Past Due Board Member

Started by SamE2 • 4 replies • 751 views

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SamE2 (New Jersey)
Posts: 310

Posted:

We are in New Jersey and have a board member that is past due with his dues and assessments. We want to protect our interests so we get the money when he sells the unit. I am on the Board and would like to discuss the situation with the three other Board members and leave him out of the discussion. Can I do this or does he have to agree to recuse himself. My goal of the discussion would be for us to agree to hire an attorney and have an agreement drawn up stating he owes us the money and we will get it when the unit sells.

MarkM19 (Texas)
Posts: 1,459

Posted:

Sam,
You can have any conversation you want with a board member anytime. I would start by speaking privately to each one and see if they support your case. You will need them in the end to move forward anyways. Also I do not understand why you would hire a lawyer to go after this one person. Do you have a collections process in place? If not why not?

DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,046

Posted:

In most states the association would file a lien against the property with the county. This puts potential buyers on notice that there are outstanding assessments. You can certainly get an attorney to help if you want to make sure it's done correctly? Do you have any other properties late? If so, they should all be treated equally. In that case, rather than appearing to pick on the board member, you would be dealing in generalities. Even if the board member is the only one late, you could bring up the topic as defining a late policy including liening. Many associations use 6 or 12 months as their trigger, or a certain dollar amount.

Again, you want a general policy to follow, not an action against a specific owner.

Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.

SueW6 (Michigan)
Posts: 814

Posted:

Sam - most Boards have a requirement that board members be members "in good standing."

If this board member is past due enough for the association to put a lien on his unit, then he is certainly not in good standing. But you may have steps listed in your bylaws that outline how a member gets a "past due" status even before that drastic step.

Motion to remove this person from the board. Your bylaws tell you how. Call a special meeting if necessary. Hopefully, this person would quietly resign before it got to that.

RoyalP
Posts: 1,104

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By DouglasK1 on 11/06/2018 10:38 AM
In most states the association would file a lien against the property with the county. This puts potential buyers on notice that there are outstanding assessments. You can certainly get an attorney to help if you want to make sure it's done correctly? Do you have any other properties late? If so, they should all be treated equally. In that case, rather than appearing to pick on the board member, you would be dealing in generalities. Even if the board member is the only one late, you could bring up the topic as defining a late policy including liening. Many associations use 6 or 12 months as their trigger, or a certain dollar amount.

Again, you want a general policy to follow, not an action against a specific owner.

PERFECT

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