No Elected HOA Board

Greetings -
About 18 months ago a couple of residents decided to revive the HOA. There was no meeting to Elect Board members *per our by-laws there should be an annual meeting to do so* Now the self-appointed officers have decided to double our annual dues. Our Covenants state that only the Board of Directors can raise the annual fees. I am embarrassed to share that I have yet to attend one of their HOA meetings, it seems that there are usually only 6 people in attendance. (we are a small community of about 90 homes). As a shareholder, the by-laws state that I can request an Annual Meeting where an election can take place. We are supposed to have at least 3 board directors and then the directors appoint a President, Secretary & Treasurer. The current President states that they have been acting as the board since no homeowner seem interested.

After I requested the annual meeting,the response was "We will put it on the agenda for the next HOA meeting." This is not until March 20, 2020. Our by-laws state that once a request has been made, it must happen within 60 days of the request or the homeowner can go to court to request it take place.

Any advice on how to deal with this? The group running the HOA is not following the by-laws, I am also trying to figure out what our by-laws mean by the "quorum" votes. Can someone help me understand each of the sections below? They have been "voting" on various things at the HOA meetings, so not sure if only 6 people present is a quorum?

Quorum and Required Vote
16. A minimum of 51 percent of the shares entitled to vote, present in person or represented
by proxy, will constitute a quorum entitled to take action at a meeting of Shareholders.

17. In all matters other than the election of Directors, any act of the Shareholders must be
passed by an affirmative vote of the majority of the shares present in person or represented
by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the matter.

18. Directors will be elected by a majority of the votes of the shares present in person or
represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the election of Directors.

19. Where a separate vote by a class or series or classes or series of shares Eligible Shares) is
required, 51 percent of the outstanding Eligible Shares present in person or represented by
proxy, will constitute a quorum entitled to take action with respect to that vote on that
matter. Any act to be taken must be passed by an affirmative vote of the majority of the
outstanding Eligible Shares present in person or represented by proxy.

Terri

Based on what you say, it appears the BOD is not following procedures. Now the question is what to do about it?

1. Hold their feet to the fire with letters, Email, distribute same to other owners.
2. Build a group of like minded neighbors and pool money for legal action.
3. Lay back and take it.
4. Move.

How long has the community been in existence, how long has the HOA been inactive, have you been payng dues all along or did it just start 18 months ago? Do you want the HOA to be inactive or are you just unhappy the way it is being run? Seems like the new board is in a hard spot because not many in the community are interested. I always question the motives of the members that demanded things but never showed up for meetings. I find the best way to be heard is by being involved.

JohnC46 -

Good question! Yesterday I spoke with three other homeowners who are equally concerned. We collectively decided that the best move was to request the Annual Board Meeting so owners could properly elect board members. Do we have the option as homeowners to arrange the meeting ourselves if these two volunteers do not take action? Right now we do not want to take legal action.

Thank you again for your response!

You really can't do anything about what is happening unless you want to hire an attorney and even then I doubt you would see any difference in the situation. Nobody is participating and really thats makes me question its usefulness? The oeople on the board likely cant be held accountable for wrong doing because they are protected with broad immunity as board members of a corporation. But really, are they doing anything wrong? My suggeation is to rally the community behind a plan to disband (there is a proper term for this) and replace it with a management company that can set dues which cover the expenses of the community like pools, club houses, parks. People will vote on this because it does t sound like they want to be in an HOA, who does? Unless you can get a quarem to attend a meeting you really dont have a lot of options.

No.

Teri

Even though the Bylaws call for a BOD of three, two alone form a Quorum and they can conduct business. Now if they vote one to one, any motion fails.