Response from HOA management company regard Declarant Board Operations.

Hello all, I entered a discussion earlier regarding our 3-year-old 55+ community heading into transition from the developer declarant control to the homeowners. I have been attempting to find out information regarding a loan and deficit losses that showed up in year 2 when the first 15 homes were sold. I am running up against deflection on just about every path I take. After writing a certified mail letter, I am currently waiting on a formal response from the declarant board for access to that year to see how the money was spent. In another request I had asked to see board meeting minutes or notes regarding the current budget and also authorization by the board to withdraw $17,000.00 from the Capital Reserves to pay operating expenses. Without naming any names other than to say both the declarant and the HOA management companies are very large, well-known businesses, I got this response, which does not sound like a real board even exists. It seems to violate state rules for a nonprofit and also does not align with our bylaws as written. I would like to ask this group of experienced folks if the situation is actually normal.

Here is the response I got to the question asking for the minutes of the board meeting.

"Thank you for your request regarding meeting minutes from the period when the community was under declarant control. During the Declarant control phase, the association did not operate under a homeowner-elected board, and therefore the Declarant was not required to hold formal HOA board meetings or produce traditional meeting minutes. Instead, the developer managed the Association’s affairs internally and maintained a running action-item list to track decisions, ongoing tasks, and community needs. Because no official board meetings were held during this period, there are no formal meeting minutes available to provide. However, the Declarant has fulfilled its obligations by managing the Association’s operations and will transition governance to the homeowner-elected board once the control period has ended."

Thank you for your opinions and/or advice. It helps.

... and this is perfectly lawful. However, Georgia statutes do require that the Declarant appoint a Board. See the Georgia POA Act, section 44-3-227 (b). Presumably it did, perhaps as documented in the Articles of Incorporation on file with the state of Georgia.

Though if there are board meetings, Geogia statutes require that the Declarant's board maintain "detailed minutes." See Georgia statute sections 44-3-231 (d) (1) and 14-3-840 (c).

This may be the Declarant's "get out of jail free card." It's not clear that board meetings are required.

The statutes do allow actions without a meeting. The latter has certain requirements.

Statutes require the Declarant to hold annual members' meetings, with certain financial information then disclosed. Were annual members' meetings held?

Last piece of advice for now: What is right and lawful does not always win. Why? Because the Declarant has more money than you to pay an attorney.

Thank you, Dean. I do appreciate your input as well as reading other comments on similar questions I have read.

Thank you. I have approached the group of homeowners we formed about getting an HOA Attorney for the transition lined up. I appreciate your time and answer.