Florida HOA Law & Board changes

I am on the Board in Florida. I have read our law. Our new President has decided that under 720. he can change (add) the following: Owner can only view specifics to their lot.; Owner will pay any expense for seeing documents; Management may charge $50 an hour for owner to see documeents;
Documents are kept apx 250 miles away from our community and owner must drive there to see documents. Fl.Law gives owneran 8 hour business day per month. He wants to change it to be 8 hours 'in a month'. Any legal way for him to do this. Our Board consists of 3 men who always vote together and 2 women.

Shirley, if you are incorporated I believe your Registered Agent should maintain copies of the HOA's files. Your PM probably has a management agreement which defines them as your Registered Agent and has an hourly charge for their time for viewing the documents. Your Board can look into changing this and to have the records available close by. I have not studied Florida laws but would presume that in Florida's non profit corporation act the documents which must be made available for viewing are much more than "only specific to their lot"; if so this will override a rule made by the Board.

Shirley,

FL law gives the board the authority to adopt rules pertaining to the inspection and that is what the Pres is doing. If you feel the rules he's proposing are not fair you can speak up, but if the majority of the board agrees with the Pres. there's nothing you can do about it.

Why do you want to have closed meetings? The purpose of having an open meeting law is to give members the authority to attend all meetings of the assn, including the board members. The intent is to promote transparency in board actions and to also allow members to exercise rights they should have as members of an HOA. An HOA is somewhat different that other corporations in that the members pay dues and must belong to the assn.

What I find interesting is that you say the Pres and his 2 cronies don't want to follow the rules yet they are intent on following the St open meeting law and YOU don't want to. Forgive me, if I've misread you, and I certainly don't mean to sound critical or sarcastic; but it sure sounds like the pot calling the kettle black.

Shirley,

After reading your posts, I get the impression that your Boards mentality is still in the 1980s when the majority of Boards just made rules up as they went along. Things are different now and how they want to rule from hell is not acceptable.

The President cannot "ADD" to the State law. I have copied 1 part of the Inspection Statute and tell me where he can charge $50.00 an hour for someone to oversee the inspection? Do you have an office? Where are the Board meetings held? WHY!!!!! are the records so far away? Even if the home office of the M.C is that far away, records must be made available for the Board as well as the members.

"c) The association may adopt reasonable written rules governing the frequency, time, location, notice, records to be inspected, and manner of inspections, but may not impose a requirement that a parcel owner demonstrate any proper purpose for the inspection, state any reason for the inspection, or limit a parcel owner's right to inspect records to less than one 8-hour business day per month. The association may impose fees to cover the costs of providing copies of the official records, including, without limitation, the costs of copying. The association may charge up to 50 cents per page for copies made on the association's photocopier. If the association does not have a photocopy machine available where the records are kept, or if the records requested to be copied exceed 25 pages in length, the association may have copies made by an outside vendor and may charge the actual cost of copying. The association shall maintain an adequate number of copies of the recorded governing documents, to ensure their availability to members and prospective members. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, the following records shall not be accessible to members or parcel owners:

Reasonable is not what he is asking of someone to inspect. Anyone wanting to inspect must provide a written request of what they want to see so "throw the boxes at them" is also unreasonable.

There are open meeting requirements in the State. He cannot have a closed meeting under any circumstances except with a lawyer concerning HOA business.(720:303)

Don't resign and DO NOT stop recording the meetings. You have that right, Secretary or just an owner, you have that right.

I thank everyone for their wonderful input concerning my board problems.
Being new on a Board and having found that it has been working as it were in 'the dark ages' it has been and is difficult. But, you all have helped me immensely. And, I want you to continue with whatever comes to mind that will help. I am told to continue to videotape everything even though I am not the 'badguy' in the group. And, yes, the man who wants to forget the rules and have 'fun' is also our HOA Representative at the Major Group of all areas. Can you believe? I have learned a lot and am totally disgusted and alarmed. But, will not give in to 'school boy bullies.' Again, thank you all.

Shirley,

Apparently you didn't see my message of 4/19, in which I said:

"In reading over your message that I responded to earlier, I believe I may have misinterpreted a statement you made. You said in referring to the board members: "As one said, we are an open meeting but I want to have closed discussions." I read that sentence as the board member saying "we are an open meeting" and you saying the rest. I'm now thinking you were saying the board member made the whole remark. My apologies! :-( "

Does the BOD have the authority to amend the bylaws or is a member vote required? Of course even if the BOD can amend, the amendment cannot violate any state law otherwise it would be null and void.

You stated: "The fact that we on the BOA are Volunteers only means to me that we are people of integrety and responsibility and desire to do what is right."
That's a nice thought, but I'm afraid it isn't so. Just the fact that you are volunteers doesn't mean you possess those qualities. ALL HOA boards are made up of volunteers and I've heard of quite a few with personality traits that leave a lot to be desired and "integrity and the desire to do what is right" aint' among them!

Shirley,
I see we are getting down to the nitty gritty. What can you do about your situation? Hang in there and keep plugging away, and plan, plan, plan. You only need one more on your side to have Board control. Remember, the Board elects the President, the people elect the Board. Use this. I bet you probably have a vacancy or a term expiring just about every year. You and you support are still owners, even though you are on the Board and you have a vote for the election of the Board. Start now, get someone lined up,get organized to elect this person, you can do it with work and determination, and do it openly, no secrets. Then when this person is elected, at the first Board meeting immediately following the annual meeting , the Board elects the new president 3/2, no problem.

Meanwhile, do what you should be doing as a concerned board member........communicate. Start sending out flyer's, go door to door, get help and get people to your Board meetings. Now, I am taking your word that the bad guys are 3 of your fellow members. True or not I don't know, but if you start shining the light on the Board meetings and welcome the input of owners you will scare the bejesus out of any one that is shady. If they are not suspect, they will welcome owner involvement. If the bad guys operate by making motions, voice your opinion and at every chance get them to explain no only what they are doing but make them proof it in their motions. There has to be discussion before voting, get a couple owners to question what they are doing, object and make them enter your objections into the record, record the meeting. You really need to open things up and see what falls out.