ACC and HOA Board separate?

Started by DarylF • 9 replies • 1685 views

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DarylF (Washington)
Posts: 157

Posted:

In our community the newly formed ACC committee is made up of 2 board members and 2 non board members. Recently they have been acting on their own and have not been discussing things with the other 3 board members (we have 5 board members total). Violations are getting sent out, and ACC requests are getting rejected/approved without the board even being made aware.

The CC&Rs are real grey on this and don't specify if this is or is not the way it works. I'm wondering if this is typical?

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Daryl,
Normally the ACC is a committee appointed by the Board with the function of approving, disapproving and monitoring all architectural issues within the community. Board members should not be on the committee. All ACC issues are handled within the committee and the Board is there to ensure that it functions according to your Docs. So I would say that "NO" I don't think that your Board is not typical in how it is working with the ACC.

JosephW (Michigan)
Posts: 882

Posted:

Be careful. In some states and in some docs, the ACC is established as a separate body, with the authority to approve, disapprove, send out violation notices and even fine. This is to allow the board to act as an "Appeals" group. If your documents establish the ACC committee and give it any, some, or total authority over architectural control, then this is what was probably set up or intended. IF this is the case, then the board members shouldn't be on it. If your docs don't provide for this, then the board can often set up an ACC committee and delegate certain actions to it, again with the board serving as the appeals group. (Again, for this reason, board members shouldn't be on the ACC). The committee should have a formal charter, with powers and limits established clearly.

Joe

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MicheleD (Kentucky)
Posts: 4,491

Posted:

In our area, board members are commonly on the Architectural Review Committee.

At least one board member. . .

It's set up that way in our documents, and our documents are sort of "boilerplate" from hundreds of other HOAs in the area.

So the answer, at least from our area is that what your board and ACC are doing is completely normal.

KirkW1 (Texas)
Posts: 1,665

Posted:

Unless there is some stipulation that the Board members can not also serve on the ACC then I personally would advocate that only one Board member be on the committee. And the committee should act independently of the Board. If you disagree with the decision, then you can appeal to the Board.

In our documents you can first make an appeal to the ACC and then also make an appeal to the Board.

Because of the amount of responsibility of this committee, I personally think a Board member should at least be in attendance and a listening party to all committee discussion.

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Kirk,
Good point. Our "AT LARGE" member acted as the liaison to the ARC and Board. He also had the authority to break a tie in the event that an even number of ARC members were present and had a tie vote. Of course it was spelled out in the ARC manual.

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

GENERALLY, when Board members are on committees, they wear a committee "hat" and have no special status. In fact, most times they are not the chair of the committee. They could be the liaison, or message carrier, back to the board.

DarylF (Washington)
Posts: 157

Posted:

Our CC&Rs state that 2 of the 5 board members must be on the ACC. Then when it talks about approving/rejecting ACC requests, it says "the board or the ACC".

The CCR's are not clear on who sends out violation notices, but right now the ACC does.

One of the board members is the head of the ACC.

Thanks for the input!

MicheleD (Kentucky)
Posts: 4,491

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By DarylF on 02/03/2009 7:59 AM
Our CC&Rs state that 2 of the 5 board members must be on the ACC. Then when it talks about approving/rejecting ACC requests, it says "the board or the ACC".

The CCR's are not clear on who sends out violation notices, but right now the ACC does.

One of the board members is the head of the ACC.

Thanks for the input!

It sounds to me, then, that the board and ACC have established a workable process that is well within the allowance of your governing docs.

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Daryl,

This is from another of my posts and it explains my reasons for not having Board members on the ACC committee.

Dwight,
The reason my documents are set up with the ARC committee consisting of NON BOARD members (with a Board member as Liaison) is that in the event of an appeal from an applicant, the applicant can appeal to the Board for a review. Now, IF the Board member sits on the ARC AND sits on the Board, said Board/ARC member has the ability to vote 2 times against the applicant. Therefore, it is double jeopardy or whatever the legal term is. My CC&Rs clearly states that the ARC is made up of non Board members who preferrably have knowledge of codes, landscape, architectural and construction or design skills. It's not required but we seem to find these people in the community. I think that this particular covenant which describes the ARC is rather good.

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