings and refuse to facilatate provisions that would allow owners to log on, there will be motion made to this effect and a vote asked for. I would imagine the board will not want to publicaly refuse the owners requests but if all else fails, do as we are doing and get enough support within the regime to make a change,(proxie votes) either the rules or their position on the board.

Joe - The Open Meetings Act was a good source but unfortunately, at least from the way I read it, appears to only apply to organizations that receive funds from government agencies or have certain types of relationships with them. Couldn't find anything on TN having a Department of Community Affairs.

Robert - I would really like to force the issue with the BOD but I'm sure their spin on it would be that I'm just being a sore loser from the last Board elections. The few times we've had guests at BOD meetings has never been an issue other than their questions might make the meeting go a little longer than normal. My neighborhood email Sunday night highlighted the new policy and it certainly seemed to get the attention of many. Whether or not you can get them concerned enough to actually do something about it is something else though. As for changing the Bylaws, right now they can only be changed by the BOD or by having a special meeting called by 75% (!) of the membership. Previous BODs have been reluctant to mess with the Bylaws (preferring to just do whatever they wanted instead), but I would certainly not put it past those that are on it now to tweek them to their benefit.

Ronald - You're entitled to your opinion, I don't take offense to it. As you said, you don't know me and you don't know the circumstances of this HOA.

I've spent almost 4 years trying to open communications between the Board and the neighborhood but the BOD doesn't want people to know what goes on. Even now they're deliberately trying to conceal information about the status of our covenant voting and our financial situation, not just from me but from anyone that asks.

So what does it hurt to operate openly? NOTHING! Residents may not like what they hear but at least they'll respect you for telling them the truth. As for my emails, I don't need BOD approval since it's a network I personally set up before the BOD ever thought of having one. They've got their own email system now (one they built off mine) but it's never used to get information out to the neighborhood. If they ever started sharing what's going on (honestly) there would be no need for me to ever comment on their actions. The association topics that I do comment on are primarily based on the inquiries I get from the residents. What's our association money being used for? Why won't the BOD tell us about the voting on the covenants? Why is a resident threatening to sue the association over provisions in the covenants? The topics and questions are many.

As for me being voted off the BOD, I put that out as an option for residents to consider, vote all the incumbents off (including me)! Maybe some new faces will bring more openness to the situation. They took my advice then emailed me asking me to continue my network as it was the only neighborhood information they ever receive. The BOD can start treating our residents with some respect any time they choose instead of treating them like idiots that need to be lead around by the nose.

RandalR, I've pretty much followed the posts on your neighborhood situations (as RonaldW obviously has) but I disagree with him. Being off the Board certainly doesn't require you to ride off into the sunset or sit quietly by as the new Board jumps off a cliff, taking the association with them! From the situations you've described with the wording on their proxy voting and the fact that they're now holding secret meetings, your association is in big trouble. If a Board will not maintain communications with it's members then it's the responsibility of the members to do it themselves and hold the BOD accountable for their actions. I'm sure an independent email network will at least make them think twice about some of their decisions. As a member you're entitled to see financial documents, CCRs, and about anything the Board produces. Ask for them, and if they don't provide them in a reasonable amount of time, make it known and ask the question why? If they still don't provide them, call your lawyer referral service. It shouldn't be hard to find an attorney that's interested in taking on an HOA. Most are managed so haphazardly it's not a case of being able to successfully sue them, just a case of what you want to go after them for? He might even be willing to fire a shot across their bow for his own entertainment. Find out who carries the liability insurance on the Board members then remind them that all it will take to get their Board insurance cancelled is for their insurance carrier to find out that they don't follow their own rules and the residents are looking for an attorney to bring suit. You're lucky that you've got a network instead of having to stuff notices in mailboxes. Keep the pressure on them until they decide to play by the rules too.

Randal, there's usually three sides to a story, yours, their's, and the truth. Here's my challenge to you:

Give the board members the URL of this forum and invite them to post their side of the story. Then we might be able to find the truth.