SC-Board Canceled yearly meeting, assess illegal fines and are asking for 18-month proxies

Our HOA board canceled the 2008 membership meeting without notifying anyone. They are holding what should have been the 2008 meeting next week. Our By-Laws state the only way a yearly membership meeting can be canceled is if waivers are signed by the entire membership. None of us ever received anything. The board also sent out 18-month proxies asking homeowners to sign them if they didn't have the time to make meetings, because, "sometimes the board needs to make fast decisions." Again, our By-Laws state a proxy can only be used for one meeting. I also found out they have been charging $25 late fees to anyone who is late paying their yearly dues. I checked our restrictions and the By-Laws. The Covenants provide an avenue for the board to collect using legal means if payment cannot be worked out, but there is no mention of fines or fees being paid. I checked with the county clerk's office and there are no amendments to the original By-Laws or Covenants on record. Does anyone know who I would contact about what the board is doing to get this stopped? Is there a South Carolina state agency governing these things?

Thanks,
Holly

MicheleD - Here they are:

The purpose of the Homeowner's Association shall be to provide for the maintenance of the public areas and street lighting and to enforce these restrictions. The owner/owners of each lot subject to these restrictions shall pay to the HOA, the sum of Fifty Dollars per year as the initial annual assessment for the Maintenance Fund. Such payment is due on January 1st of each year and shall be delinquent sixty days after such date. It shall be the right and responsibility of the Homeowner's association to proceed legally against any lot owner for the collection of any delinquent assessments. The assessment shall be a charge on the land and shall be a continuing lien upon the lot against which the assessment is made which lien shall be enforceable in accordance with the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws of the Homeowner's Association. The assessment shall also be the personal obligation of the owner of a lot subject to these restrictions as such time as the assessment falls due and shall not pass to successors in title unless expressly assumed. The lien of the assessment provided for herein shall be subordinate to the lien of any first mortgage. Sale or transfer of any lot shall not affect the assessment lien. However, the sale or transfer of any lot pursuant to mortgage foreclosure or any proceedings in lieu thereof, shall extinguish the lien as to payments which became due prior to such sale or transfer.
The Declarant, any owner, or the HOA shall have the right to enforce, by any proceeding at law or in equity, all restrictive covenants, conditions and reservations imposed by the provisions of this declaration. Failure to enforce any provision herein contained shall in no event be deemed as a waiver of the right to do so thereafter. In the event an enforcement action is commenced under these Declarations, the prevailing party shall be entitled to all costs of such enforcement action, including reasonable attorneys fees.
In the By-Laws: Under Powers and Duties of the Board of Directors:
To make and collect assessments against lot owners to defray costs and expenses of the Association.
To enforce by legal means the provisions of the Declaration of Petition for Incorporation and the Restrictions.
To foreclose any lien for unpaid assessments in the same manner as mortgages.

I checked with the County Registrar of Deeds, and the only amendment to the original By-Laws or Restrictions was made in 1992 when the yearly fee was changed from $50 to $100. There is no mention of fines or late fees anywhere.

Hi Don,
Thanks for the input. The annual meeting - not sure if it is supposed to be the 2008 meeting or the 2009 meeting, because the 2008 meeting never took place - this Tuesday evening. It should be interesting. By the way, my husband and I moved to Myrtle Beach in 2004 and love it here. We were both born and raised in Michigan.
Thanks again!
Holly

By the way, the documents so far don't exactly say they can't impose late fees or interest.

There may be a state statute of some kind that allows organizations (not just HOAs) to charge interest on late payments.

This section right here: It shall be the right and responsibility of the Homeowner's association to proceed legally against any lot owner for the collection of any delinquent assessments.

may given them the ability to develop a rule to apply interest to late payments, IF your state allows that sort of thing, as long as it doesn't exceed some maximum APR.

It would not require an amendment nor would it necessarily require it to be filed in the county deed room.

I would find it odd if the documents did not allow for some sort of late fees/penalties/interest on delinquent accounts. Not that it couldn't happen, it would just be odd.

I agree with the other posters regarding their actions on the meeting cancellation and the proxies.

Sounds very weird.