Condo/HOA rules

I seem to be saying this a lot – please write shorter sentences and use smaller paragraphs! This was hard to read. I know you want to get everything out, but it’s usually a good idea to have one thought per sentence and one idea per paragraph.

Now, it would appear these are your issues:

1) The board wanted your name on the checking account, but refused to let you review it and the association’s finances.

My observations - You were absolutely correct in refusing to go along with that. Did they ask you because you were an officer (e.g. president)? Even then, the name of the ASSOCIATION, not individual board members go on association accounts. Some associations have the president or treasurer sign the checks (and they must sign a signature card for the bank), and might also have two signatures if the checks exceed a certain amount

Y’all must be self-managed because this type of foolishness is common, although it can happen with a paid property manager who either takes advantage of a board that’s too trusting or simply not paying attention or conspires with a rouge board member or two. Regardless of who runs the daily operations, the association must be run as a business, not a board member’s individual piggy bank or slush fund.

I don’t know who’s left on your board with any type of business sense, but if you’re worried about possible waste and embezzlement (and you should be), I would hope there are some honest people left who can sit down with the association bank and get some assistance on how to set the accounts properly, along with some internal controls to protect against waste and embezzlement.

I also suggest you go to the Community Association Institute website, which has all types of educational materials on HOA issues, ranging from rule enforcement to self-managed HOAs. Go out there, take a look, and invest in a few. You may no longer be on the board, but in case you return (and you might), knowing what the best practices are and what can be adapted to your community would be nice

If you’re concerned about the ethics of the remaining board, or lack thereof, the best step would be to rally your neighbors together, vote them out via a recall, and then elect a new slate of people who will do things according to the documents. You’ll have to read your documents to see how to call special homeowner meetings (it typically starts with a homeowner petition). This takes longer and there’s more drama, but you want results that will be long-lasting – at least until the board can get itself organized with some formal procedures and protocols. Yes, you may need to volunteer to return, so decide now what you want to do and how far you want to go.

2) You drafted a guideline on fences that was approved by the board and apparently, none of the homeowners objected to it, but then after you resigned, your neighbor put up a fence that violated the guidelines and she didn’t submit an exterior change request. Now the new fence has created a hazard because you can’t see the street while backing out.

You filed a complaint with the board about this, but they apparently backed down after the neighbor’s boyfriend threatened another board member because HE built a deck that wasn’t in compliance with the bylaws. That board member resigned and then the board approved the fence because the guidelines you wrote weren’t documented in the board meeting minutes. And now you want to know if you would win if you get an attorney and take this to court.

My observations: anyone can sue for anything, but filing a lawsuit vs. winning and then collecting are three separate issues. Most of us aren’t attorneys and what may be true in your state may not apply in ours, so you may end up going to a private attorney anyway. This is probably the situation you can address right now, so here’s one person’s opinion.

Since you WERE on the board, did you and your colleagues bother to READ YOUR DOCUMENTS to see what it said regarding rule-making authority by the board? Did anyone check the CCRs to see if your guidelines might conflict with them? The board may have rule-making authority, but they cannot supersede the CCRs. If you want to amend the CCRs, that’s not something the board can do by itself – you need a certain percentage of homeowners to agree to the change. You should have read all of this before proceeding with your guidelines.

For now, we’ll assume the documents give the board authority to establish additional rules – usually, this happens via a board resolution. Someone makes a motion to establish it, someone else seconds it, there may be some discussion, and then the entire board takes a vote, with majority rules. All of this must be recorded in the board meeting minutes because those are the official legal records of the association.

Since we are talking about design standards for a fence (it could also apply to windows, landscaping, etc.), it’s usually a good idea to poll the homeowners on how they feel about the proposed rule because if it becomes a community rule, they will have to comply with it. The board can then review the comments, make any revisions, and then vote. Once the resolution is made, there should be an effective date for when it takes effect (also part of the resolution and recorded in the minutes).

Oh, CCRs usually regulate things like exterior change requests and use of the common area, while Bylaws usually address how the community is to be run, like the number of board members and whether the board has the authority to appoint a replacement to serve out a term if someone quits.

I don’t get the feeling that any of this happened in your situation – you said you didn’t hear from the homeowners regarding the guidelines, but you can’t assume they were ok with everyone. It may be people didn’t see them or just ignored them (apathy in HOAs is a thing, which is probably another reason no one’s stepped forward to take the place of the former board members.

It also appears no one’s been diligent about rules enforcement – if you had a board member who didn’t follow the rules either when he built his deck, why complain about the neighbor’s fence? Did you talk to the neighbor yourself to try and resolve the issue?

CCRs can be enforced by one homeowner against another, so if your neighbor doesn’t want to try and resolve this, you could go to court (maybe small claims, where you wouldn’t need an attorney) to compel her to cooperate, but you’ll likely have to use the current guidelines, not the ones you wrote. You may also want to find out for certain your guidelines were approved – maybe the secretary or whoever was taking minutes forgot to write that down – which is another problem.

If the fence is a safety issue, start with trying to resolve that and then determine what to do about the board. Good luck to you.

I need to see the exact former wording in your declaration about fences. . This is the one Shelia is calling "CCRs," (Note: this probably is NOT a "Bylaw). Make sure you cite the exact wording of the document that this wordings is in, e.g., Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions. Or whatever the name of the document IS.

If the wording is in your Declaration of covenants, etc. also tell us the exact wording needed to change or amend any wording in the Declaration. Usually this requirement is near the end. May the board of directors make amendments or changes?? Or the Architectural control committee? Or must a certain large % of owners vote to make such changes?

Please give us the exact wording of the "amendment" you claim the board approved. You will find the wording in the minutes of that meeting. If you have no minutes, in my opinion, there was no legal change even if the Board allowed by your Declaration to make such a change/amendment. If legal, I believe the amendment would have to be recorded with your county. Is it?

Say, does this new fence possibly violate Township statues?? Check to see!