How to get rid of your HOA?

We have the property manager from hell.constantly lies and threatens homeowners with property liens. HELP.

This is a MC issue. Just find a new MC. Don't see why you can't go searching for some and have them submit a bid to the HOA. Don't like something you do the work to change it. You have the power to get a vote from your fellow members to replace the board, have them vote for you to be on the board, or submit a bid for a new MC. Want someone else to do this for you? Your then part of the problem.

Threatening liens should not be a threat but a promise. You don't pay your dues, by golly I am going to tell you the same. Why am I going to support someone not paying their dues? My dues goes up and so does everyone else's. So why be so upset over a lien threat?

The only way you can get a lien is not paying your fees or an assessment. If you are not paying, the PM should give notification and lien, no threats just do it.
No sympathy here for sure!!

To answer your question on how to get rid of an Association, the process can be easy or difficult depending on the amount and type of common elements/property involved.

Basically (very basically), the membership must decide that this is something they want to do.
The Board must then sell or transfer control of the common areas and common elements.
Example: See if the city will take care of the roads and sidewalks, remove or donate the playgrounds to make them public parks, sell common area to members to expand their property, etc.
The membership must then amend the governing documents to remove any services the Association is providing (trash, electric for street lights, etc.). Some of these may be easy, some harder.
The reserve funds of the Association must then be addressed (refunded to membership or goes with the amenity).
The membership must then vote to abolish the corporation and file appropriate paperwork with the State.
The membership must then again amend the governing documents to abolish the Association.

Once this is done, each member will have to arrange for their own trash service. Since the deed restrictions will still be valid, members will have to enforce these on their own through the courts. With amenities becoming public (or potentially private), members will potentially have to deal with the extra traffic as the surrounding neighbors utilize the new public facilities. If the facilities became private entities (pools for example) those who were using them will have to join the private entity to continue to use them.

All of this said, if your Association is a Condominium development, it is highly unlikely that you can get rid of the Association. If the Association owns the streets and the city/County won't take them, it is highly unlikely that the Association can be abolished.

Often, deals have to made with citys, like the formation of a special tax district, to have them take the amenities. If this occurs, your property taxes will increase.

Hope this helps,

Tim

I want to validate your statements regarding the likely illegality of what is happening at your HOA. Unfortunately nationwide, this is common. Any competent real estate attorney will tell you that the most efficient way to improve things is to get a critical mass of members together and run for the board, issuing letters of demand if needed and in the extreme, taking the HOA to court. It will probably take at least two years of draining battle. Do you have this kind of time to spare? Or would it be less expensive to you to move? I am on the board of my HOA. But I cannot say I praise the model at all. I bet sometime in the next 20 years there will be many more avenues for relief that are not so time intensive. I bet in the next 20 years the rules for transparency will become much more demanding on boards, as they should be. But 20 years is a long time.

That would likely be what the governing documents specify as the required quorum.
As Bill said, take the time to read your governing documents to see if that is correct.

Applicable statutes will typically state that despite their term being over, the elected Director remains in office until a new one is elected or appointed. Expecting this to be correct, the process you described sounds like compliance with governing docs and statutes.

Prior to the next election, gather proxies and encourage others to attend. This way, there may be enough lots represented to hold elections.

A little clarification, please Debra:

Is it the PM you want to get rid of?

Or the Board president?

Or the entire Board?

Are you on the Board? Do you attend Board meetings?

Btw, in CA and I assume in FL too, only the Board can lien a property with its vote at a meeting. The president cannot do that on his own, nor can the PM.

Your PM was probably correct in stating that an election could not take place if the annual meeting did not have a quorum of 30% of the members present in person or by proxy. If your own governing documents reflect a lower percentage requirement then that would prevail. Here is what FL statute 720.306 says
"(1) QUORUM; AMENDMENTS.—
(a) Unless a lower number is provided in the bylaws, the percentage of voting interests required to constitute a quorum at a meeting of the members shall be 30 percent of the total voting interests. Unless otherwise provided in this chapter or in the articles of incorporation or bylaws, decisions that require a vote of the members must be made by the concurrence of at least a majority of the voting interests present, in person or by proxy, at a meeting at which a quorum has been attained."
I am assuming you are in an HOA, not a condominium which has other requirements.
It would be helpful if you would tell us which it is.

My community would like to get rid of the PM and the president. The president runs the entire HOA. The assigned PM says nothing to correct the president..the other board members tries to reason with the president and the president argues with them to the point where the president decision is the final decision. I have attended meetings and witness this type of behavior. The board has approved members request and later the president places stipulations to the request..just needs help to rid our community of such dictatorship.

It all seems to come down to your perception of what is happening. It doesn't necessarily mean there is something wrong. The board is participating and making decisions. You made it seem like it was ONLY the President and the PM doing everything. You sound like an outside observer who is projecting your perceptions onto the situation. It may not be reality.

Nothing so far has swayed my opinion that the PM and/or President is doing such horrible job. What I have observed is that you want them to act in a certain way or they are doing wrong. If your board is discussing the issues, then it leads me to believe that the President isn't a dictator. They may just be adding details or clarification to that group decision.

Can't judge every decision they are making. However, that's not my job or yours. Your job is if you don't like it, then take action to make the change. Run for the board or gather enough votes to change out the board. Those are your options.

Well said.

I said, "Why are they allowing this dictator to stay in office?", not "Why are they allowing this director to stay in office?"