Challenging HOA Board Elections

Can a homeowner challenge the HOA board elections if the HOA board& management procedures violate the BY-laws? What can a homeowner do legally? Can they just complain to the board to fix it or can they take legal action against the board? What are the legal consequences to the HOA board? Does the homeoewner have to notify the board before the election? Does the homeowner have to legally notify the board in writing or can it be bought up at the annual meeting? Does the homeowner have to get legal counsel in order to challenge the election? Thanks Ida

Oh - I just re-read your post. Apparently, this election has not yet happened.

Anyway, what do you think is wrong with the election procedure that makes you call it "illegal"?

I live in a community only 4 years old. We have been through 2 sets of BOD's; both corrupt. The first board failed to look at any invoice the PM was paying with our funds; I discovered the PM was paying the developer's bills with our money (very common!). Brought it to the attention of our board, they thought their job was to trick out the clubhouse. They said it was the job of the PM to look after the money, thus no one with a vested interest in our assoc. was watching the funds. I contacted the developer myself and secured a reimbursement of $13,000.00 for HOA. The Board Members took credit for my investigation! Their ignorance turned to arrogance. They even refused to respond to a letter from our attorney. Developers and property managers take advantage of Board Members who have no idea what they are doing. The less the board knows, the easier the pm's job.
Board #2; home owner offers self for board position, failed to tell voters at Annual Meeting that she had a lien on her home for delinquent assessments, was elected,then voted to suspend the forclosure of her own home (conflict of interest) without telling other Board Members they were voting on her personal lien; she said she was deployed and didn't have to pay her assessments. I wrote to USARMY, she was not deployed, she wasn't even on active duty! Same Board Member held an "improper meeting" and voted off the only Board Member that wanted her to pay her fair share. While the board failed to make their fellow board member pay on her delinquent account they filed liens against other home owners.
This board has admitted in discovery they have not investigated nor accounted for the funds I have shown were missing. The Board Member only wanted to get on the board to suspend the foreclosure of her home. We decided to sue.
This is what everyone needs to know and fear. You hire an attorney to file a complaint, the board hires an attorney, using every home owner's money. The attorney's job is to defend the actions of the Board Members, even if they have failed to follow any of the governing documents. Our board has never ratified the budget, they spend the money however they want. The board does not take minutes of the meetings because they don't want to! They refuse to make available the Books and Records, etc. The attorney isn't doing what is best for the Association, just defending the unscruplous activities of the Board Members and dragging out the case as long as possible because the Association has lots of money and the attorneys know it!
We appeared before Judge Fox in Wake County and he dismissed our case! Fox said he didn't believe HOA issues belonged in the court and he didn't like his HOA so he was moving and that is what everyone should do! There is no justice for home owners, don't waste your money on an attorney in Wake County, they can't get past a judge with the truth. The attorney representing our HOA helped to draft the NC Planned Community Act and Condo Act, also the Bylaws most Associations use. These governing documents are written so they have no teeth; there is nothing a home owner can do to to force the Board Members to abide by the rules, no way to protect your investment; you hire an attorney and the opposing attorney wrote the rules the board is failing to follow! Where's the justice?

Any BOD that values their actions in a positive manner will be wise to follow their own By-Laws. Most HOA use Roberts Rules of Order to govern their actions. This link might help you:

http://www.rulesonline.com