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Board Member is Not Seen nor heard from in months..

Started by FrancescaM • 14 replies • 1850 views

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FrancescaM (Washington)
Posts: 264
Posted:
One of our board members has gone MIA. Well, not really but he hasn't shown up at a board meeting in 3 consecutive months.. and has not responded to any communicatoin via email. He was seen on the property and said he isn't' leaving the board, his home innearing foreclosure and he owes 1300 in back dues.

He isn't a viable board member... won't resign.... and where does that leave us? Our docs do not have regs to boot him off except by 51% homeowner vote.. How can be get a non viable board member off without having to pull a specia election? It seems a bit far gone to have to do this?
PenyW (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 43
Posted:
FrancescaM, how much longer is his term? If he only has a short time remaining it might be easier to just work around him. If he has any responsibilities (committees, Secreatary, etc) they should be re-assigned. You might also want to check your documents to see if there is any mention of Board members being in good standing - i.e., not owing dues. You may be able to boot him for that if there is any such clause in your documents. I would think that if he loses his home to foreclosure he's no longer a member of the community and could be scratched from the Board.

I'm sure there are people here who are much more knowledgable than I on this topic. These are just my thoughts.

Peny
MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043
Posted:
Francesca,

Exactly what do your bylaws say about "removal of directors"? My assn bylaws only allow for removal of a director by a vote of the majority of the members. However, my former assn bylaws also allow for removal if the board member misses 3 consecutive board meetings or is more than 1 month delinquent in assessments. If removal can only be accomplished by a vote of the members, then there is really nothing you can do. In the meantime, just ignore him. If he isn't attending any meetings he can't be doing any harm.
KirkW1 (Texas)
Posts: 1,665
Posted:
I would say that right now you don't have any recourse. But I would recommend you consider a long term plan as well as how to deal with this.

To that end, I would recommend you propose an amendment to the bylaws. It should state that a BOD member who is more then so far behind in dues, or misses three consecutive meetings. may be removed by a vote of the majority of the other members. I would recommend that you leave the final action to the Board as then something could be worked out for extenuating circumstances.
SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202
Posted:
Call him up and tell him that he either attend meetings or resign. Tell him the Board WILL call a Special Meeting for the purpose of recalling him, due to his not communicating with the board and/or not fulfiling his board duties.

Be firm, but allow him to bow out gracefully.
DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671
Posted:

There are 2 ways that you can handle this absentee Board member. Number 1, send him a registered letter, demanding his resignation due to absenteeism. That's just to cover yourselves that he was on notification for his lack of interest and participation.

Number 2, Work around him if you are close to your annual elections because to go thru all of the B.S getting him removed will take some time , energy and perhaps some other issues to remove him.

Number 3, Do you have anything in your documents on "members in good standing" perhaps losing their rights to vote and be board members? If so, that covers removal of him.
MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043
Posted:
I don't think the board should worry about taking any action. This guy is a disgruntled h/o. His home is in foreclosure and he needs to blame someone. It sounds to me like he's taking his frustration out on the assn via the BOD. This is why he has adamantly stated "I will NOT resign!" If he isn't attending any of the meetings then he's not doing any harm. I think they should just ignore him. He'll soon be gone anyway.
DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671
Posted:

Mary,
Let's hope that they have an Annual meeting and elections coming up otherwise that dead seat on the Board could come back to bite them. We don't know how big the Board is and now is there an even number. Fingers crossed for them.
MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043
Posted:
Donna,

I agree. The board is between a rock and a hard place. The bylaws state the only way to remove the board member is by a majority vote of the members. This guy knows this so he's not going to resign. It's a spiteful attitude, but what else is new, huh? IMO, the expense of a special meeting is a non-issue unless they're at the beginning of their year.
DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671
Posted:

AGREE!
DanaB1 (Connecticut)
Posts: 319
Posted:
How many others on the the board?

Is the board still getting work done? Are the remaining board members active?

Not to sound negative (Donna :-)) but perhaps this guy always voted down increasing the budget or doing things that needed to be done. I have a couple of members that I wish wouldn't show up. LOL

Maybe he'll have to move, if he's not paying the fee than he's probably not paying his mortgage either. Do you have him in collections at least?

Dana
SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202
Posted:
Unless the new election is just around the corner, the board MUST carry out the bylaws.

If the bylaws say he/she "MAY" be removed . . . as opposed to bylaws saying "shall be removed" then it's optional whether or not to act before the election.

What is the exact wording of the cause to remove?
SusannaM (Florida)
Posts: 366
Posted:
regardless of by-laws, I think a registred letter giving him a deadline to resign based on the known facts is a good idea.
DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671
Posted:

Susan and Susanna,

If I woke up with my Lion Face on, he would get a letter asap, telling him, not asking him, to resign. But then as my tea kicked in, I would rationalize that with just 2 or 3 months to go, is it worth any added expense from a lawyer, to write this guy a legal letter , telling him to resign. Added expense at the end of the year is not budget friendly management.. And that does not guarentee that he will not challange and say that he is being harrassed by the Board. So---between a rock and a hard place is the Board. Even if this State had laws for removing him, it takes a couple of months to purge out a guy like this.
SusannaM (Florida)
Posts: 366
Posted:
Donna, allow me to clarify. Registeredand letter with return receipt requested should come from the other board members and you don't need an attorney for that. My reasoning is "paper trail." Copy of letter remains on HOA files. They may not accomplish anything as far as removal but at least it will show that the rest of boad memebrs did their duty.

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