HectorR (Florida)
Posts: 84
Posts: 84
Posted:
Good morning everyone, I was on the board of directors for three years and resigned in 2018 for many reasons. The board president, vice president and secretary ( the presidents wife ) did not like me because as treasure i was questioning everything and doing my job correctly by making sure we were doing the right thing.
In the beginning of 2018 we has several meetings regarding our property management company, the president stated that they were not performing to our standards, but I did not agree. When I requested my documents I got them, when I asked the management company to take action on certain things I saw they got right to it. The several meetings were regarding the lawn company not performing.The reality of the problem was that the president was also an employee of the management company and he was skating on thin ice for insubordination which was brought to my attention as well to the rest of the board members by the property manager.
Shortly after the board president called an emergency meeting with the HOA attorney and the rest of the board members, on the conference call the president stated that the purpose of the conference call is to have board members approve and terminate the property management company and hire a new company that he an the HOA attorney has looked into and can provide the same service at a reduced cost. I asked the president to please tell us the real reason why he wants to terminate and he did not want to state why, he just simply stated that they are charging too much. I asked if I can ask the management company to give us a discount and he refused. I did mention that we have been with the management company for over 10 years with no problems why all of a sudden now. The president continued to raise his voice asking me why do i keep insisting to keep them around and it became an argument.At this point everyone except myself decided to move foward and terminate the contract. The very next day, i sent a letter to the board and stepped down from the board. I had all my reasons why and it was not because i wanted it my way its because there were so many things that were unjustified and I was alone and the rest of the board members did what ever the president said.
5 days later after the letter was sent to the property management company by the HOA attorney advising that the contract has been terminated, the property manager terminated the presidents employment. 15 days later, we get a letter from the previous management company attorney that we did not give the management company time to correct their mistakes and make things right and the contract states we can terminate with a 90 day notice not 30 days. The attorney of the management company is requesting that we reinstate the contract or pay what is owed.
Our HOA attorney called me to ask me if I have any emails of discussions of when i had asked the management company to fix or correct certain problems in the community. I said yes,he asked if i can foward those emails to him, and I did. He then asked me if i had a copy of the contract, i said no, I only have a copy of the maintenance personel contract. Some how or another our HOA attorney kept asking me for emails after emails to the point where it became stressful. I gave him every piece of email dating back from 2016-2018. I finally called him and told him that I had nothing more to give him because he was making me feel like I had something to hide. He got to the point where he asked me to turn over my personal computer and mobile device so he can scan them. I got very angry and wrote back and told him that I was done with sending him any more emails and if this continued, i was going to file charges and take them to civil court. I never from him again.
Fast foward to 2020, word gets around that our board president and his wife are moving out of our community making 2 seats available to get on the board. I wrote a letter to the bard of directors indicating that I would like to serve on the board as a director once the positions becomes available. I mentioned to the board that I have a background in technology, I served as a spoke person with certain companies which I have worked for and I'm a people person. A week goes by and the HOA attorney is asking me to call him regarding my request to get back on the board. I emailed him and asked how can I help him. He stated that he wants to see proof of qualifications, I respectfully wrote back to him and mentioned to him that the only qualifications that our governing documents require to serve on the board is as follows:
Must be a home owner, must be update with dues and must live in the community.
1- I'm a home owner ( and my home is paid off)
2- I live in the community
3- And I pay my dues a year in advance.
And in addition, I explain to him that this is a boards decision and not an attorneys decision, Mr. attorney you are not a board member. I did not hear from him anymore or from the board.
3 months go by and here we are having a budget meeting, once the meeting was coming to an end I asked the vice president if they received my letter requesting to get back on the board once the two seats become vacant. The vice president told me ( and I have this recorded, I did mention to the board that I was recording the meeting) That because I'm not cooperating with the attorney by turning over my computer or mobile devices, they all have agreed that I not qualified to get on the board. Wow..I said to the vice president that the board can not do that, that is not grounds for dis-qualification and that's blackmail and possible discrimination..he said it neither. I said thank you for answer and good night and I walked away feeling miserable angry and upset.
So here is my situation on how i fell and its really bothering me and I hope that some one can point me in the right direction and I hope what I wrote above makes sense.
I have complied with the attorney and I will not turn over my personal belongings unless there is a court order from a judge. The board and attorney are treating me like i'm some sort of criminal. If the attorney whom is legal council made a mistake by not reading the contract, how is that my fault. I feel like they are turning the tables and making me feel like I'm to blame for the attorneys mistake.
What can do?
Thank you.
In the beginning of 2018 we has several meetings regarding our property management company, the president stated that they were not performing to our standards, but I did not agree. When I requested my documents I got them, when I asked the management company to take action on certain things I saw they got right to it. The several meetings were regarding the lawn company not performing.The reality of the problem was that the president was also an employee of the management company and he was skating on thin ice for insubordination which was brought to my attention as well to the rest of the board members by the property manager.
Shortly after the board president called an emergency meeting with the HOA attorney and the rest of the board members, on the conference call the president stated that the purpose of the conference call is to have board members approve and terminate the property management company and hire a new company that he an the HOA attorney has looked into and can provide the same service at a reduced cost. I asked the president to please tell us the real reason why he wants to terminate and he did not want to state why, he just simply stated that they are charging too much. I asked if I can ask the management company to give us a discount and he refused. I did mention that we have been with the management company for over 10 years with no problems why all of a sudden now. The president continued to raise his voice asking me why do i keep insisting to keep them around and it became an argument.At this point everyone except myself decided to move foward and terminate the contract. The very next day, i sent a letter to the board and stepped down from the board. I had all my reasons why and it was not because i wanted it my way its because there were so many things that were unjustified and I was alone and the rest of the board members did what ever the president said.
5 days later after the letter was sent to the property management company by the HOA attorney advising that the contract has been terminated, the property manager terminated the presidents employment. 15 days later, we get a letter from the previous management company attorney that we did not give the management company time to correct their mistakes and make things right and the contract states we can terminate with a 90 day notice not 30 days. The attorney of the management company is requesting that we reinstate the contract or pay what is owed.
Our HOA attorney called me to ask me if I have any emails of discussions of when i had asked the management company to fix or correct certain problems in the community. I said yes,he asked if i can foward those emails to him, and I did. He then asked me if i had a copy of the contract, i said no, I only have a copy of the maintenance personel contract. Some how or another our HOA attorney kept asking me for emails after emails to the point where it became stressful. I gave him every piece of email dating back from 2016-2018. I finally called him and told him that I had nothing more to give him because he was making me feel like I had something to hide. He got to the point where he asked me to turn over my personal computer and mobile device so he can scan them. I got very angry and wrote back and told him that I was done with sending him any more emails and if this continued, i was going to file charges and take them to civil court. I never from him again.
Fast foward to 2020, word gets around that our board president and his wife are moving out of our community making 2 seats available to get on the board. I wrote a letter to the bard of directors indicating that I would like to serve on the board as a director once the positions becomes available. I mentioned to the board that I have a background in technology, I served as a spoke person with certain companies which I have worked for and I'm a people person. A week goes by and the HOA attorney is asking me to call him regarding my request to get back on the board. I emailed him and asked how can I help him. He stated that he wants to see proof of qualifications, I respectfully wrote back to him and mentioned to him that the only qualifications that our governing documents require to serve on the board is as follows:
Must be a home owner, must be update with dues and must live in the community.
1- I'm a home owner ( and my home is paid off)
2- I live in the community
3- And I pay my dues a year in advance.
And in addition, I explain to him that this is a boards decision and not an attorneys decision, Mr. attorney you are not a board member. I did not hear from him anymore or from the board.
3 months go by and here we are having a budget meeting, once the meeting was coming to an end I asked the vice president if they received my letter requesting to get back on the board once the two seats become vacant. The vice president told me ( and I have this recorded, I did mention to the board that I was recording the meeting) That because I'm not cooperating with the attorney by turning over my computer or mobile devices, they all have agreed that I not qualified to get on the board. Wow..I said to the vice president that the board can not do that, that is not grounds for dis-qualification and that's blackmail and possible discrimination..he said it neither. I said thank you for answer and good night and I walked away feeling miserable angry and upset.
So here is my situation on how i fell and its really bothering me and I hope that some one can point me in the right direction and I hope what I wrote above makes sense.
I have complied with the attorney and I will not turn over my personal belongings unless there is a court order from a judge. The board and attorney are treating me like i'm some sort of criminal. If the attorney whom is legal council made a mistake by not reading the contract, how is that my fault. I feel like they are turning the tables and making me feel like I'm to blame for the attorneys mistake.
What can do?
Thank you.