being on the BOD via power of attorney

Giving Sam a POA doesn't make him an owner - So he won't qualify.

POA is like a proxy. It gives B the right to act on A's behalf.

But most state's HOA statutes won't allow a DIRECTOR to vote by proxy under any circumstances.

So don't understand why Sam thinks that he can create a DIRECTOR'S right to act by proxy from his sister.

Sister could add Sam to title on her property which would make him eligible, but without ownership, not legit IMO.

I'm far from an expert on quitclaim deeds, and this may vary by state, so take this with a grain of salt. My understanding of a quitclaim deed is that someone grants whatever interest they have in a property to another, without any guarantee that the title is clear. I did some searches on my county property appraiser web site and found a variety of properties that had ownership changes via quitclaim deed. Over half of my small sample were cases where there had been two owners and after the quitclaim only one of the owners was listed, this is the case listed above. These might be because of divorce, death, and other relationship breakups, but there is nothing to say for sure. On the other hand, there were a significant number where the new owner listed was a different party than the conveying owners. In quite a few cases, one of the parties was a corporation or trust, I don't know if that is significant. In any case, after the quitclaim deed, the new owner shows up on the property appraiser site as the owner, and that would be enough for us to consider someone a member of the HOA. That person may not have clear enough title to get title insurance or a mortgage, but they are the owner of record as far as we are concerned.

No such prohibition on quitclaim deeds in many Eastern states.

Of course, title insurance won't be available.

If it's not prohibited, then I suspect that you should revise your statement that it's not a conveyance. If the grantor had rights, those get conveyed. If not, no.

But getting back to the OP's issue, here are my thoughts:

1. Each unit owner is entitled to vote and to sit on the board;

2. If there's only one person who claims these rights and her name is on the deed, then a quitclaim deed is good enough for us;

3. If more than one person claims the right to vote and sit, we'd look to the state statute on multiple people claiming voting rights for guidance.

My point is that I don't think we have the right or responsibility to decide the "quality" of the deed.

I would apply the same thinking if the deed was in the name of a corporation or trust, but no individual names on the deed. We have statutes saying that even though an individual's name is not on that deed, an individual can vote when there's corporate/trust ownership - so I figure that person can also serve on the board. When that person steps forward to vote or be elected, our board would accept a piece of paper (maybe as little as a letterhead and a signature that we have no way to verify) saying that she has the voting/sitting rights. We aren't going to dig into trust or corporate documents to validate the request - and especially not if only one person is stepping forward for that particular unit.

ARS 33-402 describes four deed types. One may convey, convey and warrant, mortgage, or quitclaim. There is no quitclaim deed of conveyance set forth in the statutes.