Voting proxies

Hector

Nothing wrong with people going door to door to collect proxies. One can sign several proxies but the latest dated one is the one that counts. Meaning someone could have signed a proxy to someone going door to door but if they submit the proxy coming in the mail, it would be the latest and valid one.

HectorR,

-- Do you live in a HOA or a condominium? Florida law distinguishes between the two.

-- If you live in a HOA, has the board been complying with Florida statute 720.3033? See http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0720/Sections/0720.3033.html . I think Florida's condominium statute says similar. I think you will like these statutes.

-- Do not delete the email exchange you had with the MC about the proxies.

-- Send a letter to your HOA board stating the following:

-- The covenants on proxies appear to have been violated.

-- The HOA appears to have violated the covenant on who is eligible to be HOA president.

-- You think that the case law would say that HOA resources may not be used to campaign for one candidate or another. So you believe the maintenance staff going around soliciting proxies that support specific candidates may be a violation of the law.

-- Ask the board to remedy all this and please respond by 'three business days from today.'

-- Document thoroughly that you wrote the Board about this.

-- If there is no response and the (apparently unlawful) election takes place, report back to hoatalk.

-- Do you have a group of people, who see things like you do, running for the board?

-- The alternative to going through this process is to go to court to seek injunctive relief. But I think you ought to resign from the board before you go to court. Getting up to speed on the law and mechanics of filing in court is a challenge for a layperson. You will probably need an attorney. I will try to check on the chances of the court ordering the HOA to pay your attorney's fees.

-- From experience here at hoatalk and where I am, getting a competent board that follows the governing documents will probably be a multi-year battle. If apathy is entrenched where you are, then it is probably a losing battle. Apathy often does rule the day at HOAs and condos.

We use proxies in the way John described, although we send ours to homeowners 30 days in advance before our annual meeting. It sounds like yours were sent about 2 weeks prior, so if your documents require more advance notice, I’d bring that up along with the citation in your documents regarding the president’s eligibility. You should also look for something in the documents on paying board members and/or officers – if it’s clearly stated no one is to be paid (ours has such a provision), you will need to point that out as well, because it appears either the president (and attorney) or you is wrong.

I also have an issue with maintenance staff being used to collect proxies - they’re paid by the association, so it doesn’t pass my smell test because it reeks of a conflict of interest (but maybe that’s just me.) If board members or other homeowners want to go out and collect them, that’s fine, as long as the signatures are valid and signed by people who are eligible to vote.

I don’t know who came up with the idea to use the maintenance workers, but if you can prove the president was behind it, that’s another reason to vote him off the board or fire him (he is being paid by the association, so that makes him an employee). If the property manager went along with this stunt, that should conclude his/her working for the association – if this is a property management company, it’s time to get his/her superiors involved because I’m sure they don’t want to lose the association’s business over unethical behavior.

Now, to do all this, you will need the homeowners behind you because they can vote you and everyone else in or out. If you haven’t already done so, you need to start walking around the community and encouraging everyone to attend, especially the people who were contacted by the maintenance department. As John said, if they returned a proxy, but show up to the meeting, their proxies will be cancelled and they can vote in person. At the meeting, be prepared to bare your soul about all of this and let the fireworks commence.

Augustin’s suggestion about going to court is valid, but I would take it as a last resort – better for lots and lots of homeowners to find out what's been happening, rise up and vote the rascals out. But he’s also correct about apathy – every time I hear about rouge board members (one or several) and/or property managers, attorneys and the rest, it’s usually happening because everyone sits around and allow it to happen because they don’t know, won’t listen or ask questions, and certainly don’t give a flying you-know-what.

Whether you go to court or not, understand things may get uglier before it gets resolve and some people will blame everything on you, even if you’re right. No one said change was easy or happen overnight, and sometimes there are sacrifices – you’ll have to decide if you’re willing to make them. Good luck!