Retaliation

Hello,

I'm the president of an HOA in FL. I pointed out some unethical issues going on and now the board is retaliating against me.

I told the board according to FLA law 720, we cant meet in secret. The only time is with Atty or discuss personnel issues. We met anyway,

I told the board we can't pay a board member. So the Treasurer wrote checks to the board member anyway not saying what they were for. Over 8-9K. I said we can't do this we have to have a signed contract, voted on by 2-3 members, and bring it up before the membership for approval.

When I undercovered the bank information, they had a board meeting without me and voted to have me removed from the account.

I told them that once a board member resigned he is no longer on the board. The board decided to keep the member on as a 6th member without the member being voted in by the membership.

I told them according to FLA 720 all new board members must be attend board cert class or write an email saying that they have read all documents within 90 days. This was ignored.

SO I sent an email to the membership saying we got some unethical issues going on.

The board now retaliating against me by meeting amongst themselves. Not including me and any more board discussion.

Can I get an attorney for this OR should I inform the HOA board attorney on whats going on/

Also, you can try contacting the HOA's attorney, but if you do, you must be aware of the following:

-- The HOA attorney's client is the HOA corporation. Meaning the HOA attorney takes his or her direction from a Board majority.

-- The Board majority may become even more hostile to you, and instruct the HOA attorney to treat you as an adverse party. This will be unpleasant, to say the least.

-- The HOA attorney might have a sit-down with the Board and tell them what's what. This forum has seen reports of HOA attorneys who do the right thing to get the Board to follow the law. I am not sure if these HOA attorneys are the exception or the rule.

-- I have seen both types of HOA attorneys.

-- In general, a director is not supposed to be spending the HOA's money on the HOA attorney's time without Board approval.

Good luck with that. My HOA board has been holding unnoticed meetings closed to the homeowners (i.e. secret meetings) since February. They did have 2 noticed meetings on the pool deck when the annual insurance policies needed to be approved and when next year's budget needed approval, but that's it. They also approved, in secret, one homeowner's Architectural Chage Request that ceded to that homeowner exclusive use of a portion of the Common property.

This column was published today. The attorney who wrote it points out that, in Florida, when it comes to open board meetings in the face of a pandemic, "You should know that I know of no arbitration case or lawsuit that has provided any guidance on what is allowed and what isn’t."

Sabrina

Do not take on the entire BOD/all problems at once. You are not politically strong enough to, yet. Deal with one item at a time. Get allies on the BOD and you can address/attack other items down the road from a position of strength.

That is always a possibility.
It's often happens if the way things are pointed out are simply too blunt (I tend to be that way and it causes me issues).


You can't pay a Director.
You can pay an Officer.

These are two different positions even if they are held by the same person.
In those cases, you can pay for the Officer duties but not the Director duties.

You should have a contract. However, not having one doesn't prevent you from doing it.
It does raise the issue of perceptions of wrong doing by the members and can cause issues if anything goes to court.

Two things to be aware of:

1) Being paid, the individual is considered a professional and loses any protections under the federal VOLUNTEER PROTECTION ACT OF 1997

2) With the amount you are specifing, the Association is required to issue an IRS form 1099-misc


I agree that this should not have occurred.


Technically, the board is allowed to fill vacancies. To my understanding, there is nothing that prevents the Board from appointing the same individual to the their recently vacated seat.


Although the statute requires this, the reality is - it simply doesn't matter.
per 720.3033 Officers and directors. specifies that the new Director shall be suspended from the board - but it takes a board vote to make that happen and it simply doesn't sound like you have the votes to make it happen. Additionally, if there is no documentation on file, the statute specifies that failure to have documentation doesn't invalidate any actions by the board.

Hence, in my opinion, this is a feel good law - i.e. it made the legislature feel good that they did something without really doing anything substantive.


In reality, I wouldn't have expected anything less.
In reality, there is little that you can do except keep the membership informed and hope they make better choices at the next election.


You could consult with an attorney to see what other legal options there are.
Note: If you take legal action (even having the attorney write a letter) the Board would then have solid reason to excuse you from any discussions about a potential legal case. I would expect that they would consider every meeting a discussion about the potential legal action.

Realistically, the HOA attorney works for the board. Since you would be considered the one bringing the action, all you would be doing would be providing the opposing side information they might not be required to have. Stick to your own attorney (in my opinion).

Additionally, please note that Officers and Directors insurance typically will not cover board member vs. board member issues. Therefore, the Association would be responsible to cover all legal costs (which may require a special assessment). This may be counter productive to gaining the membership support you need.

On the money to Board member issue, if it is fraud call AG office and fraud detective at local PD or Sheriff.