Recalling Board Member

Hi from Florida again. (Please only respond if in Florida.) We need clarification of the State Statutes. We've received TWO "interpretations" to this topic. We understand that if we are to recall a board member that it is an affirmative vote of 50% = 1. A simple majority. BUT ( here is where the confusion comes in.) Is it a majority of the ENTIRE membership....or is it a majority of ONLY those who cast a vote/send in a proxy? We have 46 members, so a majority of the membership would be 23 + 1 (or 24). But if it is only 50% of those who voted, then ten people could vote----and if six of those people said "yes" to a recall then it would pass. That is question # 1.

Question #2: Is it true (IN FLORIDA) that if the majority (50%+1) people sign a recall PETITION, then a formal recall is not necessary, as the necessary signatures have already been obtained?

Thanks everyone, again. You're always very helpful.

Anna:

I know you only wanted Florida resients to answer however a majority is a majority in NJ, NC or FL. It would be a majority of the membership.

Linda: This is from the Florida Statues:

10) RECALL OF DIRECTORS.--

(a)1. Regardless of any provision to the contrary contained in the governing documents, subject to the provisions of s. 720.307 regarding transition of association control, any member of the board of directors may be recalled and removed from office with or without cause by a majority of the total voting interests.

The Florida Statutes ALWAYS take precedence over your documents if they clash.

Barbara K

Hello Anna,
In my opinion…
I believe the state statute says "majority of the total voting interests" because in the next paragraph it says that only those members who are entitled to elect a board member may vote to recall them. If everyone in your neighborhood is entitled to vote, then in that case it would be a majority of the entire membership. That is probably one vote per lot in most associations.
I am not sure about the "written agreement" mentioned in the state statute, but it sounds to me that a correctly executed petition would qualify. Make sure the petition is properly worded and properly documented with both written and signed names, etc.
In any case, the board can refuse to certify the written agreement in which case you will have to file for mediation. However, the state statute is interesting here in that it says the mediator decides whether to certify the petition and the board must comply with the decision. Usually a mediator does not make a binding decision but instead makes recommendations until both parties agree.
As long as you have a valid, properly executed petition it should be a cinch that a mediator will certify the results.
I noticed the statute says the written agreement must also list names of those who are willing to serve in place of the recalled member. I am guessing this is so a majority cannot recall an entire board and end up leaderless.
Make sure you comply with every detail in the statute so a mediator can make an easy decision if it goes that far.
Not a lawyer,
Kevin

Do you have any one willing to take over the job? Seriously, you have to look at what you may be getting if you remove the "Family" in charge now. There may not be enough people to volunteer to do the job. Are you willing to do it? What prevents someone from removing you if you do takeover? What's stopping the homeowners from removing you from office if your the one "going against the grain"? I have to play "devil's advocate" here. There's always more to the story than presented.

Many want to "recall" their board. However, it takes almost a good year for a board to even get established and learn the rules. The second year is typically when things show up as problems or solutions. You can't tell a bad board a month after election directly. There are NO professional HOA board members or members. It's who ever is willing to do the job.

You may want to adjust your thinking a bit. Maybe look at the issues from a different angle. If your being out voted, then there's something to that. Majority rules in a HOA. You may have the minority opinion right or wrong as it may be. Just realize everything is subjective and of opinion in a HOA. Things will change or stay the same. Just ride the course before deciding to rock the boat and row the boat to shore on your own.

Are you serious? A Professional homeowner? I hope your just kidding... However, if your not joking you may want to think about that a bit... Are you a professional homeowner? Are you willing to pay someone to move in the neighborhood and run it for you? and you pay for it?

There are no "They" or "Them" in a HOA. It's you and your neighbors. If you want professional help, then there are outside sources for that. It's of course paid for out of the HOA funds. Which the HOA funds are ONLY from Homeowners for homeowners. The board's function is to reflect the majority vote or consesus and make that happen.

Example: If the members/homeowners want the streets painted "Red". The board's response is to vote on this idea after it's presented by the owners. The board votes and decides that's what the members want. The board then must decide on the contractor needed for the job, assign money from the budget, and/or levy a special assessment to cover the costs of this project. The project then gets done by the contractor and paid for out of the HOA's funds. NOW the board and the members have "Red Streets". The maintenance and care is still the HOA's.

Now, I know painting your streets "Red" is dumb and insane. It's just an example of how the board is supposed to handle such requests if they want them done. They can always vote it down and say that's not a good idea to do with the HOA funds. (Which in this case they would be right.) However, having said this, you still have to deal with the majority of homeowner's who wanted this done and didn't get their way. Guess what their reaction is going to be? You guessed it...Remove the board!!! Maybe the board was making a smart rational decision with the HOA funds. It doesn't matter because the majority of homeonwer's didn't get their way.

Someone being responsible for their actions is called an "Adult" not a professional!

To tap into Brad's response... read, read, and read again your governing documents to assure that you follow this process to exact criteria required. Anything short of this, is reason for a challenge from the board-member, or anyone from the community.

On the "professional homeowner" sub-thread - everyone who lives/owns in a community (HOA or not) is a professional homeowner. If you want someone (presumably other than the board), to run your community, hire a professional management company, and direct (and allow) them to act as a board on decisions impacting your community, your funds, and your lifestyle.

... but remember, you still gotta get a majority of the votes to get this on the budget.. smile.

NEGATIVE:

Who would volunteer to serve without pay? A Professional or Certified person would certainly want $$$$ to serve.

POSITIVE:

Issues handled professionally, expedited, Minutes accurate, financials to the penny...oh the list could go on and on.

John and Gloria, our past experience with three companies has been that they collect their fees and collect the dues but just about anything else is a bother to them. They rarely returned phone calls and most of the time did things wrong requiring us to redo it ourselves. It is easy to say that management company will make everything better but that is assuming a lot.

As I read thru the replies to this post in particular I guess in hindsight our HOA is actually blessed that we have the management that we do..... Ours is comprised of a management commitee that over sees the Manager we have in our employ.... Not only is he our Manager but he is also a neighbor...He has served as the manager here for 10 years and has done a GREAT job..After hours and on weekends those who sit on the management commitee serve as duty managers ...
I now regularly attend all management meetings that are held every Monday a.m. at the early bird hour of 8 a.m. It seems the more we actually get the "neighbors" involved in the entire process the more our community has seemed to come together this past year... Even our BOD has lost the "pompeous" attitude, which may be attributed to the active participation of all us out here... It's nice to go to the management meetings and not have ANY COMPLAINTS to deal with....So needless to say these meetings are over in a flash....
This past Monday we even made mention that in the past 8 months or so the meetings are quicker than in years past and when asked why it seems to be the general concensus that we all are starting to live in harmony... WOW what a concept...all working together for a common good...... To get to this goal was not an easy process , but with due diligence and hard work it was achieved,,, It's an ongoing process but it's nice to see that people actually want to work together..............Not to say we are not without problems but they are workable problems where people actually want to sit and discuss a solution... To date our biggest problem is trying to get folks to pay their monthly assessments in a timely manner.... This month we had to dip into reserves to make payroll.... In a polite way this issue will be discussed at Sundays BOD meeting... Well heres hoping that maybe someday all HOA'S can learn to live in a harmonious way and realize truly how short life is and to spend it bickering is fruitless and non productive....LindaC