Lack of resident/Board interest

Hello all. Your help with this will be invaluable.

Background: I've posted here a few times about the effort several of us in our small subdivision went through to try and make our HOA viable, compliant and responsive to our homeowners. While elected to be Treasurer, I've actually performed all the duties (President, VP, Board member, Secretary and Treasure) since even the full Board is less than proactive on most issues. Please don't think I'm trying to pat myself on the back but I've basically done it all in the past 1 1/2 years. I do the financials, administer contracts, take all the flack from residents etc... I'm getting little to no help. Most in the community of 51 homes could care less and are apathetic towards the HOA except when assessments roll around. I've organized cookouts to try and get the community to meet and greet each other but turn out is poor. At our recent HOA meeting, besides the three Board members that were present, two other properties were represented for a 10% turn-out. I'm not sure what else I can do.

My dilemma: I have pretty much had it with the apathy and non-participation. My wife is frustrated with me because I continue to put the time in to try and keep things going. Honestly I'm getting worn out but I don't want all of the accomplishments from the past 1 1/2 years to go to waste. I'm not looking for gratitude or "atta boys". I want to turn this over to someone else now that our financial position has been solidified (liens and small claims court were necessary for some) by a factor of 500%. I've given it almost two years of my time and I'm tired. The problem is, no one else will stand up and volunteer to take over from me. What do I do? I've toyed with the idea of hiring a management company to take over but that won't last but a year, maybe two, before our funds would run dry. Anybody have any suggestions, or if you have gone through a similar situation, what did you do? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm probably leaving some tings out so if I can clarify anything, please ask. Thanks.

Mike

Michael,

I went through that myself a few years ago. My name was the only one on the ballot.
What I did was an information campaign. I informed the membership what happens if there isn't a quorum (lack of authority to enter into contracts, etc.) and what happens if the Association is placed in receivership (which is the correct procedure over hiring a management company if you don't have a Board).

People finally stepped forward.

Sometimes, nobody will step up because they know that you will. Once they learn that you won't, things will likely change.

Do you have the option of terminating the covenants and dissolving the Association? Just proposing such a drastic measure may be enough to shake some of your members out of their apathy. When the choices are a. Receivership, b. Dissolution, and c. Step up to the plate, maybe the stark reality of two really awful choices will be enough to jar some people out of their slumber.

Thanks for all the great replies. I'd like to address some of your comments in hopes of furthering the conversation.

Thought I should give you some information on our community. We are a small rural 51 property, single family home community. The only common areas within the community are the two landscaped main entrances. We have no pool, clubhouse, playground or other amenities. Our dues are $150/year.

Melissa: I would love to empower some people to take some responsibility. My only problem is nobody wants to be empowered. They could care less. Like you, I basically rebuilt our HOA from the ground back up. I spent months rebuilding our financials just so we could get five years of un-filed tax returns completed. I got contracts for entry maintenance, liability insurance, created the collection policy for the HOA, started the process, that's still ongoing, of collecting unpaid assessments (making me the most despised resident in the community) etc... Our financials are open to any HOA member to review as we have nothing to hide (minus any debt info). Thanks for you input.

TimB4, AnnH5, GenoS: Can you explain what would happen under receivership? Who would take control in this instance? Not sure about dissolution as an option. I'll have to check if that's possible in Georgia. I'm assuming a dissolution wipes out the HOA as an entity and then anyone within the community can do anything they want with their property. If that happens my home would probably be on the market the next day. What would happen to any balance left over in the HOA fund?

KimR4: One of the first things I did when I got involved was look into management companies. Our small budget wouldn't allow this option without raising dues. Personally, I'd gladly pay a little more for this option but some won't even pay their $150/year assessments without threat of some kind of legal action.

I can assure you that I have gone out of my way to try and get residents interested in the HOA. That's why I tried the BBQ route. I've mailed letters. All to know avail. At this point, if I knew more about dissolution and receivership, I might be able to use these actions to motivate some people to volunteer given the future prospects if they didn't.

I truly appreciate everyone for taking the time to provide the feedback I'm going to need to move forward.

Mike

The lack of interest in my HOA was so bad... I could hold meetings IN the swimming pool!!! I'd put my bathing suit on and talk to the members. It is HOT in Alabama and most people were at the pool anyways. So I just went to where the people were.

I did the whole party thing a few times. I even did the "Volunteer day" for members to come and volunteer to clean up the place. I would even get the kids involved. We cleaned the pool furniture or planted flowers. The HOA provided the supplies and the owners the labor. It was not always the best turn out but any turn out was good enough for me.

Here is a strange suggestion... Do you have dogs? That was my saving grace. What I did was walk my dogs around the neighborhood. This allowed me many things. Good exercise and able to keep an eye on things. Plus neighbors could feel free to stop and talk to me. People respond to dogs and are more sociable.

Yes, the problem was that I did end up doing such a good job, that people stopped going to meetings. They trusted me to do the right thing. Eventually after spreading the word around that I was going to quit... people stepped up. They thought the job was going to be easy by then cause I made it look so easy. LOL!

Sad isn't it that people can't come together to benefit their communities. People in my neighborhood are apathetic as well and IMO my BOD likes it that way. They don't want participation or input. They just want to govern behind closed doors so no one knows what they are doing. I live in a state with no open meetings laws so the board meetings are closed to the members. Getting information out of them is difficult. They have an attitude of "how dare you ask questions, or ask for board minutes." They don't wave at me either and the last thing I want to do is socialize with any of them. With that being said, I would come to their aid if needed. I would be the first one to volunteer to help a neighbor in need. Now my rant is over and my post wasn't very helpful. Ah, living the good life in an HOA!!!