Mandating that BOD, officers and committee heads use HOA-specific email addresses?

Have you tried? Were you successful? Did you lose all your hair in the process?

The reason I'm asking is our HOA has a few people in our governing structure who:

1) Are using oddball (yahoo, aol and university) email hosts/addresses which occasionally play havoc with the mailing lists we use for group communication. Those hosts often shunt valid emails from our HOA into junk folders without warning.

2) Don't reliably include other governing members on email chains.

I'm also concerned about data retention, which I have near zero control over with communications going to places like aol and universities.

I'm seriously considering mandating that BOD, officers and heads of committees use email addresses from our HOA domain in much the way any employee of a company would use a company address.

I know I'll get some resistance from a few people in our HOA but I can probably deal with that if I has some input from people who've done this longer and might have dealt with issues like this before.

As you expected, there isn't one.

I haven't trolled the NC HOA or non-profit corporation statutes for relevant verbiage yet but that's next on my list.

Years ago, all of our board members set up specific email accounts that were only to be used for HOA business - we received the same information Tim did about the danger of your personal or work emails becoming vulnerable if there was a lawsuit and everything in that account had to be given up so the attorneys could dig for the HOA stuff. Today, emails to the board go to one account - since I left in 2014, I assume the members still have dedicated accounts to receive responses.

This is one of those times where people need to act like adults - or suffer the consequences. They are responsible for ensuring the association has a legitimate email address so correspondence can get to them on time so it'll be addressed appropriately. If people insist on using emails that may go sideways and they try to blame the email ("but I'm not using that one anymore") they need to be called out on their BS. In my job we have limits on using company emails for personal business (like HOA board matters) and any excessive or inappropriate use could result in you being tossed from the company, so some of these folks need to get with the times and pay attention.

You don't say if you're board president - if so, you know or should know you probably can't mandate a lot by your lonesome, so mandating specific emails might require a vote - even if it does make perfect sense to use something from your HOA domain. Make your suggestion, explain what's happening - in fact, offer up an example or two where people didn't respond on time because they provided the wrong email address. You don't have to name names - just provide enough information so the person or people you're referring to know exactly what you're talking about. Then the decision is up to your colleagues. If the naysayers get outvoted and whine, let them (next time, they can be called out by name - let's see how they'd like that!)

I am one of those people who don't use a "conventional" email. Why? Security reasons. I never recommend someone named "John Smith" uses email address as: [email protected]. Plus be careful of your signature block as well. I use multiple "fake" email addresses not using my real identity. This is how your identity get stolen or passed around.

It also should be noted as Tim pointed out, that IF you use your WORK computer to communicate, you do NOT own your WORK computer. What does that mean? It is subject to your company rules. They have a RIGHT to your email and email history. Plus in "discovery" process ALL your work email may be subpeoned.

So if you email account for your HOA is rejecting emails or going to your junk box, check your settings. Check the junk box and mark the email "Not Junk". Make it so you include checking the junk box as long with the inbox.

It's just a bad idea and risks additional identity theft to have people use their real names as part of their email address. People do it yes. People also get their ID stolen and wonder how that happened too..

No, per our attorney, e-mails (except for votes) are not considered records of the association.

Good post AFAIC. What would most motivate me to avoid long email discussions is indeed the fact that they are discoverable if litigation arises. Furthermore and pre-litigation, one side's attorney has the legal right to order the other side's clients to freeze their accounts and delete nothing, or else face the judge when it's found that emails were deleted.

HenryS7, I thought your HOA attorney spoke of this, while at the same time distinguishing this from what records an owner may inspect under corporate records statutes? For the most part, pursuant to an owner's right to inspect official records of the HOA, owners should not expect to see email exchanges.

To support the OP a bit, I would say that, as President, he presides at meetings. I do not think he can preside and be effective during a multi-participant email exchange. As President; to ensure order; and while pushing topics that arise during email exchanges off to actual board meetings, as often as possible; the President may be within his rights to ask (order?) all to use a certain email address.

Unless your governing documents are unusual, the board makes decisions, so one person cannot mandate anything. Even if the board required using specific emails, you could not enforce it. In most cases elections and recalls are the only way to control a board member. Would you consider a recall because someone insists on using an unsanctioned email address?

If you are concerned about retaining the emails, anyone receiving or sending an email can retain it.