New Home Owner - Corrupt HOA - Help Needed

Hello all -I am a first time home owner and was so excited about my purchase but have been learning that our HOA Board is completely corrupt. To give a little background, I closed in February of this year. We a HOA meeting in April which I learned was the first one in over a year. Our bylaws state there needs to be one every six months, minimum. I have emailed the management company multiple times about a meeting that should be held this month with no reply. Also, there has not been an election in over 2 and a 1/2 years. I’ve asked about this as well and get no response. This is a large complex of 168 units and only 67 of those owners live on the property. The rest are all rentals which I now understand is above the 25% allowed per the new 2021 law. We have only $32,000 in reserves even though the HOA takes in over $1 million per year in dues. I also learned we have had a special assessment each year for the past four years and are expecting one in February. I love my place but this is turning into a nightmare. I’m trying to get on the board myself but without an election or a reply from the management company I don’t know how I can do so. After begging for and finally receiving detailed financial reports, I learned we employ a property manager, two full-time maintenance men, one part-time maintenance man, and a part-time cleaner who I’ve never seen. This equates to $114,000 per month. These people are on salary and not paid for the hours they work. There are currently only four board members. Only one board member actually lives here. Three of them own multiple units which they rent, and I realize this is not against the rules but I think something shady is happening. Two of the board members used to work for the same management company we use. My guess is that they’re using funds to fix issues with their units here and possibly using maintenance to repair issues at their other properties. I don't have any proof other than here say, but I don’t see 100 hours of repairs being made every week. The fitness center lock has been broken since I moved in, for instance. Seems like an easy fix for 2.5 repair men. I don’t know what I can do aside from hiring a lawyer which I don’t have money for at the moment. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you.

Hi - these are condos as of 5 years ago. They used to be apartments. I'm not sure what you mean but what does the HOA own or where I can find that. I pulled this from Davis-Sterling:

Types of Restrictions. Beginning January 1, 2021, associations are required to amend their governing documents to conform to the following rental caps and lease terms. Failure to amend governing documents to conform to these standards by December 31, 2021 could result in a fine of $1,000. (Civ. Code §4741(f)&(g).)
1. Rental Cap. This limits the total number of units in a development that can be leased. For example, no more than 10% of the units in the development can be rented at any one time. Beginning January 1, 2021, rent caps more restrictive than 25% are unenforceable and all associations with rent caps were required to amend their governing documents to conform to 25%.

I live in California if that helps.

Thanks!

Agree with janice--need much more info.

Are you a multi-story condo building? Or? How old? What amenities (Pool? gym?, lobbies)

There is a difference between Board meetings and meetings of the members (owners), which usually are for elections. board meeting are not called "HOA meetings' they're called board meetings. So I take it your Bylaws state there must be two board meetings a year?

Maintenance. If you have 167 condo units in a stacked building, a 1/2 time custodian is not enough. It's possible you're confusing maintenance (or "engineering") staff with custodial staff. Maintenace/engineers do a lot more than repair work IF you're a mutt story budding. The detailed financial reports which you now have will show you what money was spent on in your building(s). You'll see a contractor name and the work completed.

So early on, I think it's a mistake to conclude that the Board is taking $ and using it for their own purposes. that's a huge accusation and you're only speculating.

Susan,

So now, based on what you have presented, here is my take.

1. You purchased a condo conversion, which will not have the same building standards as a condo from the beginning. Based on history, you will have much more in repairs.
2. Not having an election in almost 3 years is unacceptable.
3. With the setup you described, it is more than likely that board members could be having the maintenance staff fix up their units. It's also possible, if the office is
renting or selling a unit, they may be involved in this scheme also.
4. Bylaws will require an annual meeting, in which elections are held. There may be a very good reason why they don't want elections or change.
5. The minimum number of board meetings was generally quarterly to meet the requirement of reviewing association finances. Now the requirement to review the association is to
be done on a monthly basis. I will guess the vast majority don't adhere to that requirement.
6. Are your total monthly expenses $114K or just those few you mentioned.
7. Based on experience, with a community of 168 units, there should not be annual special assessments. That is just plain financial mismanagement.
8. Lastly, there is a serious conflict of interest with your office manager!

Sorry for the late reply, I had to jump on a work call. Apologies for the dumb questions but again I’m a first time home owner. We have a property management company that is completely useless. They send out monthly HOA invoices for dues and that’s about it. We also have a property manager in addition to the maintenance men and cleaner. Those positions combined total $114K per MONTH. I asked for a breakdown of each salary and was told they couldn’t send it to me as it’s confidential. I pointed out that because my dues are paying their salaries that it’s not illegal and I want to see the breakdown. But of course it was ignored. Common areas are a pool, small laundry room, and a small gym. Each building is freestanding outdoors. There are no hallways or carpets or stairwells. There are about 15 cement steps that go to the unit above me. We all have wood plank patios and those are owned by the HOA. Every other issue I seem to find is to be covered by the owner, including in wall plumbing. They use ONE plumber who is super expensive and use the excuse that he is the only one in Los Angeles that is certified to turn of the boiler on the roof. I investigated myself and this is not true. He is a friend of one of the HOA board members. I asked for comp bids for the last repair they had done on one of the roofs and was told they don’t provide that. I have no idea where my money is going. The finance statements shows us in the red from 20149 and they have not provided a statement for 2020 even after repeated requests. I don't know when they’re having board meetings which I must’ve mixed up with association meetings. We hadn’t had an association meeting in over a year until April and they are supposedly planning one in December. I’ve asked repeatedly for the election process to get underway and I’m told they’re working on it. I also felt there is a conflict of interest with the office manager but apparently I’m the only one that questions anything. Everyone else seems to go with the flow. The problem is we have so many renters no one cares. Small rolls are broken all the time like trash left outside the dumpster large pieces of trash and furniture. We’ve had a loveseat in the outside parking garage for six weeks. Etc. But I’m just looking to get our finances in better shape. If I get on the board my first order of business will be to fire the management company and get a new one. I don't know what to do and cannot afford $2K every year for special assessments. I also don't want to sell as I just bought the home and fixed it up to where I love it.

You're paying almost $500.00 a month for a pool and laundry room. I think that's pretty steep to say the least.

Is my only option to get on the board? Even so, if I am outnumbered in any vote it won't do much good. I want to get the current manage company fired and bring in a new one. There office building has boarded up windows with their sign out front and the phone number is a voicemail only and no one ever calls back. They occasionally response to the email address. Any other suggestions?

Thanks so much for the help!

Susan, this is a terrible predicament to be in, during what should be a very exciting time. (The purchase of your home.) Does your county/state have an HOA dispute resolution entity?

Hi susan,

you may be outnumbered by renters with regards to occupancy.

but renters don't vote.

If you have owner support you can easily affect change.

This will be tough for you to resolve, you have my sympathies. I bet half the HOA's in the country have dysfunctional or corrupt boards and a bad PMC. This is largely due to the total apathy of the community, apparently it is just human nature. You will find that you have very little legal recourse.

When I moved into my neighborhood I got onto the BOD at the next annual meeting, largely because nobody else volunteered. The board had completely turned over all responsibility to the PMC, all the way down to when and where meetings were held and what was on the agenda to be rubber-stamped. Nobody even knew where the bylaws were, I had to dig them up. It turned out they had never even been filed with the county and ratified (after more than 15 years). Its a real nice neighborhood, too.

It took me more than 2 years to finally straighten things out, and that only happened because one of the "on the board for life" people moved away and I was able to recruit a replacement who cared. The PMC then saw the writing on the wall and resigned, and then the president and the treasurer also resigned. Fresh board of new recruits, things are mostly back in order. But wow, what an ordeal.

Thank you Bernie - any info can be helpful so much appreciated.

In CA, HOAs must send the names and HOA addresses of all Owners to any owner who requests them. Is your request in writing, Susan? Is the PM's reply that they're "confidential" in writing?

How often do your Bylaws say there must be Board meetings? Are they held? Do you attend (in person or electronically)?

With others, you're in a tough spot, but urging other Owens to be on the Board will certainly help you deal t with the management company.

I was not aware of that law, so thank you! I will email them again asking and yes I have the previous conversation via email.

thanks everyone!

Is the Board holding meetings? Are you attending? Read your Bylaws to see how often they need to hold open meetings.

Also either your Bylaws or possibly your CC&Rs should state that you have access to owners' HOA and home addresses.

Do poke around the website that Augustin gave you for many answers to your questions since you're in CA.

Hi all - a quick update - below is the recent exchange I had with our management company. I'd start at the bottom. I would love any input - thanks!

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

My polite and friendly emails got no response and as a paying member of this association, I am due a reply. I’m not following the excuse below. Can you explain why the election has been postponed for three years? Please state which law prevented you from holding an election and provide backup documentation. When did the previous attorney retire, as we have been asking for an election since April 2021? Has this HOA not had an attorney for the past seven months? Why was this information not communicated to the HOA members? Aren’t we supposed to be informed by law of these proceedings? This is exactly why you should have held an HOA meeting in October, as I requested several times and as outlined in our bylaws. Instead, you finally responded to one member only after threat of legal action. We employ you to handle our affairs, not the other way around. There is no excuse for your poor management and lack of communication. As I understand it, an HOA is required to implement new civil codes as outlined by state law and you are not exempt from them and there is no adoption or review required.

I look forward to receiving the list of home owner’s contact information.

Thank you.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

From: B2RE Customer Service

It was necessary, by law, to postpone the election process.
The civil code as to which you refer was not adopted by the HOA and will need to be in order for the election to proceed. The previous attorney retired and a new attorney is being hired to begin the process and hopefully will be completed soon.

The aggression is not necessary, The board wants the election to be held as soon as possible, but was forced to take this action.

We were asked to confirm with the board’s attorney regarding the email addresses and will respond once we have clarification.

Thank your patience.
Tara Village Board of Directors.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Hello – what is the status of the election? Why is this taking so long? As a management company you should be well aware of the process. I am floored that you have absolutely no idea how to set this up. The homeowners have been asking for an election since April and I have personally been asking since September. It has been almost THREE years since your last election. This is a violation of our bylaws, as well as California State law, that an election must be held annually. This is also my THIRD request for a contact list for the home owners, which is required by law (see civil code again below). You should have held a meeting for the homeowners last month, as it is required every six months per our bylaws. All of these infractions are subject to immediate recall of the board, but I would prefer that we homeowners prepare for those who wish to run. If you do not respond to this inquiry shortly, I will be contacting my attorney. Your lack of communication and management of our HOA is ridiculously unacceptable.

Thank you.

Beginning January 1, 2020, members' email addresses officially made available to an association are required to be added to the membership list information. Civil Code §5200 defines "Association records" to include membership lists with email addresses.

Corporations are required to keep a record of its members, with their names and addresses. (Corp. Code §8320(a).) Members have the right to inspect and copy the association's membership list (Civ. Code §5200 and §5205). A membership list is defined to include a member's name, property address, mailing address and email address, but not including information for members who have opted out pursuant to Civil Code §5220. (Civ. Code §5200(a)(9).)

Hello again - I have been emailing the below questions to the management company twice a week for almost three weeks now and they just don't reply. I'm at a loss as to what to do. They won't give a homeowners contact list so it's really hard to rally the troops here. Every person I run into on the property to speak with seems to be a renter and therefore they don't care. Any other courses of action that I can pursue?

Thank you all !!

Why has there not been an election in almost 3 years?
The HOA members requested an election be held back in April of 2021 – why has this not taken place?
Why must you have an attorney in order to hold an election?
What was the previous attorney’s name and when did they retire?
What is the status of finding a new attorney?
What law is prohibiting an election from being held?
What is the status of my repeated request for a contact list of the HOA members?
Why has there been no HOA member meeting since April, 2021 when it is required every 6 months as written in our bylaws and when will one take place?

there was no IDR - shocking - thank you - I will check the Sterling Davis site!

Agree with Augustin. Do not ask "why?" Simply demand your rights. Eliminate some items like the name, etc., of the last attorney.

Do read about IDR at Davis.Stirling (note correct spelling). Double check your Bylaws. Your state that the must be two owners meetings a year,
but that would be very unusual. I think they might say there should be two open Board meetings a year??

Of course you do.

Why in the world are you so obsessed with me, Max, that you are compelled to make snide remarks about my answers to the OP?

"Members," Susan, refer to owners. So your Bylaws might say that the annual meeting and election is a "members meeting" or meeting of the members.

That's different than a board meeting. The Board comprises directors many or most of whom also might be officers of your HOA. Owners elect directors. And directors among themselves choose officers in an open board meeting (in CA). Directors on boards are sometimes called "board members." So that is often confusing to new owners. Your friends do not attend "Members meetings" every month, but board meetings.

Now your bylaws probably say that the Board must hold meetings at least twice a year. In CA, board meetings MUST be open to members (Owners). At board meetings, Owners usually only have one chance to speak to the board And that is called Open Forum. But, possibly diue to the pandemic, your Board doesn't seem to have held even the two required open board meetings a year. They should have held meetings via Zoom, but it sounds as though they did not. This is wrong. the trouble is, you seem to have no support to try to fix this.

I know this doesn't help you overall. Your situation is so difficult because of the low # of owner-occupied residences.

Thanks Austin and Kerry. I purchased in Feb of this year and just missed having to pay a special assessment. They have issued a special assessment for repairs every year for the last four because the HOA has no reserve funds. If these repairs are not a true emergency then it looks like all members need to vote on any amount over 5% of the annual budget and that amount is split between owners. The CC&Rs are dated 8/5/2005 and state there needs to be a board meeting at least every 6 months. We had one in April via Zoom and that was the first in over a year, I was told. It seems they are breaking multiple bylaws and possibly State laws, but with no way to contact the other home owners and get them involved, I seem to be the only one trying to get an election going. There are now only 3 board members and none of them live here. I know this is allowed, but you can see why they couldn't give two sheets about the property or following the rules. It’s so frustrating. I am enjoying my condo and have good neighbors, but the looming special assessment for 2022 is a concern as are the lack of reserve funds. What if we have a real emergency? There are small items that need fixed (fitness center lock is broken as is the soda machine) and I have requested so several times, to no avail. I would love to get on the board but having them stonewall the election is making that impossible.

Are not members addresses on their houses?

If you would love to do it what is stopping you exactly? You have access to everyone's address. A simple walk would provide that to you. You would have to pay for postage for it to be mailed. Email is subject to people providing it. Even the MC isn't necessarily privy to email addresses. Plus it can be marked not to be released IF given to them.

I don't get why you can't do the legwork that has to be done to get what you want? You want THEM to provide you information? Well the information is mostly PUBLIC. It doesn't need someone to hand it to you. It's called pulling up your boot straps and doing the work.

BTW: My HOA? I took my dogs walking each and every day. Along the way I met neighbors. Got to know the area and the people. Did not ever have an email address of any of them. Got elected to the board and became President. So I don't know why anyone else can't do this. You work for the people anyways as a board member NOT for yourself.

Melissa - well aren't you just amazing! Can you suggest how I can run for board when they have not had an election in 3 years and have stonewalled me and refused to answer my repeated requests for an election? There has not been a board meeting since April 2021 so we members are not getting any information. As I said early, but apparently you just skipped to the last post, I have walked around to meet people and everyone I talked to was a renter. I asked them to pass my info off to their landlord, but I heard nothing back from any of them. I posted several flyers with an email address for those who wanted to get involved and NO ONE replied, not one person. So, I'm not going to waste over $135 dollars for postage and printing materials for the same response. How would I get these public addresses of the board members who do not live on the property exactly?

Again, please enlighten me how to get on the board and become president like you when they refuse to hold an election.

PS - a new civil code introduced in January 2020 states email address must be supplied upon request.