Florida 720 statute recall instructions

As a member of my developments HOA over 20% of like minded members drew up a petition to request that a particular Board Member be recalled. What are the exact requirements of 720 to make this happen? We had an opening statement as to why we wanted this person recalled but we have been told after we submitted the petition to the board that we need at the very least 51% of the voting members to sign the petition. I could not find this anywhere in 720. Any suggestions how we can proceed would be much appreciated.

Thank you for your help. Our association Bylaws clearly state that the directors can remove another director from the board at any time for any reason as long as there is a majority of directors that vote for removal. Do you know if 720 trumps the Bylaws.

Yes..Section 720.303

(10) RECALL OF DIRECTORS.—
(a)1. Regardless of any provision to the contrary contained in the governing documents, subject to the provisions of s. 720.307 regarding transition of association control, any member of the board of directors may be recalled and removed from office with or without cause by a majority of the total voting interests.

Thank you all for your help . I will keep striving to remove this director from our board no matter the obstacles.

Best regards,
DonnaS83

Thanks again for your help and support. I created a petition and canvassed our development and I have approximately 22% of the eligible homeowners to agree that this particulate director is not what we want in a director. This petition was sent to the attorney that represents the community and he said that the petition is basically worthless. I don't believe that . It should make our sitting board do directors very aware that the community is not happy with this director. Our Bylaws in paragraph 6.1 state, under the heading "Member Qualification";
"The officers of the association shall include a President, a Vice President, a Treasurer and a Secretary all of whom shall be elected by the directors and may be removed from office at any time with or without cause by the directors."

Am I misunderstanding?

Regards,
DonnaS8

Donna

Allow me to add a few thoughts.

I am not nor do I play a lawyer, especially in FL.

1. Learn the difference between a Director (Member of the BOD) and an Officer. Generally Officers (Pres, VP, Sec., etc) are Members of the BOD (as in they are a Director) that the other Directors (Members of the BOD) have elected to that position. The Members of the BOD usually can remove the person from an Officers Position but not from the BOD. I did play on words to aid the understanding of the differences between Members of the BOD and Officers. Generally all Officers are Members of the BOD that the BOD elected to their position.

2. Generally a Member of the BOD (be they an Officer or not) can only be removed by those that elected the person. This can get tricky. If they were elected by the BOD versus the owners. If the person was elected by the owners, the owners can remove the person. If elected by the BOD (as in fill a vacancy) then only the BOD can remove the person. Pay attention to this as it does dictate who can remove the person.

3. Let us assume the person was elected by the owners. If so they can be recalled by the owners. It will usually require a % of the owners to ask for a Special Meeting to remove the person. This is usually the easy part as it will generally take only 10% of owners requesting such a meeting.

4. The tricky part becomes how many have to attend the Special Meeting (Quorum) and how many have to vote to remove the person. Also generally there has to be someone to be voted on to replace the person. As I said this, is the real tricky part.

Generally speaking, it is much easier to mount a campaign to be sure the person in question does not get re-elected to the BOD then to recall them no matter how much they pi$$ you off. If they have a longer term then you care to wait for, then elect BOD Members who will marginalize the person. Yes the person may still pi$$ you off but they are a lone wolf in the woods and can do no harm.

Tough love here Donna but I think you have the desire to recall the person but maybe not the knowledge nor the tenacity to do so. It takes both to do so.

I may not have the knowledge at this time but I am willing to learn. My reasons for going after this particular bod are his unethical use of his position on the board. The other association members who agree with me are past board members and even the present members of the board are fed up. I am just trying to find a simple solution to this problem. I would love for the board members to sanction the one in question, pull his teeth so to speak.

Thanks for your thoughts, I'll keep looking at the laws and if there is a. Solution I'll find it.
Have a great evening!

DonnaS8

Donna,

The petition needs to have certain things on it.

At the top of each page of the petition should be what the petition is for.
There should be spaces for signature, printed name, date and address of the owner who is signing the petition.
The bottom of the petition should have a space to number the pages x of x (which can be filled in prior to submitting the petition). You also need to be sure that only members sign (not renters) and only if the member is listed on the deed of the property (sometimes both spouses are not on the deed).

The most important thing is what the petition is for. What did your last petition say?

I would suggest something along the line of:

We the undersigned, declare that we are members of the (name of Association) and, in accordance with FL 720.303 (10), do hereby present this written agreement to recall [Name] from the Board of Directors:

Once completed, the petition needs to be sent via certified mail, return receipt requested, to the registered agent of the corporation. I would also encourage you to send additional copies to each Board member. However, it's the one sent to the registered agent that counts.

You can 'petition' for a special meeting or to send a 'message', but a petition in and of itself will not meet DBPR requirements as a Fla. recall instrument.

If you don't use the form(s) you'll likely fall short of the requirements and fail upon challenge.

Tim - The condominium statutes (718) are different from the HOA Statutes (720).
The poster is citing 720, so I assume it is a HOA and not a condominium.