Mediation

This sounds like you're the homeowner - and you lost. That's unfortunate, but remember, you could have gone straight to court and still lost the case. Lawsuits can be a 50/50 prospect at best - it comes down to who has the better case - and sometimes the better attorney. Or the right judge and sometimes all three, with a bit of dumb luck.

I still think alternative dispute resolution is worth a try - last chance before all the expense and headache of a trial. You said you could choose the arbitrator and there are assorted artists led on re web on what to consider. For example, it helps if you can find someone who's had experience in hearing HOA disputes. Someone who has gone through a certification program can also be useful, although that doesn't guarantee anything.

There may also be mediation programs. In a mediation, the mediator listens to both sides and tries to get the two to meet in the middle, whereas an arbitrator is similar to a judge - listen to both sides and then render a decision if possible, is prefer someone who's done both, as he or she may be more inclined to listen out for underlying causes of disputes and look to resolve that.

Now having said all that remember, the homeowners still control who's on the board. If a board acts like they can do what, it's because the HOMEOWNERS don't keep them under control. Likewise, there are homeowners who are completely unreasonable and think they should get what they want the way they want it. Life doesn't work that way - sometimes the answer is no, Whether you agree or not.

I'm sorry if your situation didn't work out - now you have to decide where you go from here. It may be You need to consider running for a seat on the board or supporting some like minded people. Good luck to you.

FYI, the part in bold is exactly what they're supposed to be doing, especially with social media. The board is accountable for everything that appears on HOA sites, and any site that allows homeowner to post freely will collect misinformation, false accusations and defamatory comments, bad language, copyright violations, photos of minors posted without parents' permission, and other things that can result in legal action against the HOA. Our attorney tells us flat out not to allow homeowners to post, and if we do then we must monitor the site and remove any post that violates the site's Terms of Service - up to and including denying repeated violators access altogether.

The other stuff is obviously not good - and how on earth are you achieving quorum with only 11 votes out of 200 homes?

Unfortunately, the only practical way to get rid of a bad board is by electing new directors. Also unfortunately, if people are as apathetic as you say, it doesn't sound like enough people are seeing things the same way you are, and you need like minded allies to reform a dysfunctional board.

As with nearly all HOA issues, it will boil down to fix it, live with it, or move. There are limitations on anyone's ability to fix things, leaving only living with it or moving as options that individuals totally control themselves. It's the reality of HOA living that most people don't understand until they buy and have a bad experience.

The board has said numerous times that the Facebook page is NOT AFFILIATED with the HOA, and they will not talk about anything HOA related. BUT, they make announcements, then turn off commenting. They can't have both.

The page was started by a resident when we did not have an HOA. People chatted, put up ideas for the community, at times complained about this or that, but then the guy decided he did not want to be an ADMIN anymore, so one of the HOA board members said she would take it over, and then invited the president of the HOA to also be an ADMIN. They posted a statement that this page was not affiliated with the HOA, and to direct any questions or comments to the property manager or the HOA and blah blah blah address. However, then they began to make announcements HOA related, like elections, or rules, or whatever, and when people tried to comment, they turned off commenting. They decide what people can post. Residents tried to converse regarding the election and they stopped it and said that page was not for that type of commenting, it only leads to discourse, so they shut it down. People then backed off and that led to the apathy.

During our last election, I asked for the HOA to have a zoom meeting where we could meet the candidates, they refused, stating that it would make it seem like they were favoring a candidate which they did not want to appear to do. We then asked if we could put up a post on Facebook where the candidates could give a platform, they also refused citing favoritism, So, we ended up having a meeting at one of the residents homes for the candidates, and who shows up? The president who is there to support her friend running for the board!!!! She is sitting next to a former board member who rips into into me calling me a liar and a troublemaker and spinning a false narrative of a fictional event.

To make things worse, the property manager never sends out ballots because "there is nothing in our documents" that governs elections, so they take a vote from the floor, 11 people vote, that is all that shows up. They do not allow anyone to speak, only vote, and their candidate gets in again.

I could go on all day, but bottom line is this, the HOA controls everything that is said or done in our community. We have no live meetings, only Zoom and they cut mics so people can't talk. Everyone is just done with it, and they just do not participate so the board feels like it can do what it wants to do with impunity.

The CCR's are not followed, they decide which ones to follow and will not even allow a meeting for a grievance, even though our documents plainly say we are entitled. I am beating my head against a wall with it since no one else seems to want to do anything, and so this is our reality. As long as the community allows it, it will be the way it is.

I asked a friend why she is like that and does not participate and she told me she wants to be "invisible" to the HOA and just live her life and as long as they stay away from her, she is happy. Just tell her what to pay in dues and she will pay it.

As I see it, the problem here is that the board is inconsistent *and* much of what you're objecting to is normal business practice in HOAs.

The good/normal business practices:

* trying not to show favoritism
* controlling the official information that's posted
* controlling participation during board meetings (it's the president's job to run the meeting, they *should* mute non-speakers, and homeowner participation in board meetings should be limited to the homeowner's "forum" section unless the board has specifically asked for feedback for a particular issue)
* controlling participation during the annual meeting (again, no one has a right to speak whenever they want to - there is an agenda that must be followed, and homeowners are typically allowed to speak during the Q&A or homeowner forum portion of the meeting only unless specifically asked to comment at other times)
* elections via in-person floor votes vs. mail-in ballots (unless your bylaws or state law say otherwise) - this is *very* common and is necessary if you allow nominations from the floor

The not-good:

* selective enforcement
* not holding hearings for violations
* ineffective handling of feedback from the community
* inconsistency in general (although some of this is inevitable in any HOA as directors come and go and the new folks have different ideas)

In general, a lot of people get upset with HOAs because they expect them to function like social organizations when they're actually corporations and are required by law to use a corporate form of governance.

This means that the board calls the shots - directors have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the corporation, and this is what allows homeowners to hold them accountable. The buck stops with them. Homeowners have *no* duty to act in the best interest of the HOA, and may act in their own self-interest even if that is actually harmful to the HOA. This is why homeowners don't get to make the decisions except for a few specific things (eg. voting for directors at the annual meeting and voting on proposed amendments to the CC&Rs).

If directors behave as though they're running a club, they're not doing their jobs.

Many come on her to bytch and will not put in the work to make changes. Theyt often go away after a few bytching posts.