Homeowner Rights?? No meetings.. no elections.. zero information...

Also, I forgot to mention that we do not have Bylaws or any codes provided to us.

Start knocking on doors. Talk to everyone to see whats going on.

As far as rights, you do have them. But there is no one to enforce those rights except you and the court. So many condos never follow the laws, because no one cares enough.

Knocking on doors is cheaper than going to court.

Bonnie

I am not nor do I play a lawyer.

I know of no association that does not have to have at least an Annual Meeting (meaning one a year) where all owners are invited and a financial statement is presented.

Time to chat with a few fellow owners and maybe get together and read whatever docs you have or can get your hands on. If nothing else, the Covenants/Deed Restrictions, etc. are tied to deeds and should be available from your County Registrar of Deeds. Many are online.

Hope this helps.

Although it is always great to hear that someone is showing an interest in their HOA, but As Tim asked, if everything has been ok for the first five years, what has sparked your interest or concern at this point?

You can get your answers, however don't throw up roadblocks to get them by directing anger etc to the very people who can give them to you. Whoever is "running" the HOA, has been doing so without interruption, and it is only natural for them to get defensive if an owner who has paid their dues for five years all of a sudden gets in their face, whether legitimately or not.

Go about it nice and professional and keep your emotions out of it. If you let anger drive your questions you will only get that in return without the answers your looking for.

I agree. I've just sent messages to the lady this morning asking for two items: 1) the condo bylaws and/or codes, and 2) the contact information of the HOA board members. No emotions, just business! I'm hoping maybe this time I can get somewhere.

HOAs are usually defined as non-profit organizations. I am not a lawyer, but I did have to file some motions against my former HOA and I live in California. I am a journalist and have done searches on nonprofit organizations in California and Kentucky.

As such a nonprofit they (HOAs) are required to register with the state.

The state has public information. Depending on how your state is organized, some of this information should be available free or for a small fee.

I suggest you start here because you will find out:

1. Who is legally in charge/agent of service
2. If your HOA registration with the state is current
3. What forms are supposed to be filed annually.

Typically, you can find out this information at the website/page of the secretary of your state. There should be a business search where you can plug in the official name of your association.

You may only see the agent of service (person to whom all legal correspondence should be addressed) and the address to which the correspondence should be mailed. In this case you will have to file a request for the names of the officers. The information should also include the contact info of the officers who are usually, but not always board members.

If your HOA is truly dysfunctional, your HOA may not have filed current info but as far as the state is concerned the person on record is still responsible. This might be your management agency and it might also be the management agency your HOA previously employed. (As was our case) If this is the case, then you can get the previous management agency to write a letter so stating and this should result in state-issued correspondence to update the information.

Most states also require that nonprofits provide a record of who are the officers. This is a matter of public record--it is not private information. If this (officers) has changed but nothing has been filed, then as far as the state is concerned those people are still the official officers. These are the people you should contact.

In order to update this information and prevent our HOA (which we have moved away from) from being suspended, we went to small claims court for have the documents passed over to us. The board would not respond and we did take them to court in order to have the two documents filed and did have to contact our former management company. Some management companies will dump a client who is too troublesome. We went to court three times in less than six months and won all the cases so ours was truly dysfunctional. It still took another couple of years to get the board to file all the proper documents and resulted in a large payout from the insurance company and that only covered our legal fees.

In any case, some states provide all this information (agent of service, officers) online for free. This is where I suggest you begin.

If your HOA has not filed papers, you have an additional problem--late fees and possible suspension. In the case of a suspension, you'll need to file more forms and might need legal aid.

So although I am not a lawyer, I suggest you start at the state level and see who is, according to the state, legally responsible for the HOA and what the legal status (active, non-active, cancelled, suspended) you HOA is in and who are the listed and legal responsible officers.

Hey, guys: just an update.

I've spoken with our treasurer about my concerns. As you guys advised, I kept the content very factual and professional (no name calling or any personal attacks). However, despite my effort, she still perceived my conversation with her as personal. She even said via text "I don't appreciate you questioning my integrity". Oof.

I really don't know where to start with describing our conversation. The treasurer was very evasive to my questions, and provided answers to questions I did not ask. She's states she's very stressed, has never been questioned before, etc etc, and then referred me to the Vice President about concerns about our lack of meetings.

So I thanked her, and said I'd be in touch touch with the VP.

But THEN she replied to me immediately and said the President was in charge of meetings (even thought she JUST referred me to the VP). So I asked for his contact information, and she initially refused! The next morning she provided his email address, but no phone number.

There are other bits and pieces of the conversation that would just be too much to post.

Geez Louise, this is a mess. Down the rabbit hole I go.

Our Board members won't give out personal contact info for other Board members without their consent. The Association does maintain an e-mail address for each Director, so there is no need to give out personal e-mail addresses. It could have simply been that the individual wanted to check with the President to see if it was alright.

Sometimes, people just have a sour day and can take a friendly "hello" wrong. I suggest simply writing the Treasurer's response off (as I think you have done) and simply deal with one of the other board members.

It may have been a little frustrating, but at least it's moving forward.

Tim

John, no, I never thought or said the structure was free or free of maintenance costs. I just want to know what those expenses are. But thank you for your concern and comment.

your "XYZ HOA, Inc." will be registered with the Tennessee Secretary of State

http://www.secstates.com/TN_Tennessee_Secretary_of_State_Corporation_Search/

you can get a copy of the 'Articles of Incorporation'

your HOA will have a 'registered agent' (or similar person)

send the agent a certified return receipt letter requesting 'financials' and 'corporate bylaws'

get a certified copy of your 'Covenants and Restrictions' from the Registrar of Deeds located at the County Seat ~ read same 5-10 times then REREAD IT CAREFULLY ~ THIS document is your contract with the other homeowners, NOT the corporate bylaws

the 'hierarchy' is:

ALL LAW OUTSIDE THE HOA - federal, state, county, city/local
Covenants & Restrictions
Tennessee not-for-profit corp. law (yes, it DOES exist)
Art. of Inc.
By-Laws
BOD resolutions (rules and regs)

BEST OF LUCK

CAVEAT EMPTOR

That is a little bit off (as corporate law is part of, as John put it, all law outside of HOA).

A more accurate hierarchy is:

Applicable Federal Laws
Applicable Federal Regulations
Applicable State Laws (Property, contract, corporate (if incorporated), etc.)
Applicable State Regulations
Applicable County Codes
Applicable City Ordinances
Association CC&Rs
Association Articles of Incorporation (if incorporated - most Associations are)
Association Bylaws
Resolutions adopted by the Board (architectural guidelines, common area rules, etc.)

No lower document may be in conflict with a higher document. If it is, then the higher precedent document must be complied with. However, be sure to check the higher document carefully as many higher precedent documents may defer authority (control) to a lower precedent document. If control is deferred to the lower document, then even if there is a conflict, the lower document must be complied with. Typical ways of doing this are: "Except as otherwise provided in . . ." "To the extent the [document] expressly so provide . . . " "Unless the [document] so prescribe . . ." etc.

Additionally, being more restrictive is not necessarily a conflict. It will depend on the language used in each document.

architectural guidelines ~ guidelines as any actual restrictions against private property will be in the covenants

common area rules ~ rules as the covenants empower the BOD to govern common elements

we have now drawn and quartered the 'picked nit'

(formerly JohnB26)

excellent