Who Defines the Duties of each Board Member

My treasurer has not allowed me or vice pres on bank account until this week. Now he tells me that I am not to over step my bounds when doing my job. Because he has taken up to a month to deposit checks some residents want me to receive the checks and I told them okay. He emails me and tells me that he handles all correspondences to the residences and I am stepping into his job. Legally am I able to operate things the way I would like... to keep things running smooth. I have complete support from Vice President and she is now trying to be put on the account. This has been going on over a year....Is it wrong to request certain duties from each person or if you are treasurer do you handle all things money and thats it? I really want to do whats right...Please help...

I like to think of all of us as a team but there are no bylaws. We are a new HOA and after a year+ not being able to see if any money is being spent or deposited you get frustrated and ask for help. So when I refer to the treasurer or the vice president as "my" I truly am saying this as my team members. Do you have any suggestions when there are no bylaws? When there are no bylaws and no cooperation from the treasurer what next?

VickiD1: We have asked you if you have proof that your HOA is indeed an officially recorded Community Association. Have you spoken with the local authorities/municipality to learn if the Developer has recorded with them?

It seems you have no recorded documents to follow; that's why I am asking again, and why this is of utmost importance. Is the developer still on the scene and running things, and does he have his 'appointed' people in roles of authority?

VickiD1 - I do not see where you stated you are President. So...what is your role on the Board? If as President, you chair each meeting, and while your governing documents may state that President and Treasurer can not hold a dual officership, that in no way should negate your ability or any Director's ability to inquire and receive information pertaining to all association related matters that can legally be made public. If the Treasurer wants to be a pain the @$$ than you can always make the request to the Board c/o the Management for the information you seek.

Vicki .
It is normal operating proceedure to have at least 3 signatures on any accounts of the Association, more if the ByLaws state that more are required. The President and Treasurer are always on any accounts no matter what the Treasurer wants.

Why do you not have access to the previous years statements and ledgers? Demand them as a Board action. Remember that there is strength in numbers and before a meeting of the Board will give you support from the membership. My guess is that they were done in a poor format or maybe just on sheets of yellow paper and are not in any order or understandable. Probably no fraud involved, just total amaturish bookkeeping.

Vicki, Vicki, Vicki.....Again, HAS THE DEVELOPER COMPLETED THE OFFICIAL TRANSITION AND TURNOVER TO RESIDENT CONTROL? Yes or No. For the developer
to 'no longer in the scene' does not answer the question.

Your role problem is a classic mistake that many organizations/teams make during the initial stages of setting up their association -- role confusion or diagreement. This should be one of the first items addressed when a new team, or a new team member, arrives on the scene. If you don't address it up front, it will come back to haunt you.

There are two important ingredients for a successful Board: One is getting the best people to serve as members and the other is making sure that they know what they are supposed to do. Too many Boards fall into the categories of; “rubber stamps" that dutifully follow the lead of the association’s president; micro managers" who get too caught up in the day-to-day operations of the organization and can't delegate to those responsible for making things happen; or “ineffective” who can’t make decisions, particularly tough decisions that may be unpopular with some members.

Most governing describe officer’s duties in very broad terms, leaving lots of opportunity for role confusion, overlaps, and/or omissions. As with any effective team, BoD members can’t perform effectively if role questions or overlaps are present. Don’t leave people to figure out things on their own. Get rid of role ambiguity. Nail down every person’s responsibilities with clarity, precision, and attention to detail. There should be no question regarding where one job stops and the next one starts.

As President, you should prepare a draft BoD roles & responsibility document that describes the role for each position in considerably more detail than may be provided in the govening documents, if any. This in turn, should be given to the BoD members for their concurrence, modifications or suggestions for improvement. Approving each other’s roles and responsibilities should then be discussed and approved at your next Board meeting.

Sample Roles & Responsibilities (R&R) for Association officers can be found through various Association websites or search engines. You should customize them so that they fit any unique situations you may have. Besides R&R clarification, there are likely many other elements of your business management infrastructure that must be addressed by your Board, in order to make it an effective one.

Located at www.***********.com under the Contents section, will give you a check list of items that should be in place during the initial year of operation. Since you apparently are an already established Association, it might provide a guide as to what topics should be revisited and addressed by your Board.

Good Luck
JoeK

Thanks Joe thats what I need to hear, contruction suggestions. I will read this again and also check out the check lists. Thank you for taking the time and guiding the honest hearted newbie. Anything else you can think of please leave here for me...thanks again!!!

Vicki,
You are not out-of-bounds for asking for the financials. Whether the MC or the treasurer prepares the financial reports, they should be done and distributed to every board member. Every board member has a fiduciary responsibility to the assn, which you would be shirking by not asking/demanding to see the financials on an ongoing basis. Btw, does your association have insurance, including for Directors and Officers (D&O) and is the treasurer bonded (and at an appropriate level)?

Sharon are the rules and regs for VA and WV close at all. Do you know that off hand. You are the closes person to me I think I have talked to.

There is no management company. It is just 15 properties owned by 12 people and 3 of us are on the board. I have contacted my insurance agent and I am waiting for a response. Thank you for the heads up.