Board Ignoring By-Laws

PaulS2,
I’m sorry to hear of your problem. I wish I could be of help to you, but I’m in the process of learning all I can do and can’t do in an HOA community. I would expect you to receive plenty of very good advice from many of the people on this discussion board.

I have read in your post that the other board members couldn’t be removed because there weren’t enough votes. What does your by-laws say is needed for them to be removed? Do proxies count? Are those only used for voting? HMMMM just a thought. Do you have volunteers to run for the positions that will be vacant?

These questions may help you receive the advice you are looking for.
Best of luck,
Chuck W.

Thanks for the initial comments.

We did sent notices to the board asking for updates - IGNORED. We did sent certified letters to the board asking for a meeting as established in our by-laws - IGNORED. That led to the ouster vote. Our by-laws require a simple majority, and proxies are, and were, allowed to be part of the vote. Since the entire board did not receive sufficient votes to remove them (only the president received sufficient votes), the current board remains in existence (per our by-laws). We did have candidates ready if all board members had been voted out. As a result, the remaining board (with the removed president still helping them in the background)is just moving forward, while continuing to ignore the concern of other homeowners.

As a side comment, I would recommend to anyone looking to remove your entire board that you reconsider and allow the voters the option of removing all or only certain members. If you demand all or none, you stand the risk of not gaining anything. The pressure applied on our neighbors to not vote their neighbor or friend off the board was huge. Friendships were at risk, to include statments that "our kids will never play together again if you vote my spouse off the board".

Its gets ugly, so be prepared!

In the meantime, though, the board is moving ahead with it's agenda.

That is our frustration. Short of a lawsuit or injunction, how do we get the attention of the board?

PaulS2

I am sorry to hear of your trouble, I have experienced this issue twice in my young life. If they are using a threat to HURt your child, punish you child you need to take out the big guns.

I suggest (1) buy a digital voice recorder and use it for every phone conversation and physical meetings.(the microphones are pretty sensitive up to 10 feet away if they speak up, and it sounds like these people speak up.
Deliberately inquire abut specific progress in the committee and ask to sit in on their meetings, unless they are already open. These meeting should be reocrded as well. Audit the books.

Find a person among you who has no threats from wives about breaking friendships (that's it, threaten to hurt our child, great parenting?*!)that can bring the bylaws or charter and confidentially confer with an attorney experienced in this area. The atty might have a few tricks up his sleeve he can suggest. Sometimes filing a suit solves the problem, and maybe theywon't call your bluff. But if they do be prepared, set them up, have all your ducks in order. I can buy criminal background checks for $3 from the TX Department of Public Safety. Go to the county and state courthouses and search their records for any evidence aobut the teenagers DUI, bankruptcies, foreclosures, or something they might prefer to conceal from the membership that would motivate them to resign before being recommended for removal before being exposed as a risk to the leadership based on their moral character flaws, illegal behaviors. Be sure and let the attorney submit the information to the membership and the parties in question and make sure he discloses his client, the meek, lovable guy/gal with no risk of inury to any children. In addition, most times these records can be found on line. It varies state by state. The Local City Police Dept has online searches for outstanding warrants on the "best" people.

A freind of mine's daughter began counseling sessions with someone her mother and stepfather had used for a year for marriage counseling. He had the right to refuse her chice of doctors. He allowed her to go, based on his ex's year of familiarity with the therapist. I investigated and within a minute found a disciplinary action against this PhD occuring two years ago for sexual misconduct. Well we both thought, she's just doing her client. Well she was. this married counselor, writing books about relationships and publishing books on religious spiritual guides to life thru her synogogue,where she is a well known sprirtual guide was a real example of a spiritual guide. The PhD confided with one of her "partners" about the case, as is customary and disclosed her sexual relationship, admitting they were "developing an intimate relationship", claiming they waited to do anything physical, until after she released her from therapy. SURE. They reported her to the board.

She had been counseling a married patient and after almost two years had completed the "spiritual guide " and basically coerced the patient to want to divorce their spouse and abruptly stopped seeing the patient so she could have sex, SURE. I researched online for King County Court records and found that her husand filed for divorce 5 months later. King County tax records showed a home purchased by the still married therapist and another female owner.

I researched the other homeowner on the Google and found a notice of their "commitment ceremony" in the Seattle paper, and discovered her lover/client had been a married FEMALE. I double checked just for kicks on the online listing of "lesbian unions" and found a notice of their "marriage" at the therapist's synogogue.

My friend pulled his daughter out of therpay with this lesbian spiritual therapist before she got into her pants.

Everything I found I found online for free. I didn't even have to pay for the Washington State Medical review "court" records because there eren't more than however many pages.

Pay to have a criminal background check on each person on the board. You would be surprised at how many of your neighbors have skeletons in their cedar closets. Do a relatively deep backgound check on all the leaders in question.

I suggest we take more care in approving nominees for leadership positions in our communities. Some members in my group were totally opposed to my suggestion and inquiry about using a standard background check from the current state and the immediate past state of residence or a credit check, unless you get them bonded. Other members insisted and thought if they have nothing to hide what would they care. Their employers in many cases have already done this and may even repeat it periodically.

Use detailed lengthy questionaires for their references, with specific inquires regarding their value in a group project, their "voluntary" contributions to peers "just because". How often do they attend voluntary working lunches, evenings or weekends with a group to meet a deadline? Before you begin, let the nominees know that their references will never be made available to them.

If the reference thinks there's any chance it might be read by the nominee they will sweet talk or generalize and a small character flaw might remain concealed about this proposed leader. Real references can be a useful tool in selcting nominees, hoping you will choose a perosn who was at least ethical, and a BONUS might get you someone with moral character.

Hope no one finds any offense to my sharing. Just making a point about what's available abut people online and hoe some people might want to stay concealed behind their white picket fences. Can you send me alink to your bylaws. I ened a copy of a wroking organization that allows removal of an y officer by majority vote. I really appreciate. email: lwnpct"at"walla.com

Thanks for the input. A backgroundcheck doesn't tell you if I'm green or bisexual, and this story was simply to show how I so easlity researched info on the internet. Sex wasn't the point. I Live in Austin TX, and nobody cares who you have sex with or how many. If these great officer's wives are threatening their own flesh and blood, not to mention other member's children, I would guess the board members might be doing something wrong that are not simply against the bylaws.

Otherwise, I wouldn't lay down for anyone, especially someone who threatened my child. I would end the relationship that my child had with the parents, even if no attorney was hired. I wouldn't let my child go to that home or have any association with the parents at all. I would explain exactly what the mother threatened. Kids are smarter than we think, but we are responsible adults and must choose to do what is right, in this case for our community and our investments.

Does your organization have a solid set of bylaws? If so would you share them with me. Or better yet, would you give me your opinion on two different sets?
(:
P.S. I'd bet my life her husband is on the board to stay away from that mother of a _ithc. She should have her children taken away from her.

BradP,

Very cute, ha, ha. Glad we agree on this one. While the investment of property is important, those that oversee it are volunteers after all. IMO background checks into owners is petty and pointless. It doesn't take much to know if someone is doing a good or bad job.

Libby - Not sure what it is you are seeking on two different sets of by-laws? If you could explain further, perhaps in a new post, you may get the responses you seek.