Texas - Any recourse?

Okay,

So, we have a very contentious PoA meeting coming up.

There are 59 lots/tracts. We are in a rinky-dink county surrounded by rinky-dink counties.. so do not fall into the "2.8 million population county" aspect.

Our PoA was created for the sole purpose of maintaining roads within the ranch area, which are private easements.

In 2011, we voted 42-4 to raise the per acre annual fees from $1.00 to $1.50 per year. We removed the $300 per owner cap, and we specified that all persons paid.

Now, each year after that, for 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, we reiterated it in the annual meetings and we again held a vote for the sheer fact to make sure folks were all on the same page.

In that time (we bought our place in 2011), the "board members" felt that "being on the board" meant you could be involved.. i.e. you did not hear from a board member unless it was at the annual meeting. I tried to get on the board and kept being stalled because no-one had any idea what they were doing and thus, until I got everyone talking on a forum I myself made, no-one had any clue that anyone was doing anything wrong. People were getting told different things and losing interest thinking they were alone in their "fight".. and me.. I was the "ring leader" in their mind (the board).. so I got the worst of it... constant harassment, neighbors would suddenly stop emailing me for no apparent reason, then I would find out they had been "talked to"..

I stuck it out.

Now, this coming Saturday... it is all coming to a head as my wife got on the board because they like her.. and after 2 years of being there, she got access to the checking account and found out there was some sort of "vote" by a past board that the people that were on the county road, who did not use the internal road system, were not being billed the annual fee. Even THEY did not know why they were not getting billed.

Also, the two guys that own the most tracts / the most votes, only paid $300 each for the past 5 years, even though they owed $1400+ and even though 6 other people have been paying over $300 a year, including our uncle who owns three tracts.

So.. we are going to have a vote for a new President. I am running. I have like 12-15 votes I can guarantee.. and need to swap the rest.

Not sure what will happen.. but.. my question:

If I do not get it... the same people are on the board...

Other than me footing the bill, what the heck recourse does one person have? They have lied for years when giving the financial statement at the annual meeting, they opted to charge some people less (imo to garner their votes)...and to not bill others at all.

This is not a lot of money, but it is almost 9k dollars we could use.

When I asked about it, they called me a power monger and a money grabber..

I am not sure what else to do if we cannot get the rest of the votes. The road going to my ranch is so bad, we have to take like 8 bags of quickrete each time we go out to make sure we can get in and get out of the ranch.

Sorry for whining.. I just can't afford an expensive lawyer... but these people.. what they are doing is wrong.

Thank you all for any ideas...

JRB

lol!

Well, my thoughts exactly

I am hanging out till after this weekend. We may have the votes to enact change. If we do, great.. if not, I am sticking around long enough to help the ones that need help getting electricity to make sure they do not get charged for it.. then I am putting my place up for sale. (if I sell the property, the new owners may elect to charge them for an easement to the poles we have or not give them access)

There are 59 lots so 59 votes. If my research is correct, then those not paid up in dues do not get a vote (since we are not in a county of 2.8 million or adjacent to one).. and since this is a geographically associated area formed for the sole purpose of maintaining the roads).. thus, the code that says they can still vote even if not paid should not apply.

If that is the case, then we have the votes right now.

If they do what it seems they are doing which is adding a 3rd person to the mix because they do not like me OR the current president, then they split the vote three ways, and I still have the votes needed.

If all that fails, I will look at the remaining people and, honestly.. we DO have the funds to fight it, just not sure I give a rat's back end about it at that point as too many will have known it was going on and not cared so.. I sell ;)

Was just curious if there was a clause that said if we showed gross negligence or something, they would be barred from at the very least being ON the board.

Thanks, btw.. heh.. made me chuckle ;)

R

Thanks guys.. well, I am done. we have never seen so many proxies. The powers that be called every single owner and got 29 votes to my 18.. and kept the board.

The other people hated me more than they hated the problems.. so, nothing I can do. Of course, they do not know me, only know what they were told, but it is a moot issue now.

I'll just sell the ranch and they can have it.

Thank you for the help guys.

R

Very sad. Sorry it didn't work out.