Corruption where to start

Let's address some thing. I think have a few things confused.

1. Our treasurer gets paid $500 monthly we are a non profit HOA she's the only one who gets paid no 1099 it's under the table.

Just because your a non-profit and should be run by "volunteers" from the membership does not mean one can not get paid. Treasurer is the accountant of the HOA. Some Treasurer's are actual Accountants and thus do deserve to get paid for their work like any other accounting firm. Matter of fact, our HOA one of the owners/members was our accountant and thus was always elected as Treasurer. We paid their accounting firm to do the work. Non-profit means must spend as much as you collect on the operational/maintenance expenses of the HOA.

2. The summary of bylaws provided to new residents has things in it not in the full bylaws or any of the amendments kept at the county recorder of deeds. They enforce there's additional things with fines it's not legal though is it?

By-laws do not have to be filed in many states. What has to be filed at the County level is the CC&R's. By-laws can be filed but not required. They are usually considered INTERNAL HOA documents and NOT public. CC&R's and Articles of Incorporation (State) are PUBLIC. Thus not responsibility of the HOA to provide. They can if they want. Just most states it is the Seller or the purchaser to get a copy.

3. 1998 and before votes to amend by laws were recorded to the county with names and the thing being amended. From then forward none of the votes or the counting has been recorded. They have recorded amendments since then but not the specific voting. Is this acceptable? Ballot counting is done privately.

This is a bit complicated and legal opinion best opinion. Our lawyer told us a change/vote in the HOA's meeting notes could suffice as a "by-law" change. However, it's usually a vote of 51 - 100 % required of the membership to make official ammendments to the documents. The process is all defined in those documents for how to make and file changes.

4. A current vote being done is to ammend bylaws to allow chickens. Thing is all ballots not sent back in are considered no votes. Our original bylaws states that if 50% of lot owner's participated in voting it was a 2/3 majority of all of those who voted. Doesn't say votes sent back in mean any thing either way. In the past ballots not sent in meant yes and now this time it means no.

That is an issue with how to decide how a no response vote means. May need a legal opinion on this as well what a "No response" means.

5. A personal issue that I'd like clarification on. In 2007 my grandma had a small 3 foot fence put in for her dog it was approved by the board before hand and everything above board she passed in 2009 and my aunt inherited the house. In 2010 the board heckled my aunt to tear the fence down and board members did eventually come tear it down. There is two small ends of the fence still standing that come off the porch. Do I have any legal standing to build back the original fence? They do not allow lakeside fences however it doesn't state this in the bylaws clearly it does say no fences in front of the building line. Then in another area it says the lake side is considered the front line of the property but doesn't mention "building line".

This has changed ownership since the original approval. You still need to follow the asking for approval process whether or not in the past it was approved or not.

6. Lastly the chair and secretary and all the folks in control will not say when they were last elected. It does say members have to be re elected every 3 years but nobody knows when they were last voted in and they won't provide that information. The county doesn't have that info either. Should the county? How do I get this information? What can I do about these situations? Look forward to input and advice thank you all so much for the help!

Why would the County have this information? This is INTERNAL HOA business. Thus it is in the HOA's records. Should be in the HOA notes if they exist on the election timeline.

Confused. If she is claiming it on her taxes then how doesn't the government know she is making the money? Are you thinking because the HOA doesn't reflect it then the government doesn't know? Plus there is often a limit on what is reportable. Do not know what those limits are for your situation but maybe it doesn't qualify. Plus believe it may be part of your HOA budget items. So as long as the balance sheet is balanced it should all come out in the wash.

CC&R's are the actual convenants and restrictions on file in the county. It goes with your property. The by-laws may be them but not labelled that. I would check to see what is on file with the county to make sure they match.

Corruption is a strong term to be tossing around. Maybe know how the process is to work before tossing such terms around.

Still see no corruption. Just someone who got told no in erecting a fence. Plus original documents are usually NOT valid if there are amendments. It is what it has been ammendended to not from. The US constitution had 22 of them I believe. We don't go back to the original because we like it better.

Try asking the board to consult an HOA attorney about whether what it is doing, tax-wise, is legal.

I trust your governing documents allow the HOA to compensate the treasurer. The latter is not unusual.If the HOA is fining for violations of non-existent covenants, then correct, it's not legal to do so. But to get the Board's cooperation, you will have to hire an attorney; have the attorney make threats; and possibly take the HOA to court. Going to court will take at least two years. The initial legal cost to you will probably be more than $2000 just for the attorney to review your HOA's governing documents and state law.

I suspect an HOA attorney would say it is advisable to record the vote but not required.

I found nothing in the Missouri Nonprofit Corporation statute on this point.

The covention is: If less than the required quorum (here, 50%) submit ballots (be they yes, no, or "for quorum only"), then the proposed amendment does not pass. If quorum is met, then like you say, 2/3rds must vote in the affirmative for the proposed amendment to pass.

Ballots not sent should mean nothing. The vote count is all about whether (1) quorum is met; and (2) whether 2/3rds voted in the affirmative.

See an attorney about this one.

See
https://law.justia.com/codes/missouri/2019/title-xxiii/chapter-355/ especially section 355.821 et seq. Send a letter registered mail, return receipt requested to the HOA's registered agent (as listed on the Missouri Secretary of State site, Corporations section) asking for xyz records, pursuant to Missouri's Nonprofit Corporation statute Section 355.821 and pursuant to anything your Bylaws/covenants say about records inspections.

Other names for CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions) are: Covenants; deed restrictions; declaration. It would be very unusual if you have bylaws but no CC&Rs. SOMEtimes the CC&Rs & the Bylaws are one governing document.

Normally things like restrictions on fence height are in the CC&Rs or a different doc called something like Rules & Regulations. Bylaws usually are about how the HOA is run, officers, elections, how many directors, board meetings. In both our Bylaws & CC&Rs, we find that no officer (e.g., treasurer) may be paid (except reimbursed for supplies)

It's also possible that your HOA has a document called Architectural Guidelines or something similar which might talk about fence height.

I'm feeling like you're neglecting some governing documents or perhaps calling them by the incorrect names.

What size is you HOA Dakota?

Restrictions are limitations on what the Board can do. If there's nothing in your docs that disallow paying a treasurer or accountant, then the Board can decide to pay someone for services rendered.

Paying under the table exposes the HOA to financial risk for state and federal laws on taxing income, and should be recognized a violation of the Board members' fiduciary responsibilities. But one voice alone on a Board is unlikely to change things. You'll need to persuade others.

For clarification --

-- The OP needs to understand that there is a difference between directors and officers. Directors are elected by the membership. Officers are appointed by a vote of the board.

-- Chances are high that, if the person who is treasurer is also director, her or his director duties are distinguishable from her or his treasurer duties. In my opinion, and if the bylaws and state statute do not prohibit payment of treasurers, treasurers should be paid, but with proper tax reporting. Also any treasurer accepting payment for services needs to understand she or he loses certain federal volunteer protections.

-- I agree with NPS's post.

99% of the Bylaws will state that directors, in their capacity as directors or officers may not be compensated. Officers, who are not director may, per the language of their Bylaws, may be compensated. Remember, only directors are authorized to cast votes at a Board members.

Most HOAs are corporations? Is yours? If so, you're required to have bylaws. That your owners and directors call documents by the wrong names is a problem. It is causing confusion and misunderstandings in your HOA.

It's in bylaws, generally, where you'll see the difference between officers & directors. Usually officers are only elected by the Board for one year.

It's also in bylaws where you'll see which officers (appointed by the Board), if any, are not required to be directors (elected by the membership). the Bylaws also tell you how elections should be held.

I honestly believe, Dakota, that if you and maybe a few others, could chip in maybe $300 to buy an hour of an HOA or contract attorney's time, a lot of misinformation could be straightened out.

This is either incredibly poor writing or ignorance or just non-helpful bs. It is indicating that being an officer is some kind of sub-category of being a director. Many HOA/COA Bylaws allow officers, especially the treasurer, to be a non-director. Either way, a director's duties are different from an officer's duties, especially with regard to a treasurer.

Do you understand that the election of officers is by the Board and that election of directors is by the membership?

From the Missouri Nonprofit Corporation Statute:

355.326. Election, designation of members. — 1. If the corporation has members, all the directors, except the initial directors, shall be elected at the first annual meeting of members, and at each annual meeting thereafter, unless the articles or bylaws provide some other time or method of election, or provide that some of the directors are appointed by some other person or designated.
[snip irrelevant second section]

355.431. Required officers. — 1. Unless otherwise provided in the articles or bylaws, a corporation shall have a chairman or president, or both a chairman and president, a secretary, a treasurer and such other officers as are appointed by the board. In addition to other matters, the articles or bylaws may provide for the direct election of officers of the corporation by the members.

I understand that's how it typically is. However our restrictions and amendments which again is all we have doesn't distinguish between officers and directors. So I'm not exactly sure of the difference in duties. They have my wife and I listed as an advisor. However we were voted in by the board. The community hasn't be apart of an election in a long time from what I understand.

No we don't and neither does the recorder of deeds. I have everything from the recorder of deeds.

As Melissa points out, Dakota, the Articles of Incorporation are filed with the STATE, not your local county recorder's office.

The Board appointed you & spouse as "advisors?" Can you tell us what the duties are? Is that title defined in your documents? Do your documents t say that the Board can create titles as needed to help your HOA run effectively?

The articles of incorporation usually have positions and their duties in it. Plus how to conduct meetings. That is because it defines the corporate structure.

BTW: The HOA can can 4 wheelers or Golf Carts even if they are legal licensed vehicles. They can do damage to the grounds. Plus cause other liability issues. A HOA can be MORE restrictive.

No this is not what the Articles of Incorporation typically contain. They can be quite bland, like this boilerplate version:
https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Business/corp41.pdf

or more detailed, like this:
https://www.eneighbors.com/!h_1392954912/public-document/13957833924

First, you never answer a question a while back, how many HOA boards have you actually participated on, and/or how many HOA's have you personally managed? You might be good at research and the use of Google, but that is about it.

The verbiage "directors, in their capacity as directors or officers may not be compensated", actually came from a set of Bylaws, not my writing. Treasurers, if also a director CANNOT be compensated, they might be reimbursed for out of pocket expenses. Many older Bylaws, which haven't been updated, won't require officers to also be directors. I have some HOA's currently that only the president to be a director and owner while the other directors or officer need not be owners.

Since I haven't managed any self-managed HOA's, I can only speak to experience of HOA's I've managed. While Bylaws may outline specific duties for both a director and a officer, I have found that most of those duties are relegated to a management company.

Fine info for Dakota, Augustin!

The "Articles" might help and they might say something about ("real") the Bylaws.

Yep. You can not help stupid..

If this summary is in some way in the form of rules and regs the Board created, then I would keep in mind that Boards usually have the lawful power to make reasonable rules concerning the use of common areas. If these roads are maintained by the HOA, the board might be in its rights to create reasonable rules regarding the roads' use. I am not sure whether the rule on 4 wheelers and 3 wheelers is reasonable. Same for the other rules on vehicles. I would want to know why they placed these restriction on the roads.

Your architectural issues (concerning your own lot) deserve the attention of an attorney. Alternatively, you could google on how to write a "letter of demand" and send it yourself. But in my experience, few posters here are capable of writing such a letter (concise; focused on the law; and giving the Board a brief warning about what may lay ahead if it continues to refuse to comply with the covenants/bylaws).

We disagree.

I haven't been denied for anything.... nothing you said is even accurate. Also that's great that you find it hard to believe but it's a fact! So move along.

Yes, the violations by your Board do appear to be simple in nature, obvious and egregious. And the solution, for 99.99% of the many directors who find themselves in your shoes, starts with either (1) hiring an attorney or getting the HOA attorney involved; or (2) working to get others who feel as you do elected to the board.

Possibilities (when dealing with certain HOA directors who are not giving up information they should give up):

-- If there is an HOA manager, ask the manager.

-- Submit a formal records request, pursuant to Missouri Nonprofit Corporation statute sections 355.821 and 355.826. See https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=355. Ask for all billing statements of the past year. Or maybe ask for all the invoices from the HOA attorney. Or ask for all Minutes and see if the name of the HOA attorney is mentioned in them.

-- If per chance your HOA has taken legal action in recent years, and you have a copy of any of the papers filed with the court, look up the case number at https://www.courts.mo.gov/cnet/caseNoSearch.do . Often the name of the the attorney representing the HOA is listed.

Dakota

Was your association originally a camping, tents, mobile home, camper, etc. part-time vacation type association or was it set up for year round living?

Of the 250 or so lots you said are there, how many have a year round living structure on it?