Annual Meeting this Week

You will do fine. You have been out here and seen our opinions on certain subjects, read your documents, and know your rights. You always know if you have a question or concern to ask ... and we will all try to help. It might surprise you

If Tim is right, Carl, you might learn the extent t which Owners in your HOA do or do not care about appearances in your HOA.

But what's on the agenda? Is the membership voting for board members? How many openings & how many on the board? Is there any competition for the open spots? Have any candidates been campaigning?

We have one member up for reelection based on someone who is stepping down (recent widower,selling and moving). The budget will get a review as I'm sure happens every time. There are some new parking rules being considered as well. This concerns me the most as I don't like the idea of someone telling me who or what I can park on my own property. Of course this speaks to my general distaste for this form of government as a whole. What do property rights even mean when a third party can dictate so much of my life under such the ever present threat of foreclosure.

Carl, in Texas you cannot be foreclosed upon for failure to pay compliance violation fines. Any outstanding amounts due the Association will be collected at closing should you sell your property. Should you refinance your property, amounts owed the Association will be reported to the title company or (new) mortgage company when the statement of account is requested.

Of course if you do not pay your mortgage holder they can and probably will foreclose. Failure to pay regular association assessments can also lead to foreclosure but HOAs are generally advised against doing so by counsel unless there are very extreme circumstances.

At our recent annual meeting (112 standalone patio homes) the main questions were: Replacing shrubbery/trees and the answer was with identical only otherwise permission will be needed. Parking in general with no over night street parking allowed and only weakly enforced. Parking non-allowed vehicles such as boats, trailers, etc. Trash barrels left out days after collection. Amazingly no dog poop issues which always came up at past meetings. I believe the reason was the biggest poop complainer has moved.

One lengthy question session concerning installing a basketball hoop which is clearly not allowed by the Covenants. Issue was discussed with one said wanting to allow and a few saying follow the Covenants. Permission was requested and granted to allow portable basketball hoops in one's driveway only with no street play.

Year end financials were presented with no questions. New budget presented with only one question about reserves and that was getting interest on it. 4 people ran for 3 open (3 of 5) BOD spots.

Except for the basketball hoop ruling which a few were not happy with, it was a rather boring meeting.

You can NOT be foreclosed on for anything but NOT paying your dues in a HOA PERIOD. Now liens are a bit more complicated. Liens can be put on for unpaid dues or unpaid violation corrections (Special cases). The unpaid violation correction are those "Special cases" which an owner is non-compliant, refuses to become compliant, HOA pays for the correction, and the owner refuses to pay that bill. These special cases are so very rare don't know of any HOA who has even done this option. They usually fine or sue instead.

Most of the time these horror stories of HOA foreclosures 9 times out of 10 is the owner's own fault. They aren't all innocent victims who did not play a role in their own foreclosure situation. It's just best to make it sound like the big bad meanie HOA is to blame. The owner did not pay their dues to the HOA because of "Protest" of something that slighted them. What action should the HOA take when they aren't being paid dues? What action do you take when someone owes you a debt and doesn't pay it? The SAME action. You go to court and take something away that satisfies the debt. In the case of the HOA, it's your home.

There's an outside chance that you are going to learn that the acronym HOA actually stands for "the people that live in your neighborhood, including you", and you may even like those people!

I am sure we will like some of those people, but the HOA is another matter.

Thank you, Tim for correcting Melissa. What worries me about some of her sweeping answers is that they might give incorrect information for some readers here who're new and would have no idea how to follow up.

Meantime, can we stick with Carl's original subject?

It seemed a little unusual that there is only one vacant seat on the board and that's due to a resignation. Most Boards seem to serve staggered terms where there potentially would be open seats every year. Remind us Carl. What do you Bylaws say about how many directors you should have and how long their terms are?

Interesting, thanks, Tim. So that means that some years every director could be new to the Board. I'd think it'd be beneficial to have a mix of vets for continuity and new board members for fresh ideas.

Anyhoo, I'm wondering about Carl's Board.

We don't have staggered terms and out of a five member board, I don't think we've ever had more than two new members elected, mostly because they chose not to run again. Rarely has an incumbent member who has run lost their seat.

I'm curious too about Carl's board. His earlier post seems to equate seats being up for election with a director stepping down. Seats should be up for election for any board member whose term has expired. Only one seat being open suggests either a 5 member board with 3 year staggered terms, or a 3 member board with 2 or 3 year terms.

Sort of like enlisting in the military. You grant them the power.

Sorry last bit here should read... "for more than three days' time" I sure wish we had an edit button. This MB software strikes me as very old.

Say, Carl, an you remind us how many homes are in your HOA? How old is it?

When you write that "in theory" there are staggered terms, what, exactly do your bylaws say? How long is one term?

It's very common to have to beg homeowners to run for the Board, so I'm not sure "oligarch" is the right word.

Yes, 10 years without a reserves study is waaaay too long. Does TX have any laws that say they must occur more often? Do you have many amenities like swimming pools, tennis courts, clubhouse, or??

In CA, new rules have to be sent out to Owners for a 30-day comment period before final board approval. Do your governing docs have any such rules? Or does TX?

From what I've read on this site, 3 days limit in driveways is pretty common, btw. But a sudden rule change such as you say occurred doesn't seem quite right. One complaint at one meeting? Or maybe this has been an ongoing concern among quite a few?

You barely know these people, so why call them oligarchs? Someone could say you continue to be pissed off because you’re in a HOA so it won't matter what they say or do. You said in earlier posts you live here because your wife really liked the house - if you're still pissed that she won the coin flip or whatever you did to go along with the decision to buy, take it up with her

I agree that changeover in a HOA is a good thing if only to prevent burnout of really good people, but did it ever occur to you that maybe they’re still there because they’re GOOD at what they do? That doesn’t mean they won’t make mistakes – I agree with Tim that the parking rule seems to be more of a selective enforcement issue and you'll find out soon enough if people rebel against it. On the other hand, it may be they're doing the job year after year because no one else wants it. Now that you're a resident, you can spend a little time observing and then decide if you’d like to offer your services or at least join an advisory committee to get some insight on why decisions are being made.

You might want to start with the budget committee, if there is one, because I agree 10 years is too long to go without a reserve study. Most recommend intervals of 3-5 years, so there’s an idea you might want to push – at least see if they can get one done next year.

In sum, it would appear the meeting didn’t have the fireworks you might have expected – I can’t tell if you’re relieved or a little disappointed. You ended with “I did not see any immediate threats to me, my family, or the neighborhood from our HOA so I chalk that up as good enough for now. The challenge in the long term is to maintain vigilance on them.”

It’s really not that difficult - be a good neighbor, read the board meeting minutes, attend a few meetings once in a while along with the annual meeting and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Above all, get to know these people and – you seem to be letting your dislike of HOAs get in the way of giving your neighbors a chance to show what they’re about. That can bite both ways – do you want wifey to be known as the really nice lady with a (fill in the blank) for a husband because you keep looking for something to pounce on? Give them a chance to get to know you – you may find you really like the people, even the ones on the board.

PS – should you run into a conflict, you might want to like your wife take the lead in resolving them, as she seems to have a better relationship with the neighbors or at least isn’t as judgmental.

LOL ... My same response ... SHOW me where the governing documents are being violated. MOST of the time they cannot show you and the issue dies.

Congrats!!

Thank you George for the correction on Az law.

assuming: fee simple stand alone homes

any such restriction MUST be in the actual Covenants and Restrictions (as an actual restriction on the property)

to amend the CCRs would require a 'plurality' (generally 2/3) of the TOTAL membership voting AYE

their rule 'apparently' is as porous as their brains

again, assuming: fee simple stand alone homes

The terms are staggered so not every board member is up for election every year.

"Section 5.1 Terms of Office, The Directors shall serve staggered three (3) year terms. At the expiration of the initial term of office of each respective Director, his/her successor shall be elected to serve a term of three (3) years. The Directors shall hold office until their successors have been elected and hold their first meeting."

The "in theory" bit was meant to explain the fact that for at least the last three cycles the BOD members have run unopposed so they may as well not be staggered at all. It's all the same people over and over. The unusual thing this year was person who took the place of the resignee will simply finish out the term of the person that left in the interest of preserving the timeline.

Sorry my question wasn't clearer, Carl. Do your bylaws say that there must be an annual meeting of the members (Owners) and the purpose of the meeting? Usually it'd be to elect a board of directors.

If your bylaws don't say something like that and your HOA is incorporated, TX corporations code does most likely will tell you when elections must be held.

But, as noted above, in some HOAs it's very difficult to persuade Owners to be on the Board. Is there a Finance or Budget Committee that might be looking into your lack of a current reserves study?

Say, does your HOA have a property mgr.?

Darn that no edit ... should be "die hards" and not "die hands" ... LOL

So, since you must have an annual meeting, doesn't a ballot go out to Owners to vote for directors? And there's a space for write-ins? I'm not saying that all HOAs must send out ballots if there aren't enough volunteers to be directors. But doesn't your property mgr. (PM) send out a memo calling for candidates a few weeks before the annual meeting & election?

By the way, Your PM, if accessible, i.e., onsite full or part time, should be able to answer your questions about why it's been too long since you've had a reserves study. Even if not on your premises at all, you should be able to email the PM with that question.

I have our annual meeting tonight. We have one open seat, however, no one has stepped up to run for it. The current board member did not submit paperwork (which happened 3 years ago when they were up for reelection). I had to nominate from the floor and the board appointed at the Annual Meeting.

I will need to see if anyone nominates from the floor, but they usually don't.

Can the appointment be postponed until a Special Meeting of the remaining board members meet and decide on the appointment or does it have to be decided tonight?

Our bylaws do not specify and I will be checking with our board attorney who attends the annual meeting.

John is right, but assuming notice requirements are met the BOD can have a meeting immediately following the member meeting. We do that if there is pressing business that needs to be addressed following the election.

Then would the board member who term expires not on the board until if and when reappointed by the remaining board members? or are they involved in the process of appointment?