HOA was elected by builder

. We are a new community HOA the HOA was controlled by the builder until about a month ago At the time the dues were due he sent a letter saying he was turning it over to the community and that anybody that wanted to be on the board to submit their name along with the dues. We had around seven people who did that. One then decided he did not want to belong as he was moving, one never showed up and any of the so called meetings prior to the turn over, another s letter supposedly never got to the builder and was not included in the names. So the day of the meeting with the builder he walks in ask who is the treasurer and hands the documents to her and walks out the door. No bills or receipts were included for last years bills. All she got was the checks that members had mailed in and the check book. They then took it upon themselves to vote for President VP treasurer and secretary. Scheduled a meeting and told the community they would meet their board members at that time and there was going to be no vote.

Since then the following has happened. We have found that if the community causes problems with this HOA the builder will take it back and give it to a management company, that the HOA board has had secret meetings with nobody knowing what was discussed, that the Treasurer per community 100% vote needed to be bonded and has in fact been bonded via a company that did not require a background check or credit check done on her and that the board also voted that their meetings would not be open to the public but would be private with only board members present and not all board members were present for that vote. Through a email vote the board members approved that no community members should be present at their meetings.

As a community we would much rather have a management company looking over our interest at least until we get on our feet. There are 75 lots in the community and right now there are 46 homes that are occupied. The builder says he is the majority until he sells that last home and that he can at any time take back the HOA. There is a very large division within the community as some members are letting their friendships with one or two of the board members rule their common sense. In fact our President has done nothing to help the community at all, all that has been done has been via our VP. He has checked into speed bumps, street lights etc while the President has done nothing.

We do have a FB group that was started almost two years ago by two members of the community. The President wanted them to turn that group over to the HOA and they refused, so he start another group and is requiring all community members to join that group and said nothing about the community will be discussed on the first group that has been there for two years. A simple question was asked as to what the HOA email address was and he refused to answer it and said go to the new group and he will answer it there.

Our question is how do we go back to the builder and ask him to give it to a management company. There are many here that do not trust this board as they seem to have meetings that some of the board is not aware of.

We do not trust the one handling out money the although she has a surety bond for only 10K the company (Western Surety) said they go on the honor system. That she was elected and therefore no background check was needed. We told them that she was not elected and they said we need to contact a lawyer. There are about 15 of us that voice our opinions while the rest of the community simply does not care one way or the other.

The trust is so bad that many homeowners have either paid in cash or M.O. or plan to do so next year. They do not want her to have access to their bank accounts information.

thank you so much for the info. The reason for the bonding is that nobody trust the treasurer You said the builder can NOT take the HOA back and that is exactly what the board told the community. The builder choose who was on the board based on his thinking that he now has a board that will listen to what he wants. We were also told by a lawyer that the builder has much more power then the HOA does that he is building the houses and that if the HOA or community does anything to hinder him selling homes he will take the HOA back and then turn it over to a management company.

Can you explain your statement about him not being able to take the HOA back? He still has rough fully 30 lots left to build on. Yes they elected themselves to the position but they were not elected by the community. They were appointed by the builder who apparently said you are the HOA and there is no election from the community. If they do not like it I will take it back and give it to a management company.

You are correct in that he did not turn over the HOA correctly. He did not supply any receipts for the money spent last year. He just handed the check book and a ledger telling how much he spent with no proof at all.

In fact one of the community members who wanted to be on the board, her check disappeared and was supposedly never received. There was a name on it that wanted to be a member of the board. Surprisingly the day before the HOA community meeting, she received the envelope back with "RETURN TO SENDER" on it and a piece of scotch tape on it to keep the envelope closed. It was hand written and the post office did not write wrong address. So we are guessing that the builder received the check did not want that member on the board and just simply returned the envelope.

We have just about given up on having a HOA board that we want and will have to wait for a year to get a election. The treasurer is there for five years.

Donald, you need to read not only the CC&R's (You know that thick stack of papers you got at closing.) but Georgia's POA laws.

From what you described he didn't turn over the HOA but he let the homeowners elect a Board to take care of the day to day stuff. Bonds are not unusual, our CC&R's require every Board member with access to funds be bonded. Typically a MC will cost everyone between $10-20 a month per unit, so don't complain if you get the MC and your assessments go up. Even with a MC, you still need a Board either with homeowners or the builder's employee's to direct the MC.

Don,

As Glen pointed out, you not only need to know your governing documents but also the applicable laws that the Association must comply with.

Here are some links:

Georgia Statutes via lexisnexis (which is what the link from the Georgia general assembly website provided)

Georgia's Condominium Act is at § 44-3-70 to § 44-3-117 (Title 44, Chapter 3, Article 3, sections 70-117)

Georgia's Property Owners' Association Act is at § 44-3-220 to § 44-3-235 (Title 44, Chapter 3, Article 6 sections 220-235)

Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code (applicable if incorporated as a nonprofit - most Associations are) is at
§ 14-3-101 to § 14-3-1703 (Title 14, Chapter 3, sections 101-1703)

Additionally, you may want to look at Community Associations Network Georgia page for additional info. (they are also a sponsor of this site)

thank you all for the information and thank you Melissa that sounds exactly what has happened here. He picked the board that would cater to him with one member that would not to cause controversy. We are just hoping that within the year he will have sold all his lots and be gone from the area. We have six months left with this new board and then community elections. How that is done we will just have to wait and see.

We wanted to change the code to the gate and he apparently told the board members that will not happen, the code will not be changed. His workers leave trash nails etc all over the community. One of the workers parked his truck and trailer on a members yard and was told at least three times not to the builder was told and has done nothing at all. He is just a greedy B*******d that actually talks about home owners to new homeowners. He told us once that he wished he had never sold a home to one person cause is nothing but a trouble maker.

Just a update, we had our first meeting and no one from the board recorded the meeting so things that were voted on and approved were later said nope no vote was taken.

Many of us are upset as the builder is now letting his empty lots go to seed and not cutting the grass. This happened last year and we had a influx of Rattle Snakes and Water Moccasins the poisonous ones in fact my neighbor killed a six foot one in HIS driveway which is next to a empty lot with grass over four feet high. We keep telling the HOA to turn it over to a management company with a contract and that way he will be unable to use the threat I am going to take it back.

We have four disabled children on my street and he refuses to comply with Ga law and put up Disabled Children signs.

Don,

Thanks for the update. A few comments:


It appears that the Secretary, and the rest of the Board, failed to do their job.

As the Board, you (not the builder) are responsible to make sure meetings are documented and records are maintained.


This doesn't mean that someone can't create minutes of that meeting to the best of their memory.
The Board can then amend them at the next meeting prior to approving them as the official minutes.


Well, the Board could vote to raise assessments and hire a contractor to keep those lots mowed.


I agree with Doug, in that you apparently don't understand what a management company (MC) does.

The MC does not run the Association. The Board, regardless how good or inept they may be, are the ones who run and make the decisions for the Association. The MC simply assists the Officers in implementing those decisions and doing the daily tasks that are needed (collecting mail, tracking assessment payments, making deposits, coordinating with contractors, etc.) based on what the Board and the MC have agreed to do in the written contract with the MC.


I suspect "he" refers to the builder. However, that is not the responsibility of the builder. If it is the Associations responsibility, then that would be the responsibility of the Board. However, it might actually be the responsibility of the parents of those children and the Board simply needs to make reasonable accommodations and allow the parent to have the signs posted at the parents expense. Without reading the statute, I have no basis to even offer an opinion on who's responsibility it is.

Don, the thread isn't clear - are you serving on the Board?

Donald, I believe that you really, really, need to look at some the reading materials that posters have listed for you. You need to understand your governing documents concerning your developer's responsibility (if any at this point) and your Board's responsibilities. Your HOA's bylaws will tell you what your Board must do and how to get rid of them if they don't abide by your governing documents.

The specific problems with your details of individuals' (the Board, the developer) behavior or misbehavior cannot be understood without placing that conduct within the context of your own documents and your state's laws. Are you willing, alone, or with others, to read these important materials, Donald?

I guess one thing we can offer is that you can check with your municipality to see if they can compel the developer to keep his lots mowed.