Does anyone want to be a board member?

Started by LauraT • 4 replies • 1543 views

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LauraT (Florida)
Posts: 15

Posted:

Our board has been on for decades. The laws have changed and they have not kept up with them.

Our documents say that the association is for common areas they are responsible for. Recently they put fountains in Lakes that were under the control of a water district. They had to get permission to install them. The water district refused their request for lakeside benches, so they put them on city property nearer to the road. Neither of which is HOA responsibility.

What happens if someone gets hurt on one the fountain or the benches?

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

Get them a band aid... Call an ambulance... Wish they get better... Worrying about what happens if someone gets hurt is a waste of time and energy. Plus that is insurance's job. What can you do? Talk to your insurance company and find out what they cover. Expect to get sued. People can sue for anything at any time. Simply plan for the worst case scenario and see what that entails. Which usually is just is legal expense for the lawyer, insurance deductible payout, and/or raise/losing insurance due to it.

Courts ONLY make one whole NOT a profit. People can sue for any amount they want doesn't mean they get it. Once you get the worst case scenario established, you can then tell people to go pound sand when they threaten. It's not worth the worry or extra expense of prevention. It's better to save money to cover it.

Former HOA President

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

It actually depends on whether or not statutes provide for exemplary damages for some categories of transgressions. Also known as punitive damages, if they are appropriate under the law then courts can award the amount to make you whole PLUS triple that same amount as punitive damages. These only apply in limited situations, however, and they usually require really egregious behavior on someone's part. Most court decisions don't come with punitive damages attached, but where they do then the plaintiff can most definitely "come out ahead" of the game. No court case is ever a sure bet, though.

BobD4 (up north)
Posts: 1,002

Posted:

LauraT (Fla) Your question immediately triggers 3 others :

What is the legal authority for your association to spend & erect outside its territorial jurisdiction ?

What do the authorization documents provide about your association indemnifying & holding harmless, each set of the approving authorities ?

Dependent on # 1 and # 2, how does your master insurance policy address these, and if not what has been done to extend coverage to any new risks ?

Other questions arise.

( My own voluntary HOA erected a supermailbox kiosque on unlit municipal property.

On a mid-morning last April the original kiosque was destroyed by a carelessly-driven school bus. Anyone inside picking up their mail, would have been killed. There is an ongoing wider ice & snow danger issue for which I & other maintaining volunteers fear even identifying themselves.

After the kiosque destruction, the bus company quickly funded a rebuild.

I discretely urged the HOA before any rebuild, that a legally sufficient municipal authorization be priorly obtained before reconstruction, plus reflectors for the first time attached to address the unlit status. Both suggestions were sociopathically ignored, but I only ever make a single suggestion to this bunch, if at all. The default liability for an unincorporated tenancy in common group may - may - be unlimited joint & several liability : "pick & chose the deepest pockets to pursue". )

NigelB (Texas)
Posts: 254

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By LauraT on 12/17/2015 10:52 AM
Our board has been on for decades. The laws have changed and they have not kept up with them.

Our documents say that the association is for common areas they are responsible for. Recently they put fountains in Lakes that were under the control of a water district. They had to get permission to install them. The water district refused their request for lakeside benches, so they put them on city property nearer to the road. Neither of which is HOA responsibility.

What happens if someone gets hurt on one the fountain or the benches?

We have an "aminity lake" in our subdivision. It was originally excavated by the developer who subsequently turned it over to the municipal utility district who are responsible for its upkeep. We have a written agreement with the MUD to use the lake and the surrounding property and also to maintain a fountain and maintain landscaping. As part of that agreement we must also carry liability insurance. If someone were to get hurt on either the lake, fountain, or property owned by, but maintained by us - we'd probably both get sued. We have installed signs at lakeside which specify what activities are prohibited.

As for the installation of structures on City property, assuming that the City gave permission for the installation, there's probably also some kind of legal agreement as to liability in the event of a a problem.

Easiest thing to do is to ask the HOA what their insurance covers

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