Descrepancy between Developer/President and ACC member. How to address?

No. This it not at all what the thread said. Not one bit. Per the state nonprofit corp statute, you were directed to look at your Articles of Incorporation. You never got back to the thread with what you found.

See https://www.hoatalk.com/Forum/tabid/55/forumid/1/postid/372324/view/topic/Default.aspx

Furthermore I can almost guarantee you that the Michigan Condo statute does //not// apply to your subdivision of single family homes.

Typically, The board is the final say.

The developer, has one vote on the board.

All of this said, the Developer, typically, has the authority to amend covenants at any time.

Now, for the specific issue:

You point out that the member did get approval.
If the board desired to remove the approval, then that member would have grounds to be made whole.

Meaning, if the item was installed, the Association would have to pay to remove the item and return it to the condition it was prior to approval being granted.
It would likely take legal action to make that happen.

Side note: being single family homes, the condominium statute would not apply.
An HOA statute may apply (depends on applicability).
If incorporated, the States non-profit/not for profit statute would also apply.

Ah, I see replies emerged while I, in my typically slow fashion, typed a response. I'll quibble with Cathy and say that the developer canNOT kick JF off of the ACC. Assuming the developer DOES have a Board, the Board votes, etc., see my below.. Soctt's Bylaws aor state statutes probably required that, as a corporation, the developer have a Board.

I do not know, per Tim, if the developer has the sole authority to amend the CC&Rs? Scott will need to look at the CC&Rs to see the steps necessary to amending the CCRs, I doubt the prez on his own can announce at a board meeting that he's amending the CC&rs to state.... It may require owners' votes and, of course, he'd win that vote due to owning so many lots.

Since you’ll be on the Board, Scott, please make it your business to learn the basis language of corporations & HOAs. Corporations have “bylaws,” sometime spelled “by-laws.”

The name of your HOA's MOST important “governing document” is The Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions, aka “CC&Rs.” Another word for it is “the declaration” (no s). Another is “the covenants.”
Unless he somehow is calling himself “acting” president, your developer is the president of the Board.

Yours also serves on the ACC. As simply an ACC member, the Committee should have voted on the proposed changes. He alone did NOT have the authority to approve, and should never have approved the owner’s proposed changes to the original approved application. BUT, the owner probably thought that the president’s approval was good.

You wrote that the jerkface ACC member may try to “implement an emergency assessment.” But he has NO authority to do so. Your Bylaws may tell you something about committees and their authority. Your declaration probably tells you about the ACC too. Non-profit corps code also very likely has some info about committees.

Typically, the board of directors must vote at an open meeting on any assessment against any owner or against all. See your CC&Rs section that discusses assessments and special assessments, including “fines.” There may be something in the no-profit corp codes. (NOT condo codes; your HOA is not condos).

To try to call it an “emergency” assessment (paint color???)is ludicrous and Jerkface is making stuff up again.

Nothing happens “without a vote,” Scott, so I don’t know what your phrase refers to. Please clarify.

WHAT SHOULD happen next is that the ACC votes at a meeting to send this additional app to the Board for its review & final decision via its vote at. Pretty simple. The only reason there’s a “mess” is because NO ONE in Scott’s HOA seems to comprehend the correct and (mainly) legal roles for persons and a committee.

It’s crucial to know that boards govern HOAs (non-profits), NOT presidents. The prez is NOT “El Jefe,” or The Decider. Some HOA boards DO make the huge mistake of deferring to the president. At Board meetings, the prez like every director, has one vote per topic. And decisions are made at Board meetings.

Scott wrote: The Developer stated he would like to appoint me as “board member position.” There is no such thing as that. There is the Board. You would be appointed as a director with no “position.” And ONLY the Board may vote to appoint directors to fill vacancies. The prez has NO such authority on his own (unless your Bylaws are incredibly unique).

Similarly, the prez may NOT remove JF from the ACC. ONLY the Board has the authority to approve or remove committee members (or form or disband committees) with its vote at a board meeting.

When you use the word “positions,” Scott, it appears that you think that the prez could appoint you as an “officer.” But, again he may not appoint officers either. The Board votes to appoint officers and your Bylaws probably tell you which ones your HOA must have. The Board elects/appoints officers usually form among the directors — never owners or the president.

Scott wrote: “This development will never be turned over to a property management company.” That is incorrect anyway. What happens is the HOA is turned over to the Board of of directors of owners once some goal has been achieved.

I think I too asked about your Articles of Incorporation, Scott. Can you not find them?

Cory on, you have a lot to learn, but you seem willing and that's very good. As recommended elsewhere recently, CAIonline.org can teach everything you need to know in it s"Toolkit for New Board Members." I somehow got it free, but can't remeber how.

Sorry if the subject was misleading.. and yes I have lots to learn about this

This is a condominium project - interesting the last sentence in C.

LEGAL DOCUMENTATION

A. General. ----- was established as a condominium project pursuant to a Master Deed recorded in the office of the ---- County Register of Deeds. A copy of the Master Deed has been provided to you with this Disclosure Statement. The Master Deed includes the Condominium Bylaws as Exhibit "A" and the Condominium Subdivision Plan as Exhibit "B". All of these documents should be reviewed carefully by prospective purchasers.

B. Master Deed. The Master Deed contains a definition of terms used within the condominium project, the percentage of value assigned to each unit in the condominium project, a general description of the units and general and limited common elements included in the project, and a statement regarding the relative responsibilities for maintaining the common elements.

C. Condominium Bylaws. The Condominium Bylaws contain provisions relating to the operation, management and fiscal affairs of the condominium and, in particular, set forth the provisions. relating to assessments of the Association members for the purpose of paying the costs of operation of the condominium project. Articles VI and VII contain certain restrictions upon the ownership, occupancy and use of the condominium project. Article VII also contains provisions permitting the adoption of rules and regulations governing the common elements. At the present time no rules and regulations have been adopted by the Board of Directors of the Association.

D. Condominium Subdivision Plan. The Condominium Subdivision Plan is a two-dimensional survey depicting the physical location and boundaries of each of the units and all of the common elements in the project.

After I posted the reply, I realized that I'd phrased it badly.

Yes, one of the first steps in developing a new community is filing the legal documents that create the association and incorporate it.

I agree that the board would remove the problem committee member, but at this stage the developer controls the board. It would require a formal vote, but what he wants, he gets. (I mentioned earlier that it's not unusual for a developer's vote to carry more weight - for example, his one vote may count as three homeowner/director votes. So on a three-person board with two homeowner directors, the developer's single vote would outweigh the homeowners' two votes.)

If there are two phases still to be developed in the Scott's community, homeowners are a long way from being able to override the developer's decisions.

This is why it makes no sense to me that the developer hasn't yet done something about the committee member if he's that problematic. Put it on the agenda for the next board meeting, vote, put it in the minutes, and be done with it.

From general case law, my take is this:

As long as the HOA pays for the replacement of the color, then I think the owners' wisest move would be to agree to the correct, covenant required color.

Otherwise IMO the HOA would be legally foolish to require the owners to pay for the color change.

Scott, what do you BYLAWS say about the size of the board of directors? Does your HOA have a board? How many are on it?

Yes, for votes of the membership, i.e., owners, the delver get extra wine. But for Board decisions, the developer/president has, to repeat my above, one. And, according to Scott, the developer/prez DOES want to remove Mr. JerkFAce.

With Cathy, why doesn't th developer/his board remove JF with their vote at a board meeting??????? New directs would b good, but he/his board can easily dump the guy off the Committee.

It does not matter how old the CC&Rs and the Bylaws are; they rule!

What do you mean the developer named a "successor, Scott?" Is that within his development firm? Or, somehow within the HOA??? (why does that make him "smart?")

So he named a succesor... not sure how or what the legalities are. but he is a sole proprietor, or majority owner so in the event that he were to pass... there would be nothing ???

His company takes care of common grounds... mowing, tree removal snow plowing etc and maintains the private roads.

To properly name a successor, you need to put it in writing and record it at the courthouse.

If the individual were to die without a successor, the estate would inherit the developer rights.