Board Members violating covenants

Here's a bit of background on the HOA in general:

Over the last year although about 90-95% of the homeowners are in violation of covenants in one way or another, nobody has been cited. Covenants are just ignored for a variety of reasons (we are a working class neighborhood, we are contemplating revising the covenants, we don't want to upset anyone, or the old it takes a lot of work).

The Board selectively and arbitrarily interprets covenants when confronted about enforcement and then states we won't do that because then we have to cite this person for a violation and we don't want to do that or we will have to cite everybody for their trash can violations. So rather than uphold their legal responsibilities they'd rather not do anything and allow violations to occur.

While the Board hasn't done any surveys to see just what the community at large (86 homes total) thinks about revising or enforcement, the Board is working towards removing/revising covenants just because a minority of members don't like them. Where there is clear evidence that there is a higher authority to regulate an activity (which I don't see as a problem personally because that relieves the Board of potential legal issues) should not pose a problem, but to arbitrarily remove/revise covenants based upon a minority of member views poses a problem in MHO.

Currently several of the Board members (President/Vice President) are in violation of covenants and is probably part of the reason that covenants are not uniformly and consistently enforced.

It is doubtful based upon prior HOA participation at general meetings that the Board will ever get the required 75% yes vote to change/amend the covenants. Our by-laws do not provide for proxy votes so any non-participation cannot be counted as a "yes" vote.

At this point many homeowners do not see a need to pay dues when they do not use the common area (anybody in walking distance of our area can use our playground equipment or other HOA paid for items) or see that the covenants are being enforced as written, myself included.

What can be done to force the Board to enforce the covenants as written or is it even worth pursing any action?

Thanks BrianB for the reply.

I'd love to try to replace them unfortunately that didn't happen because there is a small click that is running things. I was elected to the board and was nominated as Pres/VP but did not receive enough votes (hard to I guess when you are new to the area and the other board members) so all that happened was the former President became the VP and the former VP became the President and the Secretary remained in position.

Yea I have considered the lawsuit thing but cost is a factor. As wishy washy as these Board members are about things I'm thinking a treat of a lawsuit won't phase them in the least, it would have to be for real.

Any other suggestions? Thanks...

Along the same vein, I'm pres of an association where a board member acknowledged in writing that he understood what the bylaws state ("prior written authorization from the board") and asked in a last-minute email for authorization. I responded (actions outside of board meetings must have unanimous written consent) after tow others (the fifth never responded) that, like any other association member, he should put this on the agenda for the next board meeting. I was unwilling to vote yes (he just slapped st together - no terms spelled out, despite previous discussions in board meetings; other owners have been sent violation letters over the last number of months for the same issue - almost to the violation hearing point) outside a regular board meeting, because this was not an emergency and the timing of the disclosure and request was under his full control - he chose to wait until the day before he wanted st. I stated further that it would be discriminatory against others if the board chose this method to conduct non-urgent business outside of board meetings, and that I, for one, wasn't willing to do that. Btw, this guy says he went to law school. He sent a nasty response aimed at me to all. I maintain that the board has to hold a violation hearing and assess him the going rate, because he went ahead and violated the bylaws anyway (blaming me, of course). We have had issues in the past of board members violating the same bylaws others were being written up for, but we've been turning that around.

Questions:
1. Board meeting is coming up quickly, and he will be moving soon, so I want to hold a violation hearing. Can I as president go ahead and schedule this, or does this need a board vote to schedule?
2. Because he's the one in violation, I believe he has no right to a vote on the matter (he's on the other side of the table for this issue). Correct?
3. I am so incensed over this (and what I perceive to be the lack of understanding and the unwillingness to deal with this on the part of at least one other board member) that I am considering resigning my office and letting somebody else deal with the day-to-day headaches. I know some homeowners will ask me why. If I state that they can get an idea from the minutes (his motion was seconded, so it is part of the official record) and from my resignation letter (no names, no addresses mentioned - just the issue of a board member knowingly and flagrantly violating the bylaws with no consequence), is that acceptable? Or is it okay to name names, given that he's a board member?
4. I am expecting to be told that this is a personality conflict. It isn't on my part. I'd have the same reaction if a friend on the board pulled this garbage and can cite to two of the other board members (5-member board) a relevant case.

Thanks for any help!

Sharon:

Yes, the President's role is to call meetings to order. Any board member that is being discussed and voted about needs to excuse themselves from the discussion. If you as President were submitting an ARC for a fence, you could or should not be a part of the discussion to approve or deny. Therefore this board member with the exception of being able to give his/her side of the argument should not be a part of the board's vote.

It is very important for your MC to educate the board on the ins and outs of HOA management. You can purchase my book at www.publishamerica.com/books/4573
which will give you a description of your duties as President.