BillD16 (Texas)
Posts: 971
Posts: 971
Posted:
Hello all! I've missed you guys. But I've been following the advice that several of you gave me to just stay the hell away from HOA matters. And so far that's been working out pretty well. I stepped down from the Board at the Annual Meeting in mid-July, and (bonus) a few people who made me nervous about the possibility of retaliation have gone away. On the downside, I'm still recovering from my first-ever case of COVID, and I was unable to travel to see my son defend his dissertation and earn his PhD in Microbiology. On the plus side: he's got a really cool PhD in Microbiology!
Earlier this week was the first general meeting of the Board. It was (mostly) alright, except that the Board voted to pass a number of new Rules&Regulations (supposedly "required by new Texas State legislation").
Item: for reasons I do not understand, our R&Rs are seriously disorganized. Long story short, the Board voted to approve a set of 8 amendments which our attorney sent us earlier this year; one of them is a legislative update requirement thing. The others? There appears to be some kind of disconnect. I don't think anyone on the Board has actually read the amendments. A highlight of the recent meeting was one Board member who said "I haven't read them, but I'll vote to approve them."
Item: I don't understand why new Rules & Regulations (in Texas, apparently) don't have to be provided to owners for discussion before they're voted on?
Item: the amendment that I have "issues" with is the new Code of Conduct, which I've mentioned here before several months ago. I sent a couple of emails to my fellow Board members back in early May, warning that we shouldn't do this - but nobody cared.
The Code of Conduct - which was passed unanimously with virtually zero discussion - includes 25+ items like
- photographing, recording, or video-taping residents, guests, or agents of the Association without their express consent.
- posting any item, including correspondence, on the doors of any other resident or anywhere in the community without express written permission from the Board, and placing any item in the area of the door(s) of any other resident or anywhere else in the community other than in a residentās own property.
- publicly posting in any forum (by way of example and not limitation: via internet, text, mail, paper flyer) any comment, statement or remark about an Association employee, officer, director or representative that is or may be reasonably interpreted as defamatory, threatening, harassing, or intimidating.
"a fine in the amount of $100/violation shall apply to each violation of this Code of Conduct, unless the Board of Directors determines otherwise. If an Owner has been cited for a violation of this Code of Conduct in the preceding six months, the fine shall increase to $150/violation"
I realize that most First Amendment / Freedom of Speech law applies only to the government, but still - technically this Code makes the delivery of mis-delivered mail a violation. Not to mention posting something critical about a Board member to FB is a no-no - but there doesn't appear to be a similar prohibition against Board members posting something rotten about a homeowner.
There's no due process on any of this stuff, and it's not at all clear how (or if) one can challenge a Code of Conduct violation.
Maybe it doesn't matter - I don't think anyone on the Board is even aware of what they've done in voting to approve this Code.
Bill
Earlier this week was the first general meeting of the Board. It was (mostly) alright, except that the Board voted to pass a number of new Rules&Regulations (supposedly "required by new Texas State legislation").
Item: for reasons I do not understand, our R&Rs are seriously disorganized. Long story short, the Board voted to approve a set of 8 amendments which our attorney sent us earlier this year; one of them is a legislative update requirement thing. The others? There appears to be some kind of disconnect. I don't think anyone on the Board has actually read the amendments. A highlight of the recent meeting was one Board member who said "I haven't read them, but I'll vote to approve them."
Item: I don't understand why new Rules & Regulations (in Texas, apparently) don't have to be provided to owners for discussion before they're voted on?
Item: the amendment that I have "issues" with is the new Code of Conduct, which I've mentioned here before several months ago. I sent a couple of emails to my fellow Board members back in early May, warning that we shouldn't do this - but nobody cared.
The Code of Conduct - which was passed unanimously with virtually zero discussion - includes 25+ items like
- photographing, recording, or video-taping residents, guests, or agents of the Association without their express consent.
- posting any item, including correspondence, on the doors of any other resident or anywhere in the community without express written permission from the Board, and placing any item in the area of the door(s) of any other resident or anywhere else in the community other than in a residentās own property.
- publicly posting in any forum (by way of example and not limitation: via internet, text, mail, paper flyer) any comment, statement or remark about an Association employee, officer, director or representative that is or may be reasonably interpreted as defamatory, threatening, harassing, or intimidating.
"a fine in the amount of $100/violation shall apply to each violation of this Code of Conduct, unless the Board of Directors determines otherwise. If an Owner has been cited for a violation of this Code of Conduct in the preceding six months, the fine shall increase to $150/violation"
I realize that most First Amendment / Freedom of Speech law applies only to the government, but still - technically this Code makes the delivery of mis-delivered mail a violation. Not to mention posting something critical about a Board member to FB is a no-no - but there doesn't appear to be a similar prohibition against Board members posting something rotten about a homeowner.
There's no due process on any of this stuff, and it's not at all clear how (or if) one can challenge a Code of Conduct violation.
Maybe it doesn't matter - I don't think anyone on the Board is even aware of what they've done in voting to approve this Code.
Bill
HOA Board ex-President
Austin, Texas USA
āYou canāt put too much water in a nuclear reactorā
Austin, Texas USA
āYou canāt put too much water in a nuclear reactorā