When do HOA presentations go from influencing to plain deceitfulness

All,

Some of you may recall, my wife and I have been looking at potential retirement homes for the past 4 years now.

Having the knowledge I do, thanks to a big part to the posters on this site, I always try to also check out the Association (if any) before placing a bid. Well, we found one property on a great piece of land in a good location. Low amenities, low HOA assessment ($90 quarterly), a new community but under control of the membership. The Association had a website which I thought was great. Unfortunately, like several Associations, all the info I wanted access to (governing documents, newsletters, 2016 assessment, etc.) were password protected.

Then I came across a link to a power point presentation used for their 2015 annual meeting. WOW what an eye opener that was. It appears that the current Board wants to build a clubhouse and a pool (special assessment alarm going off), consulted with banks for a business loan (increase assessments alarm going off), changed the reserve study from component basis to cash bases (future special assessment alarm going off) and provided results of a survey they took to see if the membership wanted to build a pool and clubhouse.

I've attached a copy of the slide showing the survey results (pdf file). Per the slide graphic (and I suspect the speech that went with it), there is overwhelming community support for the project. However, if you look at the actual numbers, the graphic is, at best, misleading. At it's worst, the board is being deceitful to their members.

One third of the bar graph represents 43 votes (as shown by the red bar). While the remaining two thirds (shown by the green bar) represents an additional 7 votes. The results were:

183 homes
53 in favor of the project
46 against the project
84 did not participate in the survey.

My mind was made up - I'm not purchasing this home. In reality it's more of a 50/50 split on support of the project. There were no number showing expected costs (operational, insurance, reserve requirement, staff, loan repayment, etc.) once the project was completed. I suspect that if it was made known what the expected costs would be, the other 84 would participate and at least half would oppose the project. However this Board wants the project and specified that the next step is to hire an architect to draw up plans and project costs and obtain the loan.

Personally, I don't care if there is a pool or not. I do have concerns of a potential $1,000 or more special interest to get the project started and the unknown increase in assessments to cover future costs. However, what had me make the decision not to purchase was the slide of the survey results.

I felt the Board went from trying to influence the membership to deceiving the membership. To me, it appears that tee current powers that be in that Association want that pool and clubhouse and will do everything they can to commit the Association to the project so a future board simply won't stop the process (i.e. don't want to tell the membership that hey, we stopped that project we have already spent 50K on. However, we got a need set of plans and lots of legal bills to show for it).

That's my story about our weekend house hunting trip.

Since all Boards (well not just Boards but everyone) trys to present the facts in the best light to influence others to their side of the issue, my questions are:

1) Do you believe the graphic (attached) is drawn to influence or deceive?
(I know, it can be both but try to pick one).

2) What, if any, would you consider as deceitful vs. influential within your Association experience?

My goal in this thread is to have us take an internal look on how we may present issues and try to be aware that sometimes the presentation itself can create the opposite result than we may have expected (for example, that one slide cost one owner an offer on their property). Perhaps the experiences of others may aid us in refining our approaches as we gather support from other Directors, from the membership or simply from our neighbor to achieve the results we believe are beneficial.

That's sleazy as hell. 53 is 15.2% greater than 46 but that graph wants the reader to believe it's 300% greater. I don't think there's any other reasonable explanation than that whoever made that graph was being deceitful.

Many people don't like powerpoint presentations. In fact, they detest them and how ubiquitous they've become precisely because of the ease with which they enable deception with professional-looking presentations that are both deceptive and persuasive. You've got to ask yourself, "what is the preparer's story and is it believable?".

Universally 53 is not 3 times as large as 46, and based on that I would view with suspicision any other numbers placed before me by the same people whether they be projected operating costs or reserve numbers. People who are willing to engage in deception like that are not to be trusted, IMO. I would also question the desirability of living in a community where the owners allow such a board to remain in place for any amount of time longer than however long it takes to notice a special meeting to recall them.

Tim

In my last downsize one thing I looked for in an HOA was one with no amenities and no room nor intention to have such. As we all know, it is the cost and differing opinions on amenities that cause most of the problems in an HOA.

That bar chart is very deceiving no matter how you slice and dice it. There is the #1 in front of one bar so maybe something else in the presentation referenced it.

Knowing that 84 households didn’t vote one way or the other, I think the Board should have disclosed that number as well, so I would agree this is deceptive. Sadly, some people won’t do the math and realize there’s a huge chunk of folk who haven’t said anything and at least some of them need to speak up to make a more definitive decision.

You’re right that boards need to ensure they’re presenting people with all pertinent information so they can make informed decisions. I remember when we were debating on closing our swimming pool, I was newsletter editor and I made a point of pushing the numbers: X voted yea, X nay, but we still need X% or X number of votes to make this thing official one way or the other. We also said if people chose not to accept the Board’s recommendation to close the pool that was ok, provided they understood what it could cost to repair it now and in the future as well as the maintenance costs, which we also provided.

I’ve never understood why some HOA boards are so afraid of telling the truth to the members. Knowledge is power and if people have questions, they should ask them and the board should be upfront and honest with the response – instead of pulling stuff out of their ass! Stop worrying about the shouting – in the end, people usually appreciate the effort to lay everything on the table.

Then again, there are people who seem to think if they don’t say ANYTHING, the proposal will get shot down because it isn’t clear that the majority want or don’t want something. Or perhaps they still don’t give a damn, despite the amount of information you provide. Sadly, that could be what you’re seeing here – in which case you’re better off staying out of this community.

Take another look at the chart. It could be showing 153 for and 46 against. The 1 is in the wrong place of course.

Perhaps.

That would certainly make more sense and explain the chart.

Problem is that everything but the presentation is password protected and not available to those simply looking for information.

I hear that. You are still right to be cautious IMO. I think pending large projects like the one in question should be disclosed to prospective buyers before they parachute into the middle of a special assessment minefield, personally.

As for NpS... if I ever had to go through a bunch of papers or presentations searching for odd-looking things I think I'd want him there with me to help! That's one of the benefits of HOATalk: more eyes on the potential problems and points of view that help to cast light on the issues.

You did the right thing. I studied statistics and know you can manipulate them to get the results you want. Seems to me there is the issue of also how to count "No votes". Are they for or against? Silence speaks volumes. You can count no votes as "Positive" because people are content to cast their vote. You can cast them negatively because their refusal to vote. Best to find out the thinking of what a "no vote" means.

A HOA would take your involvement wherever you go. Your not the type to not sit around and participate. One day you do want "the bigger fish" to take over. Which is where my mindset lies. If I am going to make a bed somewhere, best I choose the sheets..