Association booked meeting on a date I cannot attend and refuses to rebook on a date I, and everyone else, said they can attend

Association asked everyone to advise when they were available, then booked a meeting on a date I am unavailable. I asked them to reschedule to a date I am available (and everyone said they, too, were available), but they refused. Do I have any recourse/is there anything I can do?

Read that again. She said she was not available but the others said they were. It did not read that others had the same issue of availability.

Ellen: You are a delight; what a fun idea.

Bill:
Association = homeowners association (HOA)
Everyone else = all the owners
Role = owner

You got it - it is all 'gotcha' or 'retribution' nonsense. I want them to abide by the CC&Rs, within reason (I don’t want them to use HOA $ for purposes our CC&Rs forbids, I don’t want an individual owner to do whatever they want with common property, and on and on). They don’t think they have to abide by the CC&Rs and they don’t. “Gotcha” is actually an understatement.

How many people are we talking about? Like Bill said, what is "everyone" = you and two, five, 15 owners? How does that number compare to the total number of owners? What kind of meeting is this?

If the majority stated they were available on X date and time, that's what the board has to go with. Everyone's schedule is different and sometimes the best you can do is find a date somewhere in the middle that will accommodate as many as possible.

What kind of meeting is this? A members meeting? A board meeting? Sounds like a meeting of the members. Can you tell us what is on the agenda? If it involves matters that owners vote on, you may send in your a ballot since in-person attendance isn't needed in CA elections for directors or to amend the CC&Rs or bylaws.

Say, Liz, it's hard for many of us to remember the situations in every HOA that's discussed here. So, in your case, It's good to answer certain questions in your original post to remind us, or sometimes to introduce newer readers to your topic.

You're a non-director in an HOA of four dwellings. Two or three of the homes contain at least one director. I think that's close? This info will help other posters. BillD (& I, too) want to know who in the Assoc. asked about availability.

Update: I had told them I could not make the date they selected. They had said too bad. I said anything done at that meeting would be invalid because incorrect notice was given (you nailed it, Terri). Crickets. I just got an email saying they could not make their date. Or my date. And wanted to select a third date when we all could meet.

1. I assume my telling them their meeting would be invalid made them rethink the wisdom of holding their meeting
2. I am guessing they are asking for a third date (instead of using the date I wanted where that everyone had said they were available) to save face
3. I really, really, really hate this petty garbage

Anyway, issue solved, thanks.

Now, off to the next issue. And we all know there will be one.

As we left the courtroom in our last case, my husband said to the bailiff "see you in 3 months." He laughed because he had been present for all the cases and congratulated us when it ended.

When Liz first started commenting about the issues she was having in her tiny (4 unit) condominium, I cautioned that there are consequences to maintaining an adversarial relationship with the rest of the neighbors/board. Things that you can get away with in a large association can make your life pretty uncomfortable in a tiny one. If I understood her correctly, she said she was OK with it.

This is what those consequences can look like. And unlike with a large association where board members can come and go, in a 4-unit association they're pretty much permanent unless they sell their homes. So the bad relationship is likely to persist even if one or more parties decides to quit fighting.

A HOA does not have to do with home property values. They are to make sure your houses are attractive to potential buyers. Property values are based on real numbers not if you follow the rules or not. The rules enforcement is to make sure your appearance is nice and the common property bills paid for.

Melissa, if your HOA is there, as you say, to “make sure your houses are attractive to potential buyers,” then it follows that they, by extension, have a very real impact on “property value.”

If you are interested, here is a further update (because the fun never ends).

Act 1: HOA asked everyone for availability, then booked meeting on a date I am unavailable. I asked them to reschedule. They refused.

Act 2: I advised meeting was invalid (incorrect notice). They cancelled. And again asked for availability.

And, now, Act 3: HOA booked meeting without taking availability into account. And again sent incorrect notice. And again I advised them of this. We’ll see what happens next.

FYI:
I would not believe this building if I was not living it. They scoff when I tell them we all have to follow the CC&Rs.

No, I can’t move.

Do you really think I am talking about a trash can? I'm talking about real issues like the HOA neglecting the common area and violations that must be noted in the Minutes (such as when they result in a vote) which a potential buyer will read or deferred maintenance or inappropriately used HOA funds and so on. This could cause a buyer to value the property less and offer less or it could scare a buyer completely away.

Liz, you (and Terri, too) have far too many things to worry about than Melissa's opinions, which often (tho' not always) are wrong.

Say, Liz, what was "incorrect" about the meeting notice "they" sent? Who is "they?"

I go back to a comment I made on one of your earlier posts. It's three against one and it appears nothing you say will compel these people to behave. You say you can't move, and if they're spending money without proper authorization, you may have no other choice but to sue. Depending on how much money is at stake, you might be able to do it in small claims court.

In that lawsuit, you could put everything else on the table - this repair situation is separate and I'm not sure I like your chances in succeeding in that, because you never checked with anyone else on your first message. Then again, if we're talking about water damage, a judge may agree this was a true emergency and you might win. Especially if you could show these folks didn't respond is because they've demonstrated that they don't like you and would ignore you, regardless of the subject.

The dart throwing has to stop, so personally I would seriously consider petitioning for receivership because none of you are capable of putting the personalities aside and focusing on prudent management of this building, If a judge put you in charge it still wouldn't work because too much ish has already been tossed from all sides. And to be fair, we've only heard your side- how do we know there hasn't been drama coming from YOU?