Why do owners want to be a Board member

I would like to hear from some of you wise and thoughtful people as to why owners want to serve on the Board. No salary, can be sued, someone always mad at you, have to follow state, city and federal laws and make some very difficult decisions that may cost a lot money, so why join?

The biggest reason by far for me on two occasions was that specific infrastructure had been neglected to the point that significant property damage was occurring. In both instances Owners were speaking out and objecting.

I don't, but I have helped the board on various projects when asked.

Why? I have skills that the board wants, and I want to keep things in order for my property, and prevent bad people from taking control.

When I joined the board, I did have an ulterior motive in mind. My home inspector noted the roof didn't have as many vents as it had room for (e.g. 3 were installed, but there were positions for four or five). He said it probably happened because the building code may have allowed 3, but if something later happened to the roof, the manufacturer might say "well, you didn't install all the vents according to our instructions and so you voided the warranty."

I figured if I joined the board, this was one issue I wouldn't let did and one day we might get the vents installed. I'm in a townhouse community, so my unit wasn't the only one with this issue. Eventually a hailstorm in 2007 damaged some of the roofs and the insurance company paid for all of them to be replaced and we got the correct number of vents because the building code had changed.

In the meantime, I learned a lot about the community and began taking interest in other issues, especially our high delinquency rate, which made it challenging to do anything, like fund reserves. By the time I left the board 10 years later), I'd learned a lot about budgeting, reserves, communications ( I reorganized the newsletter requiring to pay more attention to the Microsoft publisher program on my computer!).

All of that is to say this - no one will ever care about your home more than you, so if you want to have some idea of where your assessments are going, who's making those decisions and why, one of the best ways to find that out is by joining the board and having a hand in those decisions. NO, I don't get paid and yes, the work did take a chunk of time (especially during the 5 years I was the treasurer AND newsletter editor, AND represented the community at local CAI meetings and seminars).

Yes, people complained - I got tired of the "I don't see where my money's going - the community looks too run down!". They piped down when we'd reply " it would be easier to keep it up if some of you paid more attention to who you rented your units to! " or stop putting mattresses in the dumpster, forcing the association to pay someone to remove and dispose of them because the city won't empty the dumpsters with illegal deal in it! "

Yes, you need to have a better handle on local and state law than others, but then again, I often say homeownership isn't a spectator sport. You want your home to be clean, safe and attractive so your property values will have a chance of risk g, you need to do some work. Ideally, your neighbors feel as you do and will also take care of their homes without being told, but not all of them do, and so you may need peer pressure and sometimes a fine to drive home that point.

I get nervous about making difficult decisions, but is part of life, so that's not the issue. The issue is whether people asked questions, did the research and considered all their options before making g the decision. You're correct in that some people are uncomfortable with that because they don't always understand what you had to consider, even when you explain it 10 times. But just because it's difficult doesn't mean you can skip making tough decisions. You do the best you can and if it works, hooray. If not, learn from it, fix it and move on. Just like you do with everything else in life.

Someone on this website said he serves on his board because many of his neighbors are idiots, and if he serves, that may prevent them from signing up and f**king up the thing! That rationale works even better! If asshats are going to make the decisions, you may as well be one of them!

Or run away screaming and not Look back! Actually, that's not a bad thing - You what you want and what you can and can't deal with, because it is your money. If you don't want to live in a HOA community for whatever reason, that's ok.

If you do live in one, you have to accept you will need to keep an eye on some things. You don't have to serve on the board, but it would help to read board meeting minutes, take a look at the income/expense statements and attend the annual meeting so you can meet the board members. And READ YOUR DOCUMENTS, preferably before you buy.

I said to prevent some Ahole getting on the BOD but I will get serious. My present HOA is my 5th HOA and this came out in my conversations with the developer during the buying process. He and I got along well so he asked me to be on the advisory BOD. There were some things in the Covenants/Bylaws I did not like so I worked with him and the BOD to get them changed prior to turnover. The Advisory BOD stayed in place for 6 months after turnover, in 2005. I also realized our Reserves were not sufficient so I was advocating a dues increase. Well that doomed me. Come BOD Election time I finished one spot out by 2 votes. THE MC wanted me on the BOD and called me aside and said he could do a recount and I would get on the BOD. Well by then I was pi$$ED and I said F them.

It became obvious to all the new BOD was running scared and nothing was happening. Next Annual Meeting I was drafted to run by some owners at the Annual Meeting. I was still a bit pi$$ed and I said I did not care to serve with those that still had a year on their terms. Talk about some getting pi$$ed at me.......LOL

The next year I was drafted again by a new slate of people and we got word some of the existing BOD was not going to run, so I accepted. I have since been elected twice to two year terms. I am presently VP and Treasurer and have one year left on a two year term.

And yes, in my 2nd year on the BOD we did do a 40% dues increase. We planned it, explained it to all, showed spreadsheets, etc. prior to doing it. Not that people liked it but they were prepared for it. We only had one owner go to the mat with us saying we could not do it. Once we showed him we had the right to do it, he went silent.

If I see people running for the BOD that I agree with, I would not run again but to protect myself I will if I have to. As we have to draft people to be on the BOD, the position would be mine if I want it.

Allow me to clarify. The MC did not say he could rig the election. He said he could do a double check of voter eligibility and do a recount to be sure the vote was correct. My lawyer Rudi was frothing at the mouth and leaking hair dye to do so but I said no...........LOL

JohnC,
Did you your HOA really do a 40% increase all at one time? That is a crazy amount and I would assume that the community would want the past boards heads. It also would require a 67% vote of the Community to get passed. That is usually nearly impossible to get. Usually it is much easier to raise the dues 9% so that the board is able to do it without getting a super majority from the entire HOA. Obviously you should always document the needs and the reasoning for any increase.

Corruption is everywhere, but in my experience, the McKinsey analysts of the world are a lot sharper and more ethical than the property managers of the world. If a property manager lies, what's at stake--perhaps $50k a year in fees from a HOA? If a McKinsey managing director lies, what's at stake? Perhaps millions of dollars of revenue. There is a lot more of a disincentive for a McKinsey MD to be honest than there is for a property manager to be honest.

But back on topic, I think that most HOA board members mean well and try.

Augustin,
Yes I spent 8 years on my Ca. board and into my third year on this Texas board. All of my comments will always be from the perspective of the 2 States that I have served on. Most CC&Rs are all based on very similar language and do have minor differences from HOA to HOA and also State to State. Who on this site has the time to do the State by State fact checks?

In most HOAs if you want to get people to wake up and pay attention of what's going on raise the dues. I am talking about even a few dollars that is why I was shocked by the 40% increase all at one time. It would seem logical to me that every State would try and protect HOs from rouge boards either not raising the dues or aggressively raising the dues without some checks and balances.

Huh. Interesting. You're an older, retired gentleman, yes? Well-meaning of course (seriously). Volunteered a buzillion hours over many years, yes?

In my experience, this is actually a major difference from HOA to HOA and state to state. Some states have caps. Many do not. Some HOA's gov docs have caps. Many do not.

This may seem logical, but it is not the law in South Carolina. Also, I have seen many governing documents that either do not limit how much the board can increase the annual assessment or do not limit the amount of a special assessment.

I queried you, granted somewhat rudely, as part of my microstudy of... oh never mind. Count me as rude.

For those that asked about out 40% dues increase. One of the obligations of our HOA is to replace the roofs and siding on each home when needed. Roofs alone are about $600K project, to commence in 2027 and be done over 7 years. Siding comes in a bit less and commences in 2040. Our Reserves could not handle either. One thing we said was all of the increase would go to a Roofing Siding Reserve.

Below is cut from our Covenants. In summary, the BOD can do a once a year for any amount increase. Owners must be notified on or before 12/01 and it becomes effective 01/01. Owners do not have/get to approve it. They (a majority of all owners) can reject it though. It would take a Special Meeting and 51% of all owners disapproving.

Section 3. Contribution.
It shall be the duty of the Board to prepare a budget covering the estimated costs of operating the Association during the coming year, which may, if applicable, include a capital contribution or reserve in accordance with a capital budget separately prepared. The Board shall cause the budget and the assessments to be levied against each Lot for the following year to be delivered to each member at least thirty (30) days prior to the end of the current fiscal year (or, if the assessment has not been established at the time an Owner purchases such Owner's Lot, at least thirty (30) days prior to the due date of the first installment in the ease of the initial budget). The budget and the assessment shall become effective unless disapproved at a meeting by a majority of the Total Association Vote. Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, in the event the membership disapproves the proposed budget or the Board fails for any reason so to determine the budget for the succeeding year, then and until such time as a budget shall have been determined, as provided herein, the budget in effect for the then current year shall continue for the succeeding year, but shall be increased by a factor equal to the percentage increase in the prior year of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) for All items in Urban Areas as published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

I agree about avoiding argument. But really, it's fine if you want to skip having any respect for anyone.I am just chattering in a so far friendly polemic exchange here, before GeorgeS21 kvetches.

I am not sure I care about the "reputational damage" done by a possible lie in a large organization. I guess sometimes this puts a lot of lower income folks out of work, either directly or through trickle down. The latter is certainly b-a-d. I have seen property managers lie about individual owners in huge, destructive ways. I agree to disagree with you on this point.
I think perhaps you and I agree that the regulation of HOAs/condos is lacking, with some states being better than others. One only gets some kind of justice if one pays a lot of money to an attorney in these HOA/condo situations.

I guess I'd say: It's not all black and white. I mean, developers could only build some of the nice places I lived if they submitted to the will of City ordinances and set up HOAs/condo boards. It's not like it's developers fault. Cities are budget-strapped and wanted to unload road et cetera maintenance onto subdivisions and their HOAs. Terrible system and all that, but I can't think of a better one. And all that.

“Want” to be a Board member? No.

“Someone must do the work” of a Board member? Yes.

I have been on the Board of every HOA in which I have owned property - having just moved I volunteered to be on the finance committee. I was working full time in all the others. One was for a rental house neighborhood - because they were all retired, clueless and needed the help.

I never had an ulterior, or singular motive - except to be be helpful.

I do hate bullies (noticeable from some of my posts?), and while not seeing these prior to joining boards, once onboard, there was always at least one - I leaned in on each to re-establish fairness - usually all that was required was education of the constituency.

And Arthur Andersen, now defunct.

I happily concede your point that the 'professionalism' of HOA managers and boards, in general, greatly lags that of that part of corporate America that caters directly to consumers.

Though I will continue to insist that the typical HOA/condo Owner is as clueless or more clueless than HOA/condo boards and managers about the governing docs and what the obligations of the HOA/condo are. If boards and managers are unprofessional, well the Owners are as much or more unprofessional.

I agree with you 100%.

Perhaps one way to change that would be to require that on each HOA board, there would need to be one person with accounting experience, one with legal experience and one with real estate experience. But then it would involve actually getting those types to volunteer.

Thank you, SheilaH-great points.

#1 is an issue, Do as I say not as I do. Sounds like a politician. LOL

To ensure the Board is fiscally conservative spending wise and that the reserves are well funded to guard against future special assessments.

Oh, thank you so much for the last paragraph! That is exactly what I am dealing with and needed this clarity and motivation. Don't get me wrong the first part was informative, just not motivational, great closing!

It's a tough role to take on, but you get to have a major say about the key issues that impact your community. Board members get to take a deep look at the financial health and well-being of the association, and can then use that information to make critical choices for the future of the association. In short, it gives you an opportunity to change or improve the place that you live. You also may develop useful skills, such as project management, that you can apply to other aspects of your life.

Love it.