Family on the board

Sometimes family members buy into the same community. I'm not an experienced board member and was wondering what your thoughts were on family members being on the same board.

For our single family home HOA with over 300 homes in GA, for example, say that Mom owns a house and is on the Board. Then her Son buys a house in the neighborhood and after a few years, there is a vacancy on the board. The bylaws allow for appointments, so the son is appointed. Now there are two family members on the board. This is our current situation

To some members, this seems like a conflict of interest.

Going a step further, what if 2 sons live in the community and there were 3 family members on the board, all separate homeowners, but now they constitute a majority. Does that change your view on a conflict of interest? Our HOA may be facing this at an upcoming annual meeting, where 3 of the 5 board members that would be running for different offices on a 5 person board. They are all good people and I think it would be good to have them serve together, but some of course think otherwise.

An attny friend of mine says that it is fine, if the bylaws do not prohibit it, and the membership votes them in. Since the board is responsible for making decisions in the best interest of homeowners, there would be no conflict if the board does just that. He suggest that if a decision might be seen as favorable to the family members, that one or more of them abstain from voting during board meetings.

This is a great forum! Thanks to all who share their ideas
Paul

PaulA1 - If your by-laws state that Members are owners of record in good standing (current in maintenance dues) and that Members can vote and be on the Board than there is nothing to prevent an owner of record from being a candidate and elected to the Board. Just because two relatives are on the Board does not mean their minds think alike. Now, I do agree there is an appearance of nepotism if there is a vacancy and the son (owner of one home) is appointed by two other Board members who happen to be separate owners and relatives. If anything the ability of this to occur may get the community to volunteer and keep diversity in the mix. If not, quite frankly, and with all due respect, everyone needs to go back to bed and quite complaining.

PaulA1,
I know it seems bad, but if the bylaws or other documents don't prohibit members of the same family from being on the board, it's OK and it's allowed. We're not talking about family members living in the same Unit (which has 1 vote per Unit). That case may be spelled out differently in your documents. However, if we are talking about family members living in DIFFERENT units, each paying their own fees, and each having their own vote because they live in separate units, then it seems to me they are treated equally and have the same rights as any other fee paying Unit owner to become a board member.

You are making assumptions. Check the documents. There are cases where board members can be in the same family at the same residence. Many documents don't even require the board members to be homeowners.

I have no idea what you mean.

My only point is that PaulA1 never stated exactly what his documents state. Every HOA is different. Anyone making a statement about what is a conflict cannot answer his original question.