Notification of Membership of Amended By-Laws

I'm surprised such an amendment was even necessary. Boards always enter into contracts without homeowner approval - it's how corporations work.

I suppose it's possible some bylaws have an exception to this, but I've never heard of one in any HOA or COA. Some other form of community association, maybe...

As for HOAs being covered under IRS 501c, the vast majority are not because they're not social welfare organizations. They are non-profit corporations, but they pay taxes.

And you'll need to define what you mean by "gambling" and "promoting".

We aren't attorneys, and since we're from different states, what's true in yours may be wrong in mine and not addressed at all in a third.

That said, step one for you is to read your documents - start with the bylaws, which usually dictate how the association is to be run. That's where you'll find the powers of the board. You'll also find instructions regarding amending documents like the bylaws.

Usually you do need homeowner approval to amend the documents, so if the board didn't do that, you and like minded neighbors should get together to consider your options. The best might be to hold a special homeowners meeting to discuss all this and compel the board to explain themselves. This may lead to a recall vote, but you'd better have homeowners ready to step up and take over (including YOU, if necessary).

As far as the gambling is concerned, how do you know that's what's going on? It could be a charity event (there are ways to do it, but you may need to run it past your local prosecutor's office to be sure).

If someone's running some sort of gambling operation, it may be a matter of calling police so they can investigate and you don't need to contact the IRS (they'll get involved sooner or later anyway).

A lot of this could be fine, or it could be a problem.

Re: the new board, new directors don't force the old ones off. It sounds like you had an election and the new board members, who had an agenda, had enough support from the community to get themselves elected. That's exactly how it's supposed to work.

Re: management companies, many homeowners object to having one because they don't want to pay for it - but they're also nowhere to be found when it's time to do the work.

There is some overlap between board skills and management skills, but there are differences too. Hiring a pro to do what the board isn't good at is sensible.

And serving on the board is time-consuming without management duties thrown on top. If the board members don't have enough time, then things won't get done. So hiring a professional manager is sensible for this reason as well.

A very small community with no amenities is probably suited for self management, but this community doesn't sound like one of those.

As far as the gambling goes, who knows... There are plenty of church festivals that offer similar games with prizes, and as far as I know they're not breaking the law or running afoul of the IRS. I think a lot will depend on the details, including whether the games are only open to community members.

I'm offended by criminality and losing 501c 4 status of our community. Are you judging? I thought this was a forum.

There are no charities involved it's a party with booze and fistful of cash and lottery scratchoffs

Lol

You're wonderful for citing the statute section you think may have been violated. I read FS 720, FS 718 (for condos) and FS 617 (nonprofit corporation act) a lot.

Please look at FS 720.306 (1) (b). The latter states inter alia:

Within 30 days after recording an amendment to the governing documents, the association shall provide copies of the amendment to the members. ... The failure to timely provide notice of the recording of the amendment does not affect the validity or enforceability of the amendment.

See http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0720/Sections/0720.306.html

You could ask the HOA to provide notice, pursuant to FS 720.306. But if the HOA does not, then I think you have a hard battle ahead to make this failure count for anything.

Regarding possible violations of the Internal Revenue Code and Florida gambling laws: The IRS site of course has forms you can complete to fill out suspected violations by nonprofits. You seem studious, and this gives any report of a violation a better chance. You can always try. Maybe start a new thread on the topic of reporting a HOA for violations of the IRC, and I will give this my best effort. Caveat: As you probably know, the IRS remains incredibly backed up now on account of Congress's marching orders to it for pandemic relief. Even before the pandemic, the IRS had a hard time getting to reports of violations of the tax code by nonprofits.

Do you think gambling laws are also being broken? I see Florida recently (like the past three months) established the Florida Gaming Control Commission (pursuant to law passed in 2021). I cannot turn up any contact information for the Commission at this time, though.

This forum has seen a number of reports of HOAs being 501(c)(4) organizations. The status of 501(c)(4) for a HOA is unusual but not unheard of. To me, there's no question that a small fraction of HOAs do routinely complete whatever paperwork is required to maintain 501(c)(4) status. I believe there are even attorneys specialized in getting a HOA converted to this status, if circumstances sufficiently support doing so.

Though since this is so rare, I think it's certainly worth asking anyone here who claims their HOA is a 501(c)(4) organization to make sure they have their facts correct.

Monthly. Games of chance and as previously stated, unscratched lottery tickets

Google Raffles and Games of Chance Becker Law

Ok, it's monthly and there are games of chance and unscratched lottery tickets - so how long has this been going on, whos sponsoring this, does that person collect the money and where does it go? And you STILL haven't said if you've discussed any of this with the board. If you're really worried about something illegal going on, file a police report and see what happens.

Get that question answered first and then you can ask the association attorney about the HOA's 501C status and if it might be put at risk for this.

It absolutely is a 501c (4)

I wasn't judging. I was just interested in why this was a hot spot for you. I don't gamble or drink so I don't have opinions on it at all.

However, I'm not sure the state would see lottery scratchoffs as gambling since it's state sponsored gambling. Cash prizes, unless a couple of hundred dollars for bingo, could be a problem.

We do have bingo (and bring your own drinks) at our clubhouse every month. We also have card games in our card room. But no one is there to monitor the card games so if they play for a cash jackpot - who knows?

If you really believe your HOA is breaking the law by this, I would first send a letter to the board citing the statute they are breaking so that you are giving them notice to correct. Then if that doesn't happen, go ahead and report to the IRS. You have every right to do that.

https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/exempt-organization-gaming-and-unrelated-business-taxable-income