Unit Owners in good standing ?

Hi Grace! Robert told me to get in touch with you, but just being elected to the BOD as Sec/Treas, I have literally been changed to the keyboard and had to buy a new computer and scanner to do justice to my new position. The process for removal of a board member is easy. It is garnering the support to do it that could be the stickler. My thread was the largest and it was really an amazing journey. My small band of brothers (3) just kept peecking away and sticking to the facts untill we got the attention of enough people who realized the great injustice that the board was doing to the owners. There are two very key elements that I have come away with.....knowledge is power and the Board of Director holds great power. If you are considering removing anyone, find the something in the governing documents that will support your proposed action. My HOA is small(79) and there are alot of old timers here that DO NOT WANT TO ROCK THE BOAT! We ended up removing the Treasurer and overturning the entire board at the election and it was the sweetest revenge in the world. The PM is next but the board had our HOA in such a mess, we have to do the first things first. We had a treasurer that never signed a check or laid eyes on a bank statement. The BOD gave sole authority to a new gal that was hired as Chief of Security and she promptly found weak reasons to fire half of the staff and bring in her son and two friends. My BOD has since let her go and has rehired all the guys she terminated. It was a great event and the HOA is much happier, but there are still some ugly hold outs that will find fault with anything and everything, but we are dealing with all of it in a factual and correct method. I have also learned that you cannot please everyone, so please yourself and that is really the only thing that matters. Just deal with the facts and not the personalities. No one is less patient than I, but with time this all played out quite well. The PM is a horrible accountant and we did recover almost $5000 in transfer fees and we are still finding mistakes. If you can't do accounting 101, you probably should not be a property manager. The next thing we have to do is convey to the owners that the guards are not a modified consierge service. The post office forwards the mail and a few other little thngs that need to get worked out, but day by day, we are headed in the right direction. Stick to your principles and don't let the bastards get you down. My original trio are also on the board with me and throughout our ordeal, we just kept reminding ourselves that we were on the right side of the issue. Keep a paper trail. Emails are perfect for that and keep that in mind also when you write one cause they can use it against you. Let me know how I can help. Mary1 and Robert were amazing and actually everyone on Talk was helpful, even if they did not agree. Sometimes youo need a different pair of eyes. Hang in there. Joanne

Susan,
Thank you for responding.
I thought that they need to be in good standing, however a friend of mine questioned that so I figured that all of you have helped so much, I would put it out here.
Can you tell me if there is a limit of the # of threads someone can post here?

Just to be sure, look at the possibility that good standing may only mean the owner is current with assessments and may not relate to fines. Some HOAs make the distinction for good reasons.

Grace, often putting the fees in escrow is no protection from enforcement to collect.

I wouldn't recommend that to any homeowner.

Rather I would suggest they pay with the notation "under protest: reason."

I would never ever recommend not paying assessments.

Slippery slope that may end up in a lien or worse.

Grace,

Michele is correct. I know a gal who did this, and even told the BOD that was what she was doing, but still almost lost her home and 6 other properties she owned to foreclosure. She w/h paying assessments while embroiled in a lawsuit with the HOA. The worst thing a member of an HOA can do is stop paying their assessments. I like to caution anyone considering this that the assessments are just as important as your monthly mortgage payment; and not paying them will result in the very same consequences as not paying your mortgage. Actually, the mortgage co may even give you more time to pay up! In AZ at least, an HOA foreclosure is the same as a mortgage co foreclosure in that the property owner loses his homestead exemption protection also.