Board Member conflict?

Started by BonnieS3 • 5 replies • 1359 views

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BonnieS3 (Florida)
Posts: 22

Posted:

I am wondering whether it is good policy that a Board member who, most recently, after a BOD mtg. was adjourned, continued answering HO questions and carried on discussions with a group of Members. He has numerous times approved HO requests during conversations outside of Board meetings. Homeowners constantly call him and ask questions, to which he answers/approves, and the HO's move forward with whatever he may have been approved. (Example: in a conversation with a HO, he approved her window tint. Window tinting is not permitted. When the HO was requested to remove her window tint, the HO advised that this Board member had approved it.) I have repeated asked this Board Member to not have Association conversations outside of Board meetings, to which he ignores. Am I wrong?

MicheleD (Kentucky)
Posts: 4,491

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By BonnieS3 on 11/15/2009 11:39 AM
I am wondering whether it is good policy that a Board member who, most recently, after a BOD mtg. was adjourned, continued answering HO questions and carried on discussions with a group of Members. He has numerous times approved HO requests during conversations outside of Board meetings. Homeowners constantly call him and ask questions, to which he answers/approves, and the HO's move forward with whatever he may have been approved. (Example: in a conversation with a HO, he approved her window tint. Window tinting is not permitted. When the HO was requested to remove her window tint, the HO advised that this Board member had approved it.) I have repeated asked this Board Member to not have Association conversations outside of Board meetings, to which he ignores. Am I wrong?

Has the board member given the approvals in writing?

If so, he needs to be sanctioned by the entire board.

If not, then the HO is out of luck.

BonnieS3 (Florida)
Posts: 22

Posted:

Verbal approvals, nothing in writing.

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Bonnie,

The remaining Board members need to address his asap. He needs to be put on notice that he maynot and will not continue with his out of meeting approvals. Conversation are fine, even to the point of telling H.Os what a rule or guideline might be but that is as far as his authority goes.

Warn him that any further approval or even thinking that something is fine, should be stopped and if not, the Board will have him removed. You just cannot sugar coat this as it is serious and the Board can suffer serious concequences on these off the cuff approvals from him.

EverettC (Maryland)
Posts: 90

Posted:

What position (besides being a board member) does he hold? President? Chair of Architectural Committee?

If "only" a board member, there is a stronger argument that he had no authority. If Pres or Arch Committee Chair, he may have "apparent authority", making it harder for the association to overcome.

Perhaps you can control by stating in your newsletter that approvals must be in writing signed by the President or Chair of the Arch Committee, or whatever the title of the person who does have that authority.

RobertM18 (Michigan)
Posts: 2

Posted:

It seems likely that your CC&Rs require approvals to be in writing after approval by the board. A single director, officer or not, cannot offer board approval without a vote of all directors and receiving a majority.

It is possible that he can be taken to small claims court by a homeowner who has to remove an item due to his mis-represenation of a board decision.

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