Dysfunctional Board

This will be a first for the books I have no doubt! To begin, we are a very large HOA, we have nearly 2,000 homeowners here, these are detached homes, and we have a LOT of common area, parks, pools, tennis courts, etc. to maintain. We have/had a seven member board. Three of those seven resigned last August, including both the President and the Treasurer. Two of the remaining four board members wanted to appoint new directors, the other two disagreed with their choices, what a surprise eh? The VP then took over as "acting President", even though there is no such position listed in our CC&R's/By-Laws, empowered by both our legal firm and the property management company, who, obviously, just want to make sure they get paid. Two of the remaining four board members literally walked out of the August meeting and refused to return, one of those two is the so called Acting President, along with his side kick. The other two board members, who, obviously couldn't continue the meeting without "quorum", then called an "Emergency" meeting, for the following month, after posting to the membership. The property management company refused to acknowledge that meeting and literally locked them OUT of our own offices, so they were forced to go to the library at the last minute, pay for a room, to hold said emergency meeting. Neither the property management company, nor the other two board members would attend, although many homeowners did.

This has been the situation for the last five months now. The "acting" President is signing all checks, which the legal firm is more than happy to accept, as well as requiring them to appear at "executive" session meetings, which don't take place due to the other two board members refusing to attend. The legal firm is charging $350.00 per HOUR by the way, with only their "acting" President bringing them in AND making sure they get paid.

We've had several "town hall" meetings, which are presided by the management company, law firm, and the two board members who are basically in bed with them. They are doing many negative things in our HOA now, specifically to make it appear that the two who refuse t attend these meetings are now at fault. Its totally incorrect, but many homeowners are clueless, lets face reality.

Bottom line - I told the attorney for the board back in September that the only way rectify this situation at this point was by "clearing the board" and having a full election for seven members. They have made literally NO MOVE towards this whatsoever, and are basically causing much harm and damage to our association now. Our "usual" election takes place in December/January, we had many people turn in applications for board membership, myself included, months ago, and yet they're just sitting on them now.

We were told by the "acting" President at one of the so called "town hall" style meetings in December that this entire matter would be going to court, he said they were filing the first week of January, and he would let homeowners know what was happening via email. No such action occurred, and we've heard nothing since. I believe that would also be a "conflict of interest" for the legal firm as they would be billing our HOA LOTS for doing that, with whose permission? Obviously, that so called "Acting" President!

Ok, I think I've mentioned all pertinent facts now, hopefully. If you have questions, ask, if you have suggestions, I'd LOVE to hear them! We literally have NO IDEA what to do at this point, dysfunctional board, and self serving management and legal firms in charge. Thank you for any suggestions. I know we probably need a good lawyer, but as homeowners yourselves, I'm sure you understand the difficulties there, we are PAYING the corrupt law firm via our HOA dues, already, to fight us! We can't afford to pay both sides of the case! HELP!

Petition the appropriate court to appoint a receiver.

Said receiver will be paid by the ENTIRE MEMBERSHIP who will have NO SAY WHAT-SO-EVER

until

the court is shown the HOA's corporate ability to PROPERLY function 'on its own' w/o said appointed receiver.

Your ACTUAL 3 choices:

fuh-ged-bout-it and simply live your life

sell and move along

spend big bucks and MUCH time and effort to correct situation

Personally, I would sell and move to ANY location w/o a HOA or deed restrictions.

CAVEAT EMPTOR

Thanks for the suggestions Kerry! We have looked at our bylaws etc., the problem is the management company and the two corrupt board members are violating a lot of them. In order to facilitate a recall effort we have to be able to access all the homeowners, we aren't able to do that, the management company refuses to give us those records and refuses to allow us to utilize our own office, which we pay for, including the board room, I was just threatened with arrest yesterday, by the so called "Acting" President, if I tried to bring a group in to have a meeting there! The guys an ex-cop by the way and a crooked one obviously. We called an emergency meeting back in August as I stated, management company locked the offices up, and it had to take place at the library, we only got about 35 people or so showing up there, far less than whats needed for a recall, and the two corrupt board members refused to even show up, so no quorum. We don't have a president, not legally, at this point, and we sure don't want the one parading as such to be given any more power than he's already grabbed!

Its looking more and more as if we need to go to court to get this settled, but as you state, very very expensive, and we would be paying both sides! The current law firm will represent the two corrupted board members and the PM company, they've sided with them from the beginning in order to continue to get paid, obvious conflict of interest in my opinion.

We have close to 2,000 homes here, and little to no way to contact all those people, many rent their homes out and may even live out of state. Extremely frustrating to say the least! Yes, moving is an option but at my age I don't know where or how, and frankly, that's not solving the legal issues here.

Any further suggestions you may have, when you have a little more time, would be GREATLY appreciated!

Tough love here but if you could only generate 35 out of 2,000 (1.75%) owners, could it be you are a small majority that should be ignored? Like can we assume 1.75% of your neighbors are "freaks" that we should not let control?

Well John, if we are the "freaks", then long may the freaks reign! No, seriously, typically in an HOA you have a majority of homeowners who are totally obvlivious to issues that are going on, why? because they don't show up! The only line of communication is coming from the PM company, and if you've been reading along, you know they are corrupted. I refuse to allow corruption to control my HOA, does that make me a "freak"? I don't think so, it makes me unusual though, I 'm somebody who cares for justice, truth and integrity and willing to fight for it.

Actually Augustin, I served on this board for two years, I'm well acquainted with our By-laws and CC&R's. They're being violated now, but what recourse do we have is my point? Elections are held annually, in January, that didn't happen this year, they're also supposed to form an "election committee" 100 days prior to the election, that didn't happen, we also vote by the "Delegate" system, we have no current delegates, its a seven member board as I originally stated, we currently have four board members, one may end up off the board next month when her term is up, not sure, since we haven't had an election. Quorum is a "majority" of board members - so typically that would be four, but now due to the fact that we only have four board members, quorum would be three. I've read the Davis Stirling act, and not finding a solution to this, as I stated originally, this is a totally unique situation I have no doubt. We have been sending quotes of by-laws to management as well as the two corrupt board members, they ignore them. Last night I receive a very threatening letter from the corrupt board member who thinks he's now President, with the blessings of the management company and law firm of course, stating that he would have me arrested for trespassing if I attempted to have a meeting of homeowners at our own office which WE pay for! This guys an ex cop by the way, and a nasty piece of goods believe me, but to the casual observer, typical homeowner, he comes across as a "real nice guy"! Typical. He is the fox guarding the hen house. I can KNOW all the laws on earth, but the point is they are NOT following them! So what can we the homeowners DO about it?

Update as of today: Apparently the one "rogue" Director who appears to control the board, the management company, and law firm, has just put out information to the HOA, stating that the law firm has filed for an "ex parte" hearing to be held March 27th. This was done without full "board" approval, of course, but the "rogue" who calls himself "Acting" President has stated that he alone controls everything now. I think the guys NUTS myself, probably a sociopath, also an ex-cop, control freak. Sending them anything at this time is pointless, they wont acknowledge anything we request, let alone demand. The "demand letter" would be a good idea normally, but at this point with whats happening, won't make the slightest difference I don't believe. He in no uncertain terms, stated he would have me arrested for "trespassing" if I brought a group of homeowners to our own offices, to meet, and discuss these issues, he said he alone controls, and pays for, the offices where our PM company is now.

Linda, if you have to take these folks to court, then the judge will expect that at least two letters of demand have been sent. You must mail them certified mail to both the HOA management and the HOA attorney.

If there has been some kind of filing in court, get to the courthouse and get a copy of what was filed. Report back.

Hi Sue, Well as far as what I thought was going to be the process - I assumed it would be the one outlines in our By-laws, silly me! The four remaining board members should have appointed positions amongst themselves and then appointed three new board members - none of that happened. We dont' have "boilerplate" bylaws, they're very specific and they state that the VP may "take over" as you say, when the current President is "absent", our President isn't "absent", we have none, he resigned, therefore I believe absent and non-existent are two different things. If you are "absent" from work, it doesn't mean you aren't returning and you've resigned does it? There ya go. Legal point? You betcha, but a critical one, we're fighting a control freak at this point, whom the management and legal firm have stated IS the "acting" President, in my opinion, merely to keep the checks flowing to themselves. Conflict of interest? You betcha! Hence, we are now heading to court in March. Yes, of course, all of the above have way too much power, that's the problem.

Augustine & Richard give really helpful responses, I think, Linda. I can see that Richard has a lot of experience in this area.

Demand letters were sent, just found out from one of the board members.

Linda,

We found all the information I was looking for. I am in the Ontario area. I used to play a lot of golf in the area and used to own a timeshare at Lawrence Welk.

The information on the Secretary of State site is before you had the turnover, so it's not current. Your management company is quoted as a "new kind of property management company". I kinda like the old fashion ones that manage ONLY HOA's. They do hotel management, real estate broker and of course association management. I looked at their Yelp. Being in this, you have one thing to do and it shouldn't be rocket science to realize that customer service is the only thing you provide.

You can get access to email addresses, but it would involve going to court. There is a court that fits your scenario to a tee, WORLDMARK, THE CLUB v. WYNDHAM RESORT DEVELOPMENT CORP.

The initial mailing is more like $4000.00 not $1000.00, BUT there may be a way to fund this. First someone like to review your governing documents to lay out a plan. If you like to take this offline, my email address is [email protected]. Others can help as they see fit.

JohnC46, You'll have to follow along the entire post to know what I'm responding to I guess, tired of repeating myself.

You can go small claims court to get street addresses. I think your HOA's problem is serious enough that several of you can deliver directly to the owner-occupied homes. I also think it's serious enough that several of you should chip in to mail your letter USpS to the rest.

This is exactly what a small group us in my 200+ high rise are doing. We're delivering under doors to all residents, and we're sending US mail to b absentee owners. I strongly believe the board is making a $1m mistake. I didn't seek reelection in Oct. so that I'd be off the board and be able to publicly work against this proposed project. While on eat board, one is supposed to go with the board majority, which I did even though via silence.

The main problem is the $1m was decided and mentioned only at one board meting, when it was approved last may, so is only in that set of minutes. If owners did not attend that meeting, maybe 15 were there, and don't read the open meeting minutes, which few do, many have no idea what's in the works. In addition, the board has not voted on how to pay for this. About 25% of our owners are absentee.

I'm not sure what you're questioning here George or who "John" is and why you're asking his opinion? Yes, I am tired of repeating the story actually, is that unacceptable to you?

As I stated twice above, mailing just a couple sheets letter out to homeowners would cost us minimally $1,000.00, so that's not an option, and as Augustin was stating should probably contain more, like proxies and probably return envelopes also. We have nearly 2,000 homes here.

Hi LindaM30, thank you for the update. Try looking up a summary of the court record to date, for a small fee, at:
https://ecomm1.riverside.courts.ca.gov/

I would call the court. Eventually you should get a court clerk, likely paid to help members of the public exactly like you, who can explain all the ways to view what is going on with this lawsuit.

I am pondering who exactly the plaintiff is. The HOA, on instruction from either the two corrupt board members or the two honest board members? The plaintiff cannot be the law firm. The law firm only represents some party.

Or maybe this is a legal action filed in court to enforce the rules regarding HOAs and corporations? The HOA (via the attorneys' filing) is seeking what is called "injunctive relief" to protect itself from legal challenges subsequently? On instruction from two or more board members?

As far as whom the court will favor for running the association, and from several HOA attorneys I have worked with over the years: The courts will follow the governing documents as much as possible. Which means the courts will favor members running the association, and not an outside entity such as the PM and the law firm.

RoyalP - I've BEEN on the board previously, not afraid a bit of doing so again if elected. No, not "married" to existing contracts with vendors, always can open for bid, no contractors have a contract that gives them a certain amount of time, for example a year, most contracts are month to month now. You just have to get good people in there, which we don't have now! We have corruption on the board right now actually, but if you'd been reading the post you'd know that wouldn't you? Thanks for your "thoughts"!

Linda,

Is it your intent to offend those trying to help?

If you treat those on your board in this manner, it is not surprising things aren’t going well for you.

Further, your continuing use of the word “corrupt” to describe others who are doing things you disagree with, may end up costing you a lot of money.

I find you resistant to help.

I’m out.

no problemo

i take as well as i give

the key is: i was on the board

? perhaps at the start of the 'mess' ?

geno,

you seem surprised

i am not

I didn't see that "posting rule" and I could care less whether they're "delighted" or not frankly. Not sure why it concerns you though. If you have nothing constructive to add to this post may I suggest you find something constructive to do elsewhere?

Nope Royal, I wasn't on the board at the "start of the mess", again why are you here, just to slam me and argue?! I bet you're the one violating rules here, not me. Buh bye.

You, obviously, haven't read all my posts here and are merely here to slam me and point blame where none exists, stop violating the rules here and wasting my time.

Well, gee, Royal, why didn't I just think of that?! MOVING! Solution to all the problems of the 1,967 homeowners here! I didn't join this site for that information.