Rouge board member / voting fraud

We are a 126 single family home retirement community and every since the present board president has been “elected” to our board, we have tried everything we know of to have her removed . She’s been on since 2016 and sometimes skipping a voting year. We’ve tried recalling several times but she and the management company she hired seams to always find a loophole. Because she is so controlling no one wants to be on the same board with her so she controls everything.She is very close friends with a person who rents a home in this community but since the market crash several years ago his out of town friends and family purchased a number homes and they put him in charge to illegally manage those homes as a unlicensed realtor..This includes acting as a rental agents to keep their homes occupied for a fee.Prior to her being on the board, I was elected to serve several terms which allowed me and the original management along with legal to take this man and his owner to a hearing. It was agreed that these off site owners were to get property management companies instead of this individual. When I was no longer on the board and unable to monitor this situation and the now present president instead of upholding this decision she saw a way to keep herself ton the board indefinitely by developing a relationship with this renter that if his those offsite owners give him their ballots she would agree not to honor the previous board’s decision and to agree to turn the other way when there’s an issue with his tenants. Now what once was a serene quiet community is controlled by someone who actually doesn’t care about our community but only her own personal interests.Our concerns and issues are never addressed at the board meetings so many of us have lost faith in our board because she continues to control everything.
Just lately, there was a request to have voting term restrictions to be placed on the agenda so the owners can have at least a chance to discuss it but even though this has been requested several times, it’s been months now and they still won’t even consider discussing it or putting it on the agenda. She's a bully and because of this and her inability to get along with others, we are now on our third management company and she has approved paying them twice as much as our original company where the going rates are still the same.Because of her bad decision, our association dues keep increasing.
I know this is a lot but we don’t know what to do about any of this, we need help…..

Your Bylaws specify that there must be a members (owners) meeting to elect a board every year, right Paulette? And you're saying that does not happen? What size is your Board?

Does your HOA have the Calif. Civll Code required Election Rules? The would've been updated in major ways in 2021 or 2022.

You must combine with other owners and following your Bylaws and Election Rules exactly call for a Special Meeting of the Members to conduct an election. You & others are talking about amending the Bylaws to institute "term limits" but it's clear the current prez won't permit that. The best erm limit is owners combining to vote out lawful directors.

In re-reading your post, Paulette, and the words that you're using, which doesn't show a lot of comfort with the language of HOAs or your governing documents, I'm feeling that a bunch of you need to combine funds to get advice for a real HOA attorney.

OR, there is a Calif poster here, who knows a lot about small claims court. Yours may be the type of issue with which she can help.

OK, lots of questions.

* What happened in the skipped year(s)? Covid? Did your community fail to achieve a quorum at the annual meeting, meaning no election could be held? In the latter case, the sitting board members remain on the board.

* What is going on with landlords really isn't anyone's business but theirs and maybe their tenants. They may be operating illegally, they may not be. People who own out-of-town property usually employ someone close by to manage their properties. This is a good thing - it's a sign that the properties are more likely to be well managed. And people can buy multiple properties in the same community unless there's rental restriction that limits the numbers.

* Are term limits allowed according to your CC&Rs and/or state law? If not, then there's no point in discussing them. Most HOAs don't have them, for a good reason - many of them have trouble finding enough volunteers to serve on the board, and if you kick out the remaining willing volunteers, you'll find yourselves in receivership. You won't like it. In addition, homeowners already have the tools they need to get rid of dysfunctional board members: attend the annual meeting and VOTE! Unless the current board is a criminal gang that's taken over, then it's the fault of the homeowners that this person is still in office.

This person may be the worst director that's ever served on an HOA board. In which case, you and your like-minded neighbors need to get organized and prepare to volunteers yourselves. If nothing else you'll find out whether enough others agree with you to get a new board elected. This can happen either through the annual election (the easier option) or through a recall-and-replace meeting (more difficult). What often happens is that people complain loudly about the current board, but when it's time to step up and do the work themselves, they decide maybe it's not so bad after all. Things usually have to get pretty bad before enough people decide to do something about it.

Reference for the OP's point: With a few caveats, California statutes require that property managers have a real estate license. Quick and dirty overview: https://www.primepropertypm.com/property-manager-real-estate-license-california/

Related aside: Under California law, HOA managers are not normally considered property managers.

My understanding is that if this person does not refer to himself as a "property manager" he is doing nothing illegal. I don't think there's any law that to place tenants in a rental property and be paid by that landlord requires a realtor license or ANY license. I cannot see how/why the HOA is involved at all.

The OP. wrote "...the original management along with legal [took] this man and his owner to a hearing. It was agreed that these off site owners were to get property management companies." I honestly do not think that HOAs can fore landlords to y use "real" offsite Property Managers."

In Calif. Owners may not "give" their secret ballots to anyone to deliver to the spot picked by the inspects of election. Owners MUST mail them or take them in person.

Violations have nothing to do with this arrangement between a resident and one or more owners. IF the prez is ignoring any violations but pursuing & enforcting others, THAT is the problem (not her motivation) . Owners should insist that all violations be treated/enforced equally.

Much, much more important is that this Board apparently comprises cowards who let this Prez run amok. According to th OP, they even let the president approve contracts e.g., with the MC. That is the Board's duty to preform.

Imo, Cathy's last paragraph IS the problem, not if one tenant's possible lack of perhaps-needed certification--if he's calling himself a Property Manager.

A property manager who is renting property on behalf of others is required to have a Real Estate Brokers license, in California.

A better thing would be for you to read the citation already provided.

The process of being elected President or any other office position isn't done by the general vote. It is done by the ELECTED BOARD. If this person is staying as the President it doesn't sound like anyone else wants the job. Unless they state one of the reasons they want on the board is to become an officer position.

The situation sounds more like a personal perception of the OP focusing on. They are so focused on finding something wrong or "illegal" to justify their dislike for the President person. My former HOA we had a long term President prior to my arrival. He was quite the piece of work. Since he had been there so long and did so much work for people, they just kept electing him. However, there was a group of people who saw through his facade and wanted him out. (It's a long story of use and abuse of the HOA).

I was able to get him voted out as President and put down to "Vice-President". The next election got him out of officer position. Finally off the board year 3. It took hard work. Had to SHOW the people I wanted the job. I stepped up and took on the HOA responsibility. Did not just complain and fantasize about "Someone" taking the job. If you are NOT willing to put in the work and SHOW the people your actions are good, then get out of the way. Let them do the job. They want the job and are doing it. Why do you care if your not going to do the job or participate than complaining?

Culture change is the hardest change to make. Unless your willing to become that culture change in your HOA, get out of the way. They are not doing anything illegal by having people whom rent out their homes using a company.

My edit of the OP's first post:

The HOA president is very close friends with a person (call him "Willy") who rents a home in this community.
 
Several of Willy's friends and family put Willy in charge to illegally manage their homes as an unlicensed realtor. Among other things, Willy acts as a rental agent to keep the friends' and family's homes occupied for a fee. Willy also helps make sure the tenants and their owners are not issued any violations.

Prior to the current President being on the board, I was elected to serve several terms. When I was serving, the board, the management and the HOA attorney took Willy and the landlord-owners involved to a hearing. The landlord-owners agreed to replace Willy with bona fide property management companies. Willy also agreed to this.

I am no longer on the board. The current president decided not to uphold the agreement with Willy and the landlord-owners. The president saw a way to keep herself on the board indefinitely by developing a relationship with Willy: If the landlord-owners give Willy their ballots the President would agree (1) not to honor the previous board’s decision and (2) to turn the other way when there’s an issue with the tenants.

PauletteK2, I think it is  highly likely that anyone  (including  you) could report Willy to the state and have the state investigate and enforce the law here and code of ethics for RE brokers here. If you want specifics of how to do this, then please post back and ask.

As for landlord-owners giving Willy their ballots et cetera: By itself, I do not see this as unlawful.

As for the current board not honoring the prior "agreement" with the landlord-owners and Willy: Under HOA law, I believe the current board is free to not honor the agreement. Also the current board is free not to enforce the covenants against anyone. As others here have indicated, the question becomes whether the owners will take action themselves to enforce the covenants; replace the board; and get the present board to replace the president. 

I was waiting for Paulette's specific claim of illegal actions but it never came.

I imagine you also believe the statutory requirements for having a medical license or passing the bar only apply to those who call themselves "doctors" or "lawyers."

This would be incorrect, of course.

Thou shalt not perform activities that qualify as the practice of medicine, law or property management without having the proper license.

I really hope someone is finding this exchange amusing.

Instructions on how to address situations, where someone is practicing xyz without a state required license, is abundant on the net, for California and any other state.

Before I post anything (and so contribute to thread derailment), I await the OP's request.

If it was poorly worded, so that the reader is left guessing what the H you were trying to say, no way would I agree with what you posted.

If "Willy" hurts the HOA, it's in his capacity as a renter and the oner is responsible. I still have not seen any reason why his activities are in any way opposed to typical HOA documents.

I'm personally acquainted with more than dozen people--probably close to 2 dozen--who've engaged in the activities I described above--including my spouse & me. The activities are informal-- often one offs. And you, elle, want to LOCK THEM UP? Show evidence that these activities are illegal. All you have shown is that a "Property Manager" must do thus & so to engage in the activities of that occupation.

But, I've never met anyone who's tried to pass themselves off as an MD--so I'm guessing that crime is rare.

I, by the way, did not take this thread in the direction of obsessing about an HOA tenant's conduct. Given the subject line, Paulette and her fellow owners have real issues about elections & voting that DO need attention.

Some people on this forum should be extra careful they are not practicing law without a license.

Playing devil's advocate ...

If a board knew that a landlord's guest/invitee/other third party was doing something adverse to the interests of the HOA, does the HOA have any obligations? Or any right or ability to stop the person?

One of my usual observations is that boards have a fiduciary duty to the HOA, while homeowners can act in their own self interest *even if that self interest is contrary to the well being of the HOA*. It's one reason why homeowners have limited ability to affect HOA decisions - ie., voting for board candidates, voting on amendments, sometimes voting on budget matters.

So back to the third party acting against the HOA's interests, I say that unless that person's actions are specifically restricted in the CC&Rs, the HOA should only take action if those actions result in provable economic damages of some sort - in which case they can try their luck in court. If the third party's actions are illegal but the HOA can't prove damages, then they're still free to rat out the third party to the appropriate entity. Which will then raise the possibility of tortious interference.

I can't generalize here. So many civil court cases depend on the exact details of particular situations, which is why relying on case law can be misleading. Makes for interesting musings at 4 AM...

Payment isn't necessary in CA. For example, if a non-attorney is drafting pleadings for someone else to use in court, he is practicing law without a license.

False.

In case anyone is wondering about the OP's original issue, she started a new thread:

Subject: Fraudulent voting and rogue board

Thank you. These articles narrow things down considerably. Either:

-- all members of HOATalk.com giving legal advice are practicing law without a license, in violation of California law;

or

-- all members of HOATalk.com giving legal advice are not violating any California law.

I wonder if the site owner knows of this problem.

Perhaps someone should report all the guilty parties here (like all the regulars) and this web site to the California bar.

I saw the new thread that revealed this is a 55+ community, which changed my opinions. The stakes are higher, and the board has different (more) obligations according to the law.

How many contributors to this forum have stated to an original poster that they were qualified to help them prepare for a meeting with an attorney thus putting themselves on equal standing with the attorney? I know of only one.

This is apples to oranges. The rental issue is separate from the President vote fraud issue. They are not causation of each other. The President is not getting votes because they personal perception is they get votes from the "illegal renter" group.

The rental issue is a different issue entirely to be handled separately. The President staying as president is a different kettle of fish. that is require people to step up and take their place next election.

Putting the two together makes a conspiracy theory.

The record shows that I said nothing of the sort.

Willy's lacking the proper license means he was conducting illegal property management. If the covenants prohibit 'illegal activities' on the grounds (as they sometimes do), then this would justify calling Willy into a hearing.