New prospective board members (relatives)

We are looking to fill two spots on the board out of the 5 board member spots. We have interviewed some folks so far and noticed that one person who came to the interview was the father of someone already on the board. This father has his own home in the same community as does the son.

Now, my question would be, is it unethical to have 2 relatives on the board? The father is perfectly qualified for the role. The president made the comment that perception will further hurt the board if we have two relatives on the board. Contrary to that, since the father is a homeowner he is legally allowed to run for the board position as well.

Need some advice on this topic. Will perception kill the board or is this a non-issue?

IF they are owners then they qualify related or not. Don't see a problem. Even family members can have a difference of opinion.

I'm with MelissaP1 here. If both are owners then both are eligible to be on the board. Now if father & son lived in the same house it might be a different story, even though that's technically not illegal depending on what your documents say. Some associations that have a perennial problem getting enough board members do allow multiple owners from the same home to be directors. This case is different since both own homes. Watch out for appearances of conflicts of interest, though. If other owners don't like it then they're free to step up and run themselves at the next election.

It's true that if both relatives own their own home and are current with assessments, they're eligible to serve on the board. It's also true that some people may not like the optics, even if they likely have their own opinion.

Here's an interesting approach - why not ask the candidates what THEY think about the issue and how they would handle potential conflicts of interests or homeowners who would object to a parent and child serving on the board? Their responses could give you some insight as to what to do - or one might drop out and leave the other to serve. If the latter occurs, I hope you find a way to keep the other relative involved, perhaps serve on an advisory committee because it's absolutely true that volunteers of any stripe are hard to find these days.

There will always be some people who can find some aspect of the optics they don't like. In our association there is a main street that is a circle, and a side street ending in a cul de sac. About 75% of the homes are on the circle, and 25% on the side street. Four out of five board members live on the side street, and in general the side street has been over-represented on the board since turnover almost 20 years ago. Occasionally this will be brought up at annual meetings or informal conversation, but has never been a major issue.

In the OP's case, if the relatives are appointed, the membership should have a chance to weigh in at the next election and make a change if they see fit. If I were on that board and the relatives were the best candidates, I'd vote for them both. Who's to say they'll agree on everything. My wife and I don't even always agree how to cast our single owner vote, so other relatives will not always march in lockstep.