Does a management company make the role of HOA officers insignifcant?

I live in a small community of less than 50 homes. We are managed by a professional property management company along with five Board members elected by the homeowners. Our By Laws clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each officer elected to the Board. The President recently resigned, but there has been no communication from anyone about which Board members are taking on new roles, if any. I asked the Property Management Company to clarify the new roles of the Board members based on the resignation, and I was told that when a community is managed by a property management company, the roles of the Board members become insignificant so it's unimportant. They added that the roles and responsibilities defined in the By Laws apply only if a community is self-managed without a property management company. Is this true, and if so, could someone help explain this? Thank you.

Arva,

Welcome to the forum.

The answer to your question will actually depend on the individuals who serve on the Board and in the Officer positions. The Officers are always responsible and accountable for the duties outlined within the Bylaws or State statutes. However, the actual execution of those duties can be delegated to an MC, PM or independent contractor (bookkeeper for example).

Some individuals will associate responsibility of the task/duty to whomever is performing the task/duty. However, that would be inappropriate. The responsibility of making sure the task is done correctly belongs to the Officer assigned that task. Unfortunately, some Officers will shirk their responsibility and not take the time to verify that a task is being done properly once it's assigned to an MC, PM, etc.

I expect, since everyone is human, that some MC, PM or contractors may feel slighted and offended if an Officer of the corporation checked their work (or simply asked to check their work). Therefore, a relationship of respect and understanding needs to be built between both parties so they can work together to accomplish the tasks assigned to both of them.

Sometimes when individuals trust but fail to verify things occur that wouldn't occur if the checks and balances were in place.

As far as the resignation, that is simple. As outlined within (I expect) your Bylaws, when the president resigns or is unavailable, the VP performs those duties until the Board appoints someone to fill that office.

As for your PMs comment, my personal opinion is that someone needs to set that PM down and have a meeting so the PM understands that they work for the Board and not the other way around.

Welcome to the forum, Arva.

Are you on the Board? It sounds like you are not.

To find out more about what duties are delegated to the Mgmt. Co. (MC) or Prop. Mgr (PM), read your contract with that firm. Also take another look at your Bylaws, which may state that the Board can delegate a lot duties to the PM. Is you PM on your premises full-time?

Why didn't the Board select a new President, by the way?

Our HOA is a complicated high rise twin towers so we do have a full-time PM, who has a Mgr. Assistant. The board president, per our contract with the MC is the Board liaison with the PM. In other words, all four officers do not interact with our PM constantly. When the monthly financials come to our PM, she meets with the treasurer and they discuss any anomalies. As secretary, I don't write meeting notes at our Board meetings, the managers do. I do not check every communication with Owners or residents, but do, working with our PM, help compose significant communication.

But to say the role of theBoard is "insignificant" is overstated. After all, the board still makes all of the decisions about policy matters in our HOA, and choosing contracts, etc.

Are there particular duties in your Bylaws that concern you Arva?

So there's no PM onsite at all, right?

Still I believe your state laws give Owners the right to get a copy of the contract with the MC. You probably have to request it i writing.

Does the Board have board meetings that'r open to owners? That way, you can ask at a meeting what th plans are for a new president.

Thanks, everyone, for taking time to respond. You've helped a lot and have given me some great suggestions. I'm glad this forum is available.