Special Assessment levied without 51% vote per HOA Bylaws???

Members of our North Carolina condominium HOA were charged a $1,000 special assessment for wood rot on buildings - a total of $124,000. There is no structural report or proof, permit, inspections on work started on 2 building by an unlicensed contractor (charges so far $11,900). I have confirmed work isn't even code compliant and would never have passed inspection.
I have attached a picture of our Bylaw section for special assessment. This assessment was not voted on so it never had 51% approval.
Am I correct that this is a Breach of the Fiduciary Duties of the HOA Board?
(who are now legally enforcing liens on Owners that still owe money).

The unlicensed contractor charged the $11,900 to remove vinyl siding and put on Tyvek housewrap...did not pull any permit/did not attach per specifications (even I can Google Tyvek Installation Instructions)/didn't overlap or tape seams/cut out and stapled around windows and doors without sealing.

I just wanted to make sure I was correct in my understanding of the Bylaws legal terminology.

HOA President said we didn't get to vote because repairs don't require 51% vote for assessment. All 15 buildings were build between 1995 - 2003 all at different times. There is not any structural report verifying this wood rot and "building would collapse". If it was true, I would have voted for it.

We have 3 board members left (others 5 resigned because of President)...and all their terms are currently expired due to Covid-19 and annual meeting postponement.

To add on to Mark's comments - begin by reading your documents to see what it says (I didn't see an attachment on your original message).

Secondly, did you ask these questions of your board (if not, why not?) Assuming you have written proof of the contractor being unlicensed, no permit, work doesn't meet the building code, etc., did you show that to the board? If so, what was the response?

If you have proof of all this, you may be able to file a complaint with the agency that enforces the building code - they may send an inspector to see the work and if you're right, the city or county can order the work stopped. Of course, this may also mean more money to get the work redone properly. The association may also find it has to pay a fine if there was no building permit and the work didn't meet the code, so there may be more costs on top of the $124K that the homeowners will have to pay for.

For what it's worth, I agree the board's conduct was improper - as fiduciaries, they have a duty to manage the association's resources in a responsible and prudent manner. That doesn't mean mistakes won't happen, but when you're talking about roofing work, one should expect the board display due diligence like obtaining bids (at least three), checking the records of all the companies for licensing and bonding information, reading the contracts before they're signed, etc.

And if your documents require homeowner approval of special assessments (most do), but the board didn't follow those procedures, that's another reason for you and your neighbors to call a special meeting to recall everyone. This will also mean you need to have people ready to step up and take over (and one might need to be YOU). Start rallying your neighbors together and good luck!

What MarkW18 said. The PM's attorney has a conflict of interest.

I'm happy to step up. It's been a weird year with a bun of assessments out of the blue and HOA Board Members quitting...and Homeowners didn't know. The HOA President has an Investment company (never lived here) and stepped into the role when other quit - got last 2 board members to vote/agree him as President and it's been drama and chaos ever since.

Thank you for that advice!

This all started from prior wood damage was due to Hurricane/roof damage water leakage...it was not an ongoing building issue, nor were those repairs ever a large amount of money (viewing those balance sheet statements)

This is the wording from the assessment letter that was sent out:

Dear Homeowner:

(REDACTED) Condominiums has determined that most of the buildings in the community are experiencing some wood rot due to the improper installation of the vinyl siding and the lack of house wrap between the vinyl siding and the building structure. The Association just completed the removal of vinyl siding, repair of wood rot and installation of house wrap on several buildings in the community. The Association wants to complete this work for the remaining buildings in the community. The estimated cost to complete this work is $125,000.00. The Board of Directors voted at their meeting on March 27, 2019 to authorize a special assessment against each unit owner in the amount of $1,000.00 per unit to address the wood rot issues in the remaining buildings.

I've already paid mine, I've just found there wasn't any wood rot damage on these newer buildings.

i'm pretty sure the board is required to send notice of the meeting at which the vote on special assessment was to occur..

this is where owners can show up and ask all the questions..

voting on a special assessment without the agenda of the meeting where the vote was to take place is almost universally rejected.. Unless it was an emergency repair.. however.. beware of boards abusing the "emergency" term

In my experience boards will take actions without the required notification requirements because they are so used to no owners participating anyway. However certain actions require notification of the owners. And the board has no right to bypass the notification requirements because they think they know better.

As an aside, a couple of years ago in Florida the Condo (and maybe the HOA) statute was changed to make doing that illegal. An association could not hire the same attorney as its property management company. In what I thought was a fishy move, the legislature revoked that prohibition the following year. Lobbying by PMs and various attorneys were apparently the reason, but it was never explained clearly what was behind the decision to undo it.

There was nothing sent to owners regarding this, just the assessment letter stating they voted/approved this and we all have to pay $1,000.

That's where I have an issue...I haven't seen any exterior wood rot replaced, only incorrectly installed Tyvek...then vinyl siding re-attached over it. That's when I questioned it not being inspected and went to our city permit portal and saw no active permits. I observed a non-compliant, un-inspected "alteration/improvement" billed at $11,900...not maintenance/repair. This is what made me question the legitimacy and need for 51% Homeowners vote.

If the HOA Board gets an attorney, should the Property Management Company Owner and employees be involved in any Attorney/HOA Board Meetings?