Violation of Fudituary Duties

It sounds like you have a bunch of block heads on your board, and your PM is an even BIGGER block head.. Yes you can sue, but it will cost some money up front.
It might cost you a C note to talk to an attorney that is versed in HOA / real estate matters. Do you have an Ombudsman that you can file an official complaint with? Have you filed a complaint with the water department for the high bills? You as an owner do have a right to object to the high water bills, perhaps the water department can launch a usage/ waste investigation and light a fire under the BODs butts.. Try the water department first, then the Ombudsman.

It sounds like you have an underground leak and the pool has an automatic water filler. It is easy to remedy to have a leak detection company come out and run their tests.

Since the water company called the PM, the water company would have a log of the time and date of the call. I would get that, along with the mailing address of every single homeowner in your association and recall the entire Board and the first act would be to FIRE the management company. If your numbers are correct people didn't give a rats ass about the association finance. And if the individual on the Board acted in the mater they did, I would take them to court and sue them for damages.

Get control of the Board, and the association can sue them.

HectorR's HOA consists of townhomes and is subject to Florida statute 720.

The pool is now not available due to the water being turned off. Under Florida statute 720.311(2), the dispute here is "between an association and a parcel owner regarding use of or changes to the parcel or the common areas and other covenant enforcement disputes." Florida Statute 720.311(2) says that such disputes, "shall be the subject of a demand for presuit mediation served by an aggrieved party before the dispute is filed in court." Furthmore the statute says: "An aggrieved party shall serve on the responding party a written demand to participate in presuit mediation in substantially the following form:"

====Start draft pre-suit mediation demand letter====
Dear Board of Directors,

The alleged aggrieved party, Hector _____, hereby demands that [Name of HOA], as the responding party, engage in mandatory presuit mediation in connection with the following disputes, which by statute are of a type that are subject to presuit mediation:

-- Violation of Covenant ______, requiring the HOA's maintenance of common areas. In particular, the HOA pool apparently has a significant leak resulting in the following recent water bills for_____ (months of _____) and ___ (months of_____). Previous quarterly water bills were typically under $300. The County has confirmed the apparent leak. Due to non-payment of the water bills, water has been turned off, rendering the pool not usable.

Pursuant to section 720.311, Florida Statutes, this demand to resolve the dispute through presuit mediation is required before a lawsuit can be filed concerning the dispute. Pursuant to the statute, the parties are required to engage in presuit mediation with a neutral third-party mediator in order to attempt to resolve this dispute without court action, and the aggrieved party demands that you likewise agree to this process. If you fail to participate in the mediation process, suit may be brought against you without further warning.

The process of mediation involves a supervised negotiation process in which a trained, neutral third-party mediator meets with both parties and assists them in exploring possible opportunities for resolving part or all of the dispute. By agreeing to participate in presuit mediation, you are not bound in any way to change your position. Furthermore, the mediator has no authority to make any decisions in this matter or to determine who is right or wrong and merely acts as a facilitator to ensure that each party understands the position of the other party and that all options for reasonable settlement are fully explored.

If an agreement is reached, it shall be reduced to writing and becomes a binding and enforceable commitment of the parties. A resolution of one or more disputes in this fashion avoids the need to litigate these issues in court. The failure to reach an agreement, or the failure of a party to participate in the process, results in the mediator declaring an impasse in the mediation, after which the aggrieved party may proceed to court on all outstanding, unsettled disputes. If you have failed or refused to participate in the entire mediation process, you will not be entitled to recover attorney’s fees, even if you prevail.

The aggrieved party has selected and hereby lists five certified mediators who we believe to be neutral and qualified to mediate the dispute. You have the right to select any one of these mediators. The fact that one party may be familiar with one or more of the listed mediators does not mean that the mediator cannot act as a neutral and impartial facilitator. Any mediator who cannot act in this capacity is required ethically to decline to accept engagement. The mediators that we suggest, and their current hourly rates, are as follows:

[Google and list the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and hourly rates of the mediators. Other pertinent information about the background of the mediators may be included as an attachment.]

You may contact the offices of these mediators to confirm that the listed mediators will be neutral and will not show any favoritism toward either party. The Florida Supreme Court can provide you a list of certified mediators.

Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, section 720.311(2)(b), Florida Statutes, requires that the parties share the costs of presuit mediation equally, including the fee charged by the mediator. An average mediation may require three to four hours of the mediator’s time, including some preparation time, and the parties would need to share equally the mediator’s fees as well as their own attorney’s fees if they choose to employ an attorney in connection with the mediation. However, use of an attorney is not required and is at the option of each party. The mediators may require the advance payment of some or all of the anticipated fees. The aggrieved party hereby agrees to pay or prepay one-half of the mediator’s estimated fees and to forward this amount or such other reasonable advance deposits as the mediator requires for this purpose. Any funds deposited will be returned to you if these are in excess of your share of the fees incurred.

To begin your participation in presuit mediation to try to resolve the dispute and avoid further legal action, please sign below and clearly indicate which mediator is acceptable to you. We will then ask the mediator to schedule a mutually convenient time and place for the mediation conference to be held. The mediation conference must be held within ninety (90) days of this date, unless extended by mutual written agreement. In the event that you fail to respond within 20 days from the date of this letter, or if you fail to agree to at least one of the mediators that we have suggested or to pay or prepay to the mediator one-half of the costs involved, the aggrieved party will be authorized to proceed with the filing of a lawsuit against you without further notice and may seek an award of attorney’s fees or costs incurred in attempting to obtain mediation.

Therefore, please give this matter your immediate attention. By law, your response must be mailed by certified mail, return receipt requested, and by first-class mail to the address shown on this demand.

Sincerely,

Hector __________
address
phone
email addie
=======End Draft Demand Letter ===================

The above is from http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0720/0720.html . Hector, please study 720.311 and follow it to the letter.

You do not need an attorney to do this. You should get an estimate of the cost of mediation.

Send the letter certified mail, return receipt requested.

This is serious. Turning off the water is the right response. The water leak is a hazard to the environment, on account of this water is going somewhere. Parts of Florida are pre-dispoed to sinkholes. All this water cannot help. In addition, news reports say that COVID-19 has caused an increase in water use, due to all the hand washing. Florida in general does not favor excessive water use.

So, about $35,000 a year vs about $1,200 a year?

This still seems impossible.

OMG, Agustin D. Thank you so very much. I will contact a few of my neighbors who care about our community. A friend of mine is helping me with creating a Facebook page. George S. My apologies..it was $3,500 not $35,000.
With the help.of a friend I created a page below but we are now working on a new one.
Because of this whole Covid-19 we have not been able to meet but are planning a zoom meeting soon.
http://www.serenalakesurgent.com/main-page

Hector,
The most important advice I could give you is to have your facts right. IF you start accusing the Board or any one of anything it is vital that you be clear and concise. Your first Post made it sound very bad. Your updated numbers make it sound pretty minor IMO. Still unclear why they would not have paid the Bills on time. That would be more of a PMC problem than a Board problem unless the treasurer pays the bills.

I glanced through your webpage, sorry you have nothing convincing to sell. And then to go from an accusation of $35,000 to a boo-boo of $3500, Nope.

Hector wants injunctive relief. Small claims courts in Florida hear "all actions of a civil nature in the
county courts which contain a demand for money or property, the value of which
does not exceed $8,000 exclusive of costs, interest, and attorneys’ fees." https://www-media.floridabar.org/uploads/2020/01/Small-Claims-Rules-01-01-20-Final.pdf Other signs indicate that Florida derivative suits are heard only in Florida Circuit Courts. There is also a question as to whether going straight to court violates 720.311's requirement for pre-suit mediation.

Section 720.311 appears to be clear that the purpose of the statute's requiring pre-suit mediation is to help keep the courts from becoming backed up with HOA lawsuits.

Do you realize how underqualified the typical HOA member is for identifying that you are giving legal advice that will hurt their efforts?

It's not legal advice, but fair point. OP, disregard my post above.

I hit the website mentioned ...

Wow ... not sure I, as a board member, would do more than chuckle.

Seriously, though ... comes down to lack of quorum, lack of interest, apathy ... if no one is supporting Hector in his quixotic endeavor, how can he fix those things he finds are problematic?

Now, if real rather than perceived by Hector, I would move ... the entire situation sounds crazy.

Or, Hector could be overstating the issue(s), and ranting ... or, somewhere between the extremes?

Remember, the numbers (water cost then vs now) he initially posted did not make sense, and he has not yet been specific about why they didn’t make sense.

The article linked from his rantsite was really scary ... made me think of taxiing for takeoff and thinking, “This is an emergency takeoff ... I probably can taxi clear of the runway and resolve this on the ground prior to going flying.” i.e. time to cut and run?

Read the effing thread. The County shut off water to the HOA pool, due to non-payment of bills.

I don't see why even the county can't turn off the water for non-payment of the bill. There is a point the water company needs to cut off their damages. Having a leak and no one turning off the water, someone has to mitigate the damages. Plus it sometimes depends on which side the leak is on. For us it is the water meter to the house the person is responsible. Meter to the street the water department controls. Which may extend into city or county if it's damaging their property.

Was the authority to shut off water written into the original CCRs? If not, it's possible you acted illegally.

Augustin,

The $35K number was mine - I estimated four quarters at $8500 (mid point in Hector's note) and rounded to $35K.

Hector's comparative numbers for an earlier time were about $300 per quarter, hence my $1200 number.

I reread and while one could quibble over the rounding errors, the general point is that Hector was comparing $35,000 with $1,200. His later post noted his apologies and then connected my $35,000 number (derived above) with one tenth that ...

It doesn't make sense to me.

Yes, I follow the above.I agree this was Hector's general point.I think his one post where he apologized was not clear about whether he was referring to quarterly or annual estimates of the water bill.

That a large leak is likely seems clear to me. That it could be yielding a water bill an order of magnitude (that is, ten times or so) greater than what was usual is entirely plausible in my experience. I believe HectorR when he says the water was turned off. I believe him when he says it was due to non-payment of the water bill. I believe him when he says the County believes it is a large leak. I see no reason not to believe him.

Seriously.

Guess.

I can try and post a copy if the water bills and history so everyone can see. Im.not trying to confuse anyone all I want is for this issue to be corrected amongst other things. The BOD simply does not care about what anyone says including myself. If there are others out there who simply just want to sit back and let BOD's and PM get away with murder then go ahead. As for me I want answers, I'm a home owner and pay I pay my dues a year in advance. I certainly do not want any sink holes and a serious assessments to hit us for their lack of responsibility. My thanks to Agustin D and others who are understanding. My website will be taken down soon.