Advice on HOA Meeting for an Election

I have a question. I went to the board meeting or should I say the election meeting. There was only me, and two other homeowners who were related. The only other people was the HOA owner, a notary to count the votes mailed in, and a sales developer who is a board member. All the homes are already over the quota to have the board now the only homeowner ran. I never received the paper to turn in my election since they said it was emailed to me and that it's "my fault" that I didn't receive it but was not sent through regular mail. I found out that it was happening since I got the ballot in my postal mail with the names of who is running. The ones who are running were 1)Homeowner 2)Homeowner 3)Sales manager/developer and there are three open positions. I found out that I could nominate myself at the meeting which I did but the HOA owner said that I could only have the votes of who was in the meeting which was the ones above(only two people). None of the ballots had any names on who turned in the votes. Most of the people living here are renters so I wonder how would they know if it was a renter who voted and not a homeowner? They chose the two homeowners and the developer to be a part of the three board members which how can a developer still stay on, is that just because there are still homes being built? From what I heard is that our community was at 95 percent sold. Also, I asked when they said the reserve in the budget was at 70,000 plus for security. The HOA owner said that a survey was sent out about having a patrol and he said most said no that they won't pay more for one but with such a reserve and an area that has such bad crime that even the police won't come out for days that it wouldn't make sense to pay more. I wish I had money to pay for a lawyer to help but unfortunately, I am a single mother and don't have any extra to help. Any suggestions would really help! I just feel that my money is not being worth giving a HOA who isn't doing anything. Thanks

Can you explain why you need a lawyer? What was so offensive? You not being elected? The way the election was held? Is it really worth your single mom money to spend it on for this?

If you had truly wanted to run and be involved, needed to do much more work before you raised your hand.

Good answer Cathy. Too many people believe that serving on the Board is easy and with little work. There is so much to know even if your HOA has a management company. It takes time to learn and understand all of the documents that govern an HOA, and how an association operated day to day. Preparation is recommended before an owner decides to run.

Augie Edit:

-- I went to the board meeting or should I say the election meeting.

-- There was only me, and two other homeowners who were related. The only other people was the HOA owner, a notary to count the votes mailed in, and a sales developer who is a board member.

-- All the homes are already over the quota to have the board now the only homeowner ran.

-- I never received the paper to turn in my election since they said it was emailed to me and that it's "my fault" that I didn't receive it but was not sent through regular mail. I found out that it was happening since I got the ballot in my postal mail with the names of who is running.

-- The ones who are running were 1)Homeowner 2)Homeowner 3)Sales manager/developer and there are three open positions.

-- I found out that I could nominate myself at the meeting which I did but the HOA owner said that I could only have the votes of who was in the meeting which was the ones above(only two people).

-- None of the ballots had any names on who turned in the votes.

-- Most of the people living here are renters so I wonder how would they know if it was a renter who voted and not a homeowner?

-- They chose the two homeowners and the developer to be a part of the three board members which how can a developer still stay on, is that just because there are still homes being built?

-- From what I heard is that our community was at 95 percent sold. Also, I asked when they said the reserve in the budget was at 70,000 plus for security.

-- The HOA owner said that a survey was sent out about having a patrol and he said most said no that they won't pay more for one but with such a reserve and an area that has such bad crime that even the police won't come out for days that it wouldn't make sense to pay more.

Based on what the OP posted, proper procedures were not followed and therefore a valid election . Whether under developer or homeowner control, same rules apply.

1) To serve on a board now days, one must be a member.

2) The association MUST have Election Rules, no ifs, ands, or buts. They must be mailed annually during the election cycle with the nomination forms and the Notice of the Annual Meeting.

3) Prior to ballots being mailed one or three inspectors must be either hired or appointed by the board. They cannot be under contract to association, such as their PM or their Attorney.

4) Nomination from the floor is allowed but only if so allowed in their Election Rules. They are not mandatory.

5) A two envelope system must be used, and/or a proxy. The outer envelope MUST have a owners signature as well as a name and address. The inner envelope which contains the secret cannot have any identifying marks put there by the association or a contracted agent.

6) if still under developer control, classes of membership and owner ship still apply.