How to rally people?

I need to rally other owners to vote for new board members who campaigned on positive change. I tried many things. I tried contacting people in person, using social media, and sending mail to the owner address on county records. I got very low response. We had the biggest group of members in years show up to the meeting but still not enough to reach a quorum so the board was quite happy to say no election would be held and they would just appoint board members for those whose term expired.

Currently I want to make a group of about 5-10 members and we demand together to examine the financial records. I want a group with me because I've already been targeted with unfair rule enforcement and I have evidence the board has also committed libel or slander against me.

I'd like to build a group large enough to vote in new board members to drive change. Ideally replace all current board members.

My main question is: What actually works to rally other owners?

Also open to general advice. Prefer to use political methods vs suing them as lawsuits are expensive.

Thanks

^^ Question is above, everything below here is just for context

(And for perspective, here's why we need new board:

1) No audit in years- audits are required by state law in Texas for condos. Audits are also required by our bylaws. True financial condition unknown.
2) No documentation of regular board meetings, board decisions, who the board officers are, members are only invited to one in person meeting per year
3) Alarming Maintenance issues
4) Ridiculous rules and biased enforcement of them
5) Horrible customer service by the management company
6) Extremely limited communication other than 1 in person meeting / year. General lack of transparency.
7) Contractor management issues- recently launched a major project that required engineer design with no permit, no engineer
8) Lots of rumors and possible evidence the board is using their position for self dealing to acquire more units.
)

Dear nameless, I agree with Mark that more info would help with appropriate comments. Community apathy seems to be universal. Unfortunately, until AN ISSUE affects that person/family, most choose to ignore. We are a "nice community" of 140 SFH's. Our meetings are every 2 months...and even with Zoom, NO MEMBER attended or participated @ our recent meeting. Lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concerns opens the door for mismanagement, especially $$$$$. DEEP BREATHE, you are not alone.

Note- certain provisions of Texas PROPERTY CODE CHAPTER 82 ( https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/?tab=1&code=PR&chapter=PR.82&artSec= ) also apply. But my understanding is that in Texas there is no enforcement unless you hire an attorney, spend $100k in a local court and are successful getting a motion to compel.

Supposedly, according to the unaudited figures they shared with us, there are about about $600k in reserves.

They also did about a 3% increase to dues at start of 2025, our dues per sq ft are about in the middle compared to other nearby condos.

OK the best idea so far is to lay in wait for something to happen and be ready to rally the members to vote for new board members at that time. Are there any other good ideas to rally the members or otherwise improve the association?

Mark, Thanks very much for sharing your experience and advice. Great story!

On this forum, under a pseudonym, I listed out several concerns, all of which are verifiable without being on the board. So far, when trying to rally people, I have NOT shared that list. Instead I gave them a nicely worded campaign piece for myself and running mate, listing out positive things we were going to do, different than what the current board is doing. We identified maintenance is the community's top concern. So our top campaign issue was (and still is): 1) Regular meetings with updates on maintenance progress. Other issues 2) Records of all meetings published to members 3) Review and update all rules, get rid of all bad rules and policies 4) do the state required audit etc.

We have 2 people ready to serve. I'm working on recruiting a 3rd person. Also looking for 2 more to offer full replacement. I also have a core group of people that the current board hurt badly and chats almost daily about issues and plans. I have lists of about 10 other members who signed proxies to me and don't like the board but don't want to get involved.

And the point of this forum is how to rally members. Now are building a list with ideas from MarkM19, and #4 inspired by Mark talking about getting information. 5 is something my group is working on. Here is the list of ideas how to rally people:

1) Wait for a political opportunity that wakes people up, for example when the current board increases dues
2) Get at least 1 person onto the board and that person can get all the facts
3) Have volunteers ready to serve on the board
4) Exercise our right to inspect financial records, if we find anything bad, publicize it.
5) Nonpolitical social events, just to try to help people meet each other.

I greatly appreciate help from the community improving this list.

I agree with looking at records. If everything is run well, we will see it in the records. If there is a problem, we can address that. Looking at records is #4 on our list. A small group of us will go together and do that soon.

BryonW Great idea thanks for sharing a quick easy sales pitch.

I need to add at the last meeting I walked in with 23 proxies signed over to me. It was not enough. Next time I need to get many more. And I have allies who will also help me get proxies signed over to them.

1) Wait for a political opportunity that wakes people up, for example when the current board increases dues
2) Get at least 1 person onto the board and that person can get all the facts
3) Have volunteers ready to serve on the board
4) Exercise our right to inspect financial records, if we find anything bad, publicize it.
5) Nonpolitical social events, just to try to help people meet each other.
6) Get members to sign proxies over to allies who will reform the board

I will admit to not knowing Texas law.

One would suspect that that Texas Attorney General's office may have a few thoughts on the subject- certainly seems like there is some not above board logistics playing out.

Have you tried speaking with the board members individually? See where they stand?

I have found that AI gives me some good ideas of where to look for information- my HOA board is a little on the ... shall we say Wonkey side too...

One thing to remember, most people like to complain about the HOA, but few remember that THEY are the HOA. I always get a kick out of people who say, "I'm going to Sue you." I ask, "Why would you sue yourself?"

As a last resort, perhaps figure out who the HOA attorney is- they have every reason to listen and tell the board to quit doing illegal things if what you share are indeed against Texas/Federal law or could result in a lawsuit.

Good Luck!!

The attorney works for the corporation at the direction of the Board.

They are not an attorney for the members and, if they respond, will charge the Association for their time which may cause additional issues for you if the Board wants to recoup that money.

As for knowing who the Board is, go to the Texas Comptroller Site and do a search for your Association. If the Association is in good standing, you can see who the Directors/Officers are (based on the previous year).

My HOA board currently has either secret meetings or no meetings at all, and does not post any minutes or records of decisions they make in the portal they provide members, even though there is a folder in that portal for them to post their meeting minutes. I was really sad that Texas 209 doesn't apply to old Texas condos because Texas 209 requires open board meetings.

BUT, great news, I just figured out that Texas Property Statute 82.108 applies to all condos in Texas. This requires them to have meetings, the meetings have to be open, and they have to record minutes of any decisions made outside of meetings.

Read it yourself here: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/?tab=1&code=PR&chapter=PR.82&artSec=

This will be our leverage to demand open board meetings.