HOA Board Liability

Gary I would ask the person who is telling you this to provide the proof you don't need it, I wouldn't believe it exists until I see it and even then I wouldn't sit on the BOD without it.

Gary, as someone who has been a litigant in a suit filed against our Board (condo community in Indpls, IN) both as sitting Board members and suing them personally, I can promise you that you NEED Errors and Omissions Coverage/ Directors and Officers Coverage. We (the plaintiffs) were able to finally settle our litigation against the Board and the insurance did pay on the Board's behalf.

Moral of the story, carry insurance and respect your association's by-laws ie - the legal rights of the homeowners. AND when in doubt, find a GOOD HOA attorney and ask the attorney.

Actually it was our attorney who told us this. He said he worked on the bill with our local state representative and it's on the books. I have tried "googling" Indiana HOA laws and couldn't find anything but individual HOA covenants and restrictions and by-laws. I guess we will have to ask our attorney to give us a copy of the law. We have limited funds and hate to pay out the money to a lawyer to do the work if we can find it on the Internet.

The issue in question is that snow plowing for the past two years has taken a good chunk out of our treasury so we are very prudent when we call out the plows. Normally we wait until the snow stops before plowing, which in some cases is most of the day. Before each winter we remind the homeowners of our snow plowing conditions. A new owner has suggested the Board might be liable if an emergency vehicle had difficulty getting into her driveway because of snow. Anyone had any history with something like this?

How much money does your association pay for the insurance? And how much will it cost to get any suit dismissed (or not should the new law fail upon appeal)? Now do you wish to have that gamble on your head? I would promptly resign from my BOD if they dropped coverage even if I read the law. Even suits that are dismissed can rack up huge legal costs.

Now you may want to get a copy of that and take it with you to talk to the insurance agent. Such laws can reduce the costs of coverage.

As for the plowing of snow - I would recommend you consider the human aspect above and beyond the threat of lawsuit. The emergency vehicles will be going to help a neighbor. At what point did you fail to protect your neighbor? I don't know, just something to think about. At any rate, I would certainly get input from the community about what the "right" balance is. Saving money to the extent of causing a safety issue is just bone headed. You should also simply call the fire department about when to plow for their sake. They would certainly welcome the call and have good insight into what causes them problems and what not to worry about.

Kirk

Gloria,

E&O and D&O are essentially the same for HOA Board purposes, though an E&O policy might contain broader coverage as to the included individuals. Hope you agree, Cathy.

AS for keeping the roads clear:
AS the owner, you have a duty to maintain them. This would include STANDARD care after a storm. Can the hypothetical neighbor sue? Sure. They can sue in the middle of the worst storm of the century, because you didn't get out and start at the first snowflake.

Your defense is two-fold: that you have a standard of care that you followed (whatever that is, the contract with your provider, etc.), and that you are well within the general standard of others (ie, we plow at 2 inches of depth. The County plows at 3 inches. the State at 2 inches. The city at 2.5 inches). Or, we plow within 2 hours of the end of a snowfall. The city plows within 4 hours, the county within 8, the state within 2.

If you are aligned with other, common service providers, you stand a better chance to win your case. Being out of line doesn't mean they will win, but being a lot out of line hurts your defense.