Blood relative on BOD CA

I have recently moved into a 55+ HOA. Unexpected issues are arising as the years go by. The baby boomers are all retiring, and deciding to reunited with their family, brothers, sisters and so on. When this happens by owning in the same HOA, it is unfortunate but problems will arise. Now that these folks are retired they act like children. Right now we have two relatives on our BOD of (7). Another will be running this next year, at least one will still be serving by the next election. Some board members are totally ignored, not properly notified of important issues, until after the fact. A large part of the membership want to amend the bylaw to adress this issue. This is only the current family, we have other family members groups buying in and it would be wise to avoid this situation in the future.

The current BOD (relatives) are telling us that this is discrimination. I am trying to do as much reseach on this as far as legality. None of the members wants to actually have to go to an attorney to address this issue, but would like it to be handled ina friendly manner. I know the simple thing to suggest is not to vote for them, but we all know that is easier said than done, if they are running.

I found this example of wording on a CA website concerning HOA's and Davis-Stirling Act, the website is sponsered by attorney's.

Section 1. Number, The affairs of this Association shall be managed by a Board of Directors, seven (7) in number, who are members of the Association. No two family members (by blood relation or by marriage) shall serve on the Board at the same time.

Thank you for any help or suggestions.

DonnaS, thanks for responding. I wrote that I found the wording on a CA website. It is not currently in our bylaws.

Director qualifications are set by our association, at this time they are very sketchy. That is where the problem arises. There are a lot of people that have lived in this community for a very long time, and one of the current relatives (not currently on the board) can be very intimidating. I'm 55 I can go toe to toe with them if needed, but don't want to, or plan to. Others tend to back away. I can see it going to a vote, but getting it there will be a battle, not until there has been a lot of hostility. I want a kind and gentle approach. I'm probably living in a dream world. That is why I am looking for legal, I know it will most likely mean a trip to attorneys to get a final answer.

Hi Jenny,

Prohibitng an owner from serving on the Board only because they are related to another homeowner Board member sounds like discrimination to me. If several of my relatives and I all owned homes in the same HOA, I wouldn't want to be told that I couldn't serve on the Board because my cousin or uncle or sister was already a Board member.

Instead of focusing on banning members from serving based upon their relationship to other Board members, you should work on making sure that all Board decisions are discussed openly by all Board members at the meetings, so no one on the Board is left out of decision process. Now they may get outvoted by "the family", but if the other owners see this happening and feel that there is some nepotism going on, then they can vote for people running for the Board who aren't related to the current Board members.

patrick, it is discrimination. but remember, discrimination is not, in itself, illegal. Discrimination for certain reasons is illegal, but not all discrimination.

And DaneC, interesting legal point... I would have to read a bit more before i could pick it apart, but one "first round" is that the government code cited speaks of owners of housing accomadations,and i bet the scope of that narrowly refers to the business of buying, selling, renting, leasing, etc. homes, apartments, etc. One could argue that the HOA BOARD is not in the business of doing any of that, and thus, not covered.

However, i am not sure about that arguement... i would need to research more before i trusted it in a court.

"some board members are totally ignored"

Some board members were in talks with a new management company, for months, before 2 of the members found out. Actually, while 2 board members were away on a trip, the current management company was fired and a new company was hired. The two absent members were available by e-mail at all times. They received a e-mail telling them what transpired after the fact.
Because the management company was fired on the spot, without the 60 day requirement. This caused the HOA to incur possible penalties. There was no urgent need, as there was no indication of wrongful actions, but possibly lack of cooperation from the management company.

This is one example, no need to list others.

Yes, there are elections, but as I have found out, it is sometimes difficult to get people to run for the board, so when it seems there are enough to run, no one else steps up. This is one of the reasons I am asking questions, as I am new to all of this. I'm doing a lot of reading, and want to be informed, as I do plan to run for the board.

Thank you for all of the input.