Emails

The president of my association sent an email stating a homeowner was calling other homeowners stating the board was stealing money.and this homeowner had claimed this on prior boards and that owner was demanding a forensic audit.the president went on to say that it was harassment and slanderous and any homeowner that caused the board to hire counsel,would be charged for the attorney fees,and that if you heard from that homeowner,to state you are up to date,and that you now know that they are behind in dues and owe the association money..I was told on an earlier request that the emails are private.should she be emailing homeowners about something like this when other owners ar.is this legal when other homeowners do not have this right to email others and freedom of speech ?

Well for #1 it is not me the president is referring to.but now that president sent email to all homeowners stating "let her know she is behind in regime's is not the homeowners jod,it's the board tos.to file lien or whatever steps they have in place.and most homeowners now have only heard the presidents personal letter,not both sides.so we as homeowners are not up to date

(Condominium situation)

-- Freedom of speech protections generally apply to situations where a federal, state, city or county government is censoring speech in appropriately. Such protections do not apply to HOAs and COAs.

-- Your recourse is to request from the COA a copy of the membership list pursuant to the SC Horizontal Property Act (a.k.a. the SC Condo Act) and snail mail owners about what is happening. Per the statute, the membership which will include snail mail addresses, but not necessarily email addresses.

-- Directors should not be using COA resources to spread lies. On the other hand, if an owner is telling people the board or manager are stealing without having definite proof, this is a huge legal mistake by the owner.

-- Your best options are either: Change the board makeup at the next election; move; or tolerate any bad behavior by the board.

Periods are your friend - please use them! Parts of thieves hard to read.

As you know, freedom comes with responsibility - it's one thing to review and he association financial reports and ask questions about spending or funding reserves, but it's another matter to accuse people of stealing or other had behavior, especially hounding have any proof.

You know full well how half truths and flat out lies have lead to all sorts of bad outcones, such as people being arrested for something they didn't do. it can take years to correct the issue, but by then, the person's life is nearly destroyed and he or she may never get his/her reputation back. This is why you have defamation of character, slander and libel lawsuits - and they can get really expensive for people who run their mouths without backing up what they say.

If the president's e-mail said this person is behind in paying assessments, that was inappropriate, but it's ok to say something like: some of you may have received emails or other correspondence claiming by the board of directors is stealing association funds. This is absolutely not true. Anyone is welcome to request and review budget documents, contracts and ask questions or make suggestions. ". I might also address specific claims made by this person and then end with the board is reviewing this matter with the association attorney to discuss options.

I really hope you didn't look at this and automatically believe it because you're upset over the engineering report issue you discussed in a previous conversation. Do you always believe everything that's written just because it's written without considering what was said and the source of that information? That's part of critical thinking - something too many people are incapable of doing these days.

It came from the president.through the office email.so I'm sure no one else wrote it due to only 1 person in the office and security there.