Out of control HOA President - options?

Hello,

I'm fairly new to this, and need some guidance on my options. My community is newer development that still has some construction. The HOA had always been the developer, until completion of the subdivision. This past spring, the number of unbuilt, vacant lots fell below the threshold for the developer to retain control on the HOA. The members forced an election, and we voted in a new board. I am a board member, and am currently vice president. There is also a president, and a secretary/treasurer.

The problem I'm having is our president is a little bit out of control. He hasn't listened to reason, and I've run out of options to reel him in. Unfortunately, the secretary/treasurer is also a bit of the same mindset, so I am often out voted. I'd be fine with this, if what I was getting out voted on wasn't a violation of our bylaws (see below). I am hoping for some advice on what I can do, officially, to try to regain control of the situation.

Here are a couple of examples. President has decided to make himself the beautification police. Some people in our neighborhood have put latice up around their decks to keep animals out. There is nothing preventing this in our bylaws. However, the President has deemed this "ugly", and is sending letters to offending owners to remove. To make things worse, things that are prohibited in our bylaws are being ignored. We have a neighbor who has built a shed on his property. We received multiple complaints from his neighbors. When we went to talk to him, he lied to our face and said he had written approval from the developer when they were the HOA board to do this. I called the developer who quickly denied this was the case, and said the opposite was true - they had to tell him regularly that he was not approved to put up a shed. However, instead of sending notice that the shed must be removed, the President has decided that, since he thinks it looks nice, we should ignore it.

As you can see, this will quickly become problematic. I feel like I have to do something to get this under control, but I don't understand enough about HOAs to know how can you remove a board member who is not following his roles and responsibilities.

Thank you for reading.

How many on the board? I gather just 3 of you. Is that the number required per your governing documents?

Are you legally a site condominium development, or just houses in a subdivision. Houses in a sub and site condos look the same. It's how the development was incorporated.
If you're a condo association, google Michigan Condominium Act for some good reading on how you're legally bound beyond your documents.

And how many units in the association?

For those non-violations that have been issued, those people are certainly entitled to a hearing before the board. Inform them of such, and inform the president of such. Fortunately, "I don't like it" is not a valid regulation. Getting those people interacting with the board is probably a good start.

Aside from knowing the regulations and being able to cite them to the others on the board, there's little you can do directly. Recalling them is potentially an option if you can get support from the general membership and follow the rules to do so.

So, Kate, Dave also from Mich., seems to know the laws there and if meet the criteria that h mentions, it sounds like the Board must invite alleged violators to hearings as in CA. There probably are more rules too like how many days' notice prior to a hearing, etc.

This is a problem that many small boards fall prey to: the Board thinks it has to DO everything, instead of making sure things get done.

With a 3 member board, no ONE should be out there speaking for the Board.

Insist that a COMMITTEE be set up to deal with code restrictions/violations, and follow rules and regulations as stated in your bylaws. That might take your President out of the picture.

You don't say you are a condo association - or are you a HOA that represents a subdivision?

Private roads?

I wish I had some guidance for you but I am hoping to gain some insight from the responses you are getting. I am on the board of a small (10 units)condo assoc. I also am dealing with a rogue president. So far none of the responses have helped. Our president refuses to have board meetings, which she would be the chairman of, and only holds an annual meeting where she tells what she has done, if she wants it known. She states she understands rules and requirements but that she has a right to ignore the governing documents and operate this way because she can go to everyone and ask them what they think before she acts. Trouble is she only goes to her friends which only amounts to 50% of the membership. Even if she had a majority in her corner it would take 75% in order to amend our by-laws. The other officers and board members are apathetic and are willing to go along with anything she does or says so long as they don't have to step up to the plate. I have decided to withhold my fees until the ethical and legal complications of how she is governing are resolved. I'm taking the stance that she has abandoned the governing documents. If anyone has a better solution I would like to hear it. I don't intend to ignore the situation and watch my ownership rights continue to erode.

CORRECTED:

What, Nancy, do your bylaws say about electing directors? About electing officers? Are you telling us the the prez is not a director?

If your bylaws are silent, check NC's corporations codes assuming you're incorporated.

You have a 3 member board.

Per your docs, the Board elects the officers - The vote of the owners means nothing.

All you need is one other person to remove her from being the prez.

If neither of you is willing to be prez, then you're stuck with the one you got.

Hate to sound callous, but if you're not willing to replace her yourself or find someone who'll step up, then having a lousy prez is on you.

First I want to apologize to KateS1 for hijacking her post.

Our bylaws do allow any director to call a meeting.

The bylaws state all of the powers and duties of the Association are to be exercised by the Board. The President is given general powers, including the power to appoint committees. Knowing that the President is intentionally violating the governing documents makes the liability issue a big concern to me, especially since the Association dropped The Employee Dishonesty and Business Income portion of our policy in 2014 in order to lower costs.

I guess I've got to decide if I'm willing to go to court. Wouldn't I (an owner)be suing myself (a board member)?

Thank you to all who replied. I got some excellent advice and suggestions.

Good advice from BobD.

Thanks everyone who replied. I got pulled out of town unexpectedly and was not able to read and respond, but appreciate all the insight.

And no worries, Nancy, for hijacking the thread. Sorry you are going through this too.

For my problem, a little bit more detail:

We are a 3 person board. The president and I are just at the beginning of a 2 year term. The third member (secretary/treasurer) will end his term in April. The builder still has the ability to veto decisions until the community has completed. The secretary/treasurer seems to be firmly on the side of the President in such matters, so it seems my best recourse is to get the builder on my side.

We are a subdivision of ~300 single family homes. In Michigan, it's still considered a "condo", because of how the developer divided up the land. So we have what seems to be very boilerplate bylaws that refer to "condos", "units", etc. Our bylaws are horrible. They are 5th or 6th generation copies that have been scanned in, so no easy way to search them. Page numbering and font changes several times in the document, so I assume they were several documents from other communities mashed together. But for my purposes, it makes it very difficult to reference something quickly. What I have found is, as others have stated, anyone receiving a violation has the right to a board meeting to discuss/defend/whatever. I'm thinking that's the best play right now is to make that known. If the neighborhood sees the president's behavior up front and personal, that may help get a groundswell to help remove him (if that's an option, I cannot tell from our mess of bylaws). Worst case, the developer can veto any fines/violations that are levied, so I can pursue that option as well.

Thanks again everyone for all your help. I really wish people like my president were as level headed as everyone on this forum is. I ran for the board because I believe it is possible to improve the community without being overbearing. Not everyone is on the same page as me, however

I am new to this too, what are MC's and PM's?

See if your State requires your CCR's to be documented through the County Court House, where your HOA is located. If so, you can go down and copy the original documents, submitted by the original builder. That's how I got mine. Just as you stated, our copy was copied so many times, they were very hard to follow and pages were out of order.

PM = property manager (either an independent contractor or simply the representative of the Management Company)

MC = Management Company