Need some advice. We are about to breach a contract due to 2 Board members inaction.

We finally got a roof construction firm to start our Clubhouse roof repair. We paid $9,000 deposit this summer. Their initial contract bid was only for re-shingling but informed us there would be extra costs if any issues came up after they started. All Board members were informed of this risk in advance.

1st day on the job and we find out they will have to re-deck the entire clubhouse as it is skip-sheeted. But that isn't the problem.

The problem is now the Roof construction firm is basically on stand still and losing money daily as their crew is waiting on 2 Board members to return phone calls to make a decision. These 2 Board members are not answering emails or returning phone calls to either me or the management company. The roof construction firm has said we have 3 days per the contract to make a decision or they are canceling the contract and we are out the $9,000 deposit. We are on day 2.

At first I thought something might have happened to these Board members like an accident or sudden illness. But I noticed both Board members are making constant facebook posts since we have been trying to contact them. So I started sending them personal messages via Facebook. Still no reply and we are getting close to a breach of contract.

Word on the street is these 2 Board members got on the Board to sabotage the association. That they are part of the disband crowd. I try not to go on rumor and give people the benefit of the doubt but I am starting to think there may be some truth to this as there are a few other examples.

But for now, we are literally facing a loss of $9,000 for a breach of contract because they won't contact the management company to make a decision on the roof repair.

Any advice?

Board of 4. BTW yes I did go by both their homes as well.

Also the extra costs were written into the contract. It was all disclosed up front and on the up and up on the roofing company's end.

For now the drama has come to an end. I finally got one of them on facebook today and she finally called the management company. So the project is now a go but this kinda crap is getting ridiculous. I shouldn't have to waste my time hunting people down to do something as simple as make a friggin phone call.

GnomeX, why a Board of four? That is a recipe for deadlock are you short one or is that how your HOA is set up? I agree that they were probably playing games but they have a perfect excuse, I was busy with the holidays and didn't have time to respond.

Yep this is another long standing issue. This place is so screwed up I cannot even begin.

The original bylaws specified 5 directors, an odd number. Then someone had the brilliant idea to change the bylaws years ago to where there is no limit on the number of directors. We don't have an odd number currently because no one else will run.

I am really starting to think that the rumors going around that these 2 only got on the Board to sabotage the association might have some merit. They stopped paying their dues several years ago and were liened. One was facing foreclosure. They both finally paid up then ran for the Board last year. BTW both are romantically involved.

But it isn't just this one instance. Other things go on that simply are going to cause legal and other problems. For example they refused to set the dues to a rate to adequately fund the association. We are in deficit spending this year because of these two. They did this against the advice of me (Treasurer), the management company, and the reserve study company.

Another is minutes. One of the two is the secretary and we don't have meeting minutes for an entire year. She simply doesn't do the minutes and keeps saying she will get around to it. We are going to get an audit ding on that one. Worse she took the minutes book from prior years and NEVER returned them. Then she said they must be lost. We have been trying to get the minutes book back from her for probably 6-8 months now.

Fast forward to two weeks ago: the management company started requesting the old minutes for the annual audit, and same story, the secretary would not answer emails. So I had to spend my time trying to contact the old secretary to see if she had backups. As soon as I email the management company what the old secretary gave me, suddenly our current secretary miraculously emails she found the minutes book. This is 5 full days after the management company initially asked for the minutes. She just simply ignored emails from the property manager.

I could go on but you get the gist. At first I thought it was they are just lazy. Now it is looking intentional at least to me. Even our new property manager is starting to see it and getting frustrated.

Uh oh, Gnome. Does your PM really have the authority to approve the change order? Can you get the three directors to have a quick emergency meeting to approve it?

Wotta a mess there!

I guess you tendered your written resignation from the Board, Gnome? So sorry you've been pushed into that action. Well, at least maybe you'll get your life back . . .

Kelly this wasn't the issue at all. We were informed up front that the bid would only cover the cost to put shingles on the roof and that any other underlying damage would be at additional costs. This wasn't even presented as a slight possibility. It was EXPECTED to be highly likely by both parties as we have known that the roof is leaking and causing water damage. Bottom line is we KNEW well in advance we would have additional costs. The roofing company has been very professional and upfront at every step. The roofing company isn't the problem here. The bidding process isn't the problem.

The problem is we have a deadbeat Board including the Board President that wont do their job by even answering phone calls and emails. These 2 Board members cost this roofing company two days lost time as their crew was sitting around idle waiting on these two assholes to return a simple phone call to the management company.

BTW the Board President STILL has not returned a single phone call or email to either me or the management company. Thankfully the property manager is just moving forward without the President.

The deadbeat Secretary's excuse on her contact delay was that she just thought the delay was due to rain which is complete bollocks. We haven't had rain in two weeks. Clear blue skies. She is just making ridiculous excuses now that she has egg all over her face and everyone sees it for what it is.

Pure incompetence.......

Maybe the homeowners needed to lose $9K and know WHY they lost $9K. I would hate to see it happen but perhaps you need to let these two Board members "shine their light" for all to see. Nothing wrong with letting idiots reveal their true selves to others.

Well I really think I might not have a choice but to resign. We are about to have a s**t storm with budget problems and I warned these 2 other Board members of that possibility back in October. I told them we had to raise the dues by at least $100. They simply would not listen.

Secretary said she was just looking for a "magic wand" way out of this. "Magic wand" solution was to just ignore the problem and hope it would go away. So they would only go for a dues increase of $50 leaving us in severe deficit spending for the 1st time in years.

We could very well be out of funds in the checking account within 1-2 months and have no choice but to rob from the road fund to cut checks until the next bi-annual dues payments start coming in February.

The reason we are having problems is the roof project is looking like it could cost up to $60,000 due to all the hidden water damage. Also we have an audit coming up and the auditor is requesting a lot of records. No Board member including myself has time to take off to do all this work in the office to pull records. So we now have to bring in more office personnel which wasn't budgeted for either. But I expect they might not want to pay for more office personnel either which means the audit will be pushed back even further.

Moving is a good idea...... resigning is never a good idea. Simply sticking your head in the sand and watching the board cost "you" money is the last thing you want to do.

Do people have personality conflicts? Sure. Do you want incompetent people making decisions with your money that will need even more money in the future (special assessments) to fix the problems they made while you sat back and watched? No.

The key is to get even more involved, and get more homeowners on your side and boot them out. It may take time, but its worth it. Its "your" money, your investment!

No idea why it posted twice. I only clicked once.

Well there is some good news this week. So far it is looking like it won't be so expensive. We are looking at around $47,000 to $52,000 currently.

They have decked 1/2 the building and it is looking like new rafters wont be needed except around the skylight areas. They think they can scab in new ones without bringing in a carpenter. Plus all the skylights are shot and that was going to be around another $4,000 but they advised to just deck and shingle over them.

Plus both the Secretary and President resigned so delays like this wont be an issue. For now at least.