Charities,Donations and In Memoriam

I realize this subject has been covered several times, however, this one seems kind of "touchy" and controversial in more than one way.

One of our board members became ill last year. His wife asked the board to contribute to her church and to the Haiti Relief fund in their name. The board donated $ 250.00. to The Haiti Relief fund via their church.

This year, after his passing, the wife again asked us to donate to her church and to The Haiti relief fund in lieu of flowers. The board approved,and did so again, for another $250.00

Now, after homeowners found out about the contributions they were very upset by the way it was done: Via the funds slated for maintenance, and because nowhere in the by-laws is it stated that such donations or contributions can be done.

Several attorneys in the community have cited that Florida and IRS laws rulings forbid such contributions unless specifically stated in the by-laws.

IMHO this was done, once, in a well meaning way, however approving such donation a second time opens up a "can Of Worms".

Your opinions and views are welcome.
Thanks.

? the 'board' should make a resolution against embezzlement ?

the board stole the money with good intentions in the first place

the board should make a resolution to read and understand the 'governing documents' and any applicable state law (incl. laws against theft of funds)

what a bunch of ELECTED nincompoops, with the emphasis on 'poops'

You're not being insensitive - right is right, and the board members should have known better.

Once upon a time, our board would send flowers on behalf of the association when a former board member passed away or was in the hospital, but stopped after I made the same point. It may be most homeowners wouldn't have a problem with this sort of thing (our homeowners rarely say anything about anything), but all it takes is one person to raise a stink. Besides, integrity is what you refuse to do, even if you know you'd probably get away with it and I've always felt board members have to be held to a higher standard.

I don't know if I'd call this embezzlement (usually embezzlers try to keep from being found out), but it would be appropriate for the board to refund the money out of their own pockets - and if they don't, the homeowners could decide if they want this bunch to continue on the board.

Keep in mind as a board member that the money you spend is EVERY MEMBER's MONEY. A HOA is funded ONLY by it's member FOR it's members. It may sound "heartless" to not give to a charity but the HOA is NOT a charity. It is not in the position to donate money from it's own budget. If the board member or other members want to give, then reach into your pockets. NOT the HOA's...

We have had members die in our HOA. One former HOA member who was also behind in their dues. The new board decided to suspend the monthly fee owed that month they died. Which sounds like a "nice" thing to do. However, the reality is that the board and the other members should have pooled their PERSONAL money together to pay that month's dues on that person's behalf.

Why? Well the member could be behind in their dues already. We have 6 months we lien policy. Well, we can't figure in that "forgiven" month into the total amount owed. The other issue is that typically property has to go through probate court. Which can take several months. All the time the dues accumulating. Unfortunately, you can't just not place a lien on the property. This is the most potential time during probate to get paid back dues owed. A missing month really screws up the math.

So if anyone wants to give from now on, then make sure it's done out of personal pocket NOT the HOA's.

The board members might want to pull the monies out of their pocket and reimburse the HOA.

Final outcome at the HOA Board and Residents Meeting last night.

As a former board member, I asked a representative of The State Of Florida for a letter of opinion. The letter stated that "An HOA must carefully consider the use funds from the Homeowners Association Maintenance as a contribution to a person, persons, organization or charity ,even if the HOA is registered as a "Not for Profit" Corporation. Such use of funds must be in the by-laws, and reported as a line item in its Federal and State tax returns . This may open the HOA to further State and IRS scrutiny."

.......The board decided to reinstate the funds.
How they will do it will be interesting, since they did not elaborate at the meeting how it will be done. . However 99% of residents attending were quite verbal and upset by the boards' actions, and its interim president commented that will not run again in 2015.