Board meeting of homeowners assoc.

Started by EvelynG1 • 13 replies • 666 views

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EvelynG1 (Missouri)
Posts: 1

Posted:

Our President of the homeowners assoc. will not call a board meeting to discuss needed items. He has been asked 3 times by various board members/officers. He refuses. My question is can other board members/officers call and conduct the board meeting? There is a majority of the board members/officers that want this meeting. I do not know what the Missouri (where we live) statues say about this??

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

No, the question is: why in the help hasn't the rest of the board outscored this man and scheduled the bloody meeting! This is ONE board member with only one vote. He's not God.

If you're on the board, you and your colleagues need to grow a spine and do your job. If the president throws a bossy fit, let him. Hold the meeting without him. Better yet, if your board voted for officers from among themselves, the rest can remove him and appoint someone else. You won't be able to remove him from the board itself - that's up to the homeowners.

If you aren't a board member, get some neighbors together who feel the same as you and check your documents to see what you need to do to call a special meeting to discuss the board's conduct. It may be time for a recall - and that may mean all the board members need to be shown the door. Get to work and good luck!

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

Are you on the board, Evelyn? Whether you are or not, read your bylaws which'll probably say who may call a board meeting. It might be any officer or two directors or ??? This varies. Your bylaws also should say how often there must be board meetings. Quarterly? But if you need them more often, call a special meeting of the board -- who ever the bylaws state can call the meeting. You may have to give x days notice before you hold the meeting. Who cares if th prez doesn't attend so long as you have a quorum of directors (usually a majority) you may conduct the business of your HOA.

If your bylaws are silent, MO corporations codes will tell you who may call a meeting of the board assuming you're a corporation.

I agree with Sheila--why aren't any board members standing up to this clown?? Why don't they vote him out of the office of prez?!

Say, what size is your HOA? do you have a property mgr?

I also wonder if there's some confusion about officers and directors.

PatJ1 (North Carolina)
Posts: 568

Posted:

Think of the President of your HOA as the Senate Majority Leader. They decide what issues will be addressed in your HOA. Don’t like it? Vote them off the Board at the next Annual Meeting or get the support needed from membership to remove them with the tools outlined in the governing documents.

They can only be removed by fellow Board members if they were appointed. If elected, it takes a membership vote to do so either at the Annual Meeting or by a member called Special Meeting.

PatJ1 (North Carolina)
Posts: 568

Posted:

I should add that the role of President is voted on by the Board. The Board is elected by the membership. Just in case there's a question.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

Glad you clarified that, Pat. Board ember may certainly kick the prez out of that office though he'd still be on the board IF the owners elected him to the board.

And also, it's not the case in every HOA that only the president decides on what's on the agenda. In ours, for instance, any director or owner in good standing can place an item on the agenda so long as it's 15 days before the next board meeting, submitted on a specific form, and includes background materials, like photos, drawings, or citations of text.

I'm not a Robert's Rules expert, but for those boards that follow Robert's Rules, I believe that the board as a whole decides on the agenda.

RichardP13 (California)
Posts: 3,868

Posted:

That is the best analogy of what a person can do to move things forward and vote on issue. There is nothing in law that says you actually have a right in getting your agenda on the agenda.

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

Also suggest you read your bylaws thoroughly. Ours say that one of the Vice President's duties is to act when the President cannot or **will not** act. So our VP could call a meeting if the President refuses to.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

Sorry, Richard, your last post isn't clear to me. "...getting your agenda on the agenda?"

Of course there's no law that says an owner or a director who's not the prez must have their items on an agenda. There's no law either, so far as I know, that says the prez alone chooses & sets the board meeting agenda.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

I am of the belief that during a BOD Meeting any BOD member can make a motion to add something to the agenda and if the BOD votes in favor of the motion, it is added.

MarkW18
Posts: 1,290

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By KerryL1 on 08/10/2019 10:30 AM
Sorry, Richard, your last post isn't clear to me. "...getting your agenda on the agenda?"

Of course there's no law that says an owner or a director who's not the prez must have their items on an agenda. There's no law either, so far as I know, that says the prez alone chooses & sets the board meeting agenda.

The United States currently has a Senate Majority Leader that is doing the very same thing. To be fair, the previous one was also guilty of allowing items to be placed on an agenda and voted on. If they can legally do it, why can't a plain and simple HOA not follow suit.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

We've had some great ideas from homeowners that they placed on open meeting agendas.

Owners must submit their agenda item 15 days before the meeting. See my above.

More, in CA, no item may be placed on a agenda AT the meeting (as apparently is OK in JohnC's SC). In CA, open board meeting agendas must be posted in a "public" space 4 days before the meeting. this helps owners decide if they want to attend the meeting. AT open meetings only something like an emergency could be added to the agenda.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MarkW18 on 08/10/2019 12:31 PM
The United States currently has a Senate Majority Leader that is doing the very same thing. To be fair, the previous one was also guilty of allowing items to be placed on an agenda and voted on. If they can legally do it, why can't a plain and simple HOA not follow suit.

Because a corporation is not governed by the same rules that govern the US legislative branch.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By KerryL1 on 08/10/2019 12:50 PM
More, in CA, no item may be placed on a agenda AT the meeting (as apparently is OK in JohnC's SC). In CA, open board meeting agendas must be posted in a "public" space 4 days before the meeting. this helps owners decide if they want to attend the meeting. AT open meetings only something like an emergency could be added to the agenda.

In a Florida condominium association nothing may be discussed that's not on the pre-posted agenda (with the exception of an emergency of some sort). Due to a legislative gaffe, that is not true for a homeowners association. My HOA used to post agendas 7 days in advance (even though not required) because it was a good idea. The idea was to, as you say, let owners decide whether they wanted to attend the meeting.

Lately, though, the board does not publish board meeting agendas in advance. It's not a good situation. But it's not illegal, either, as the Florida legislature has graciously seen fit to allow.

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