What to do about bad perspective board members?

I just completed my first year as our HOA president. I went from knowing nothing to feeling like I have really nailed this down. We turned our HOA, which was poised to be bankrupt by last December, back to a level where we have a sizable amount in savings. This was mostly in part to us getting MANY past due accounts caught back up.

We had out HOA annual meeting 2 nights ago. I was not surprised when one table was more than vocal (they were actually the only ones) because the 2 couples had something in common...we had to sue them to get them to pay their dues. They came at me left and right during the open discussion but we kept them in line, as did a number of other home owners who were tired of hearing them ramble on.

Now, one of those home owners is saying they want to be on the board. We know she is doing this for all the wrong reasons. She does not want to contribute...she wants to tears things apart. None of us on the board think she would contribute anything positive but I am unclear as to how we can block her from consideration. Our bylaws state that any home owner that is in good standing (current on dues) can apply to be a board member but there are no stated qualifications. It would be up to the home owners to vote the person onto the board but many are unaware of the hostile interactions she has had with us. All they would see is a name on the ballot. Thankfully, she failed to apply to the board for this last meeting so we have a full year before we have to deal with her again. Any thoughts?

Interesting side note. Our bylaws state:

Section 2. Application for Membership. Applications for membership to the Board of Directors shall be made in the manner prescribed by the Membership Committee, where so directed by a resolution of the Board of Directors. Applications must be requested no later than October 31st and must be submitted no later than November 30th in the year prior to following year’s annual meeting. Honorary memberships shall be determined under terms and conditions as specified by resolution of the Board of Directors.

But there is no membership committee nor are there any qualifications listed. Can we create a Membership Committee and they outline our own qualifications? For example, I would think it is fair to disqualify someone from applying if they have been sued by the HOA within the past 2-3 years (just an example) or to someone who has displayed financial irresponsibility in dealing with the board. This particular person was 3 years behind so we setup a pay arrangement. Before making their first payment, they got pissed off at us and sent an email stating they intend to move out of the subdivision. It was a bluff but we took them at their word, filed a suit and they paid their entire balance right after the sheriff process served them.

? What to do about bad prospective Presidents of the United States of America ?

or Senators

or Representatives

or Councilmen

?

If y'all vote 'em in, y'all live with their actions

? simplistic ?

yes

? accurate ?

yes

Here is a concept out of your own playbook... Let them run and be elected if they win. As long as they meet the requirements to be on the board of being in good standing. Why? Simply because your eyes were opened up when you got on the board wasn't it? Seems to me let them see the other side of the room. The reflection changes...

The democratic process does not give two hoots about what you think. It is not up to you or anyone else to "allow" members who are otherwise eligible for election to run.

All you can do is to encourage others to run against them.

You come up with a reason to not allow others to run, soon they'll cook up a reason to disallow you.

No.

But you do have to allow them run for the position. It is up to the owners to decide who will represent them on the board. Democracy is a bitch but it is also the reason why history books do not discuss the administration of President Ralph Nader. People are pretty good at rejecting those who are totally whacko.

Well said.

I agree that you're ahed of yourself, Gregg. But your current Board could try to amend your bylaws to add some qualifications that you can live with. You can, for instance, add one that a states if director becomes delinquent by more than XX days, they may no longer serve.

You also might want to add one (discussed on a different thread) prohibiting co-owners from serving simultaneously so that two deadbeats from the same household can't serve.

But this depends in part how difficult it is to amend your bylaws & whether it's worth the expense. Probably cheaper just to campaign against her. Or, if she should be elected, remember she's only one vote.

One important ingredient is to ALWAYS have replacements in the wings ready if needed.

You don't leave this to chance and HOPE things turn out your way. If the result is important enough to you than the effort required needs to be whatever is necessary.

Have not lost and election yet either to get someone on, get someone off, or prevent someone from holding office. In 29 years having removed board presidents, treasurer, VPs, MCs, lawyers, and service providers. Last undesirable got 3 votes. This should be a continuos process keeping the owners informed about your positives and their negatives. Time to get started.

It takes 51% of owners here to amend bylaws. We tried in '12, but failed. I did learn at that time that the bylaws should not only state qualifications to be a candidate, but qualifications to STAY on the Board. Thus my samples above. Another common one is an attendance requirement whereby a directors is removed if s/he misses three regular meetings in a row without Board intervention.

(yes, this doesn't help when directors NEVER miss, but are unproductive.)

I do think it's a little better to forbid co-owners--period--to seek election; we do have a handful here who own more than one condo. As discussed elsewhere, though, if yours is a community with few owners willing to serve, that restriction might be too strong.

One way to groom future directors is to have a strong committee structure as a pipeline. Our three new directors all came up thru committees and two of them learned a lot in those roles.