Can a BOD member be the HOA attorney too?

Disinterested directors, or HOA members, should approve the HOA's engagement of the lawyer for legal services.

It raises ethical issues for the lawyer to do that, since the lawyer's judgment could be compromised by wanting to protect the person's own interests as a board member. So the lawyer ought to think twice before doing it.

The recall of two officers was done by deception. Owners were told they were signing a petition to a)have a member meeting or b) reduce HOA dues from $75 per month to $30 per month or c) hold an election of officers. Owners signed without reading and are now outraged but it is too late. The 5 day period is done, the former board did not validate the signatures and chose to resign on their own so there would be no arbitration/mediation costs to fight the petition. Effectively, the HOA as of last Thursday afternoon had no BOD or officers. The new BOD assumed they were the BOD because their names were on the recall petition to replace the two directors they wanted removed. The attorney for the HOA said the replacements are the new BOD and now he has been removed as attorney and presumably the new director will be the attorney for the HOA and its Treasurer. We feel the whole thing was illegal but the attorney and management company never had a situation like this and went along with it.

Officers may not be recalled. Only directors may be recalled. If you do not know the difference, this is a huge problem. It sounds like the petition was legally defective in a few ways.For the record and regarding a petition for arbitration, the former board is referring to FS 720.303 (10) (d).Wrong. These folks are not the lawful directors of the HOA.Nope. It takes a lawfully elected board to remove him as attorney.

In my opinion your group's options are as follows:

-- follow FS 720.3053 (apply for receivership). This will be expensive and time intensive. I am betting there is not a single member at your HOA who understands FS 720.3053. I believe an attorney will be essential for your group to accomplish this. At least $20,000 and up for the costs of the attorney and the expense of a receiver.

-- Recall the self-appointed dictators through a proper recall proceeding. Again, I believe your group will need an attorney for this. Figure at least $10,000 of attorney fees.

-- Wait until the next election and replace the bums.

-- Hire an attorney to file a complaint with the Florida DBPR.

A little bitter are we?

Oh come on. The sturm-und-drang at this HOA sounds pretty intense to me. Can you blame MicheleB7 for considering selling and moving?

The old saying is something else but I really think "has a fool for a client" applies here in some way.

I agree.

I have no problem with this. I think a plumber serving on a HOA board can be even more helpful. (Maybe not a Dick Nixon type of plumber.) And no one should mix one's personal business with serving on a board.

Oh god attorneys are so inbred. I remember a certain law professor holding forth at a patio cocktail gathering. With a big stupid grin, he reported that he routinely advised his lawyer-to-be students not to turn on their brethren attorneys.

All owners signed the same petition and some signers weren't owners.

Those should have been rejected. Would it have affected the outcome of the recall? If not, an arbitrator probably wouldn't consider their inclusion material. But if it was close, then there could be a problem. But if they already resigned rather than certify the recall, then they're gone and that question is moot. As long as they resigned in writing as required by the Florida Statutes.

True 'dat. What was written at the top of the petition would be very important. Much more so than what people were "told". What people were told, orally, is almost certainly a he-said, she-said thing.

The real point I was making is that (in Florida) it's on the homeowners to make sure they understand exactly what it is that they're signing. Feeble excuses later on won't hold any water.

So, the owners did a proper recall of these 3 self-appointed directors and during the 5 full business day period they are allowed to certify or reject the recall, they held two more BOD meetings, added 4 new directors, voted added two owners as officers. They then resigned their positions of President, Secretary, and Treasurer and appointed two of the new directors to these positions. This was a Zoom/conference call meeting and the notice posted 48 hours in advance had the wrong codes to log into the Zoom. 17 owners finally got in the meeting and only because they text the president stating they couldn't access the meeting.

Two days later, they had a meeting to certify the recall ballots, the logins were correct for that meeting. The former President called the meeting to order and the former secretary took the floor and went on a rant about how the ballots were not delivered to the management company properly and they claimed they mailed the ballots back and stated they did not have to accept them for lack of proof that the person who served them was a real process server and they wanted proof of this. Someone provided proof of service and they finally accepted and voted to certify the recall. After that these former officers and directors voted to add another owner on as the treasurer. They stacked the deck of 4 of their directors and two officers that they selected. The owners on the call were furious and when the open session was permitted, blasted them for adding directors during their recall, for not allowing the new president or vice president to chair the meeting, and that they had no right to add another officer after they had resigned and accepted the recall. Another owner spoke up that the first recall was a sham and deceitful and that the director who was just removed lied to everyone she took the original recall to and got signed. Another recalled director stated that all of us owners could be held liable for stating in person and on social media that they lied and were deceitful with the original recall. Well, that got everyone up in arms.

We believe what transpired here was a travesty and believe the meeting that no one could attend online was illegal and therefore any actions, decisions, and motions approved at that meeting are null and void. We are seeking legal counsel to discuss this and amazingly, when calling around for an attorney, we found that the director who is an attorney had called many area attorneys asking for letters of engagement for the HOA thereby there would be no attorneys who could represent us against the HOA. WOW!!!

I did and was told that because we are an HOA and not a COA, the only thing the DBPR can help with is current arbitration, an election or if the directors were messing with the money. They said to get an attorney as we can't help you.