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AlbertC
(New Jersey)

Posts:10

07/18/2008 10:46 PM
I have just been elected to the Board and I have requested several contracts for review and was told that I would have to get approval from the rest of the BOD because they are confidential. I was told that I would have to read them on the premise and that I could not copy and take them home to review. The first day after election I was given a stack of all kind of personal books and documents that were confidential of which I had to sign for, but I am allowed to remove from the premise and review at my own time. My question is this; I was under the impression that being elected allowed me the right to review any organizational documents and to have the freedom to check every operation within the organization, without any interference from anyone. The document in question has to do with a service contract of certain staff members. There is nothing in the bylaws or CCR's that prohibit this. If my reasoning is correct, how would I go about enforcing my position?

GlenL
(Ohio)

Posts:1377

07/18/2008 11:00 PM
Each member of our BOD is given a copy of all contracts with vendor's however since this is evidently an employment contract, privacy rights of the employee might be in play here. I would simply ask why you may not have a copy of the contract as there may be valid legal considerations. In the mean time if you truly need to see this contract follow the steps outlined. Why do you want/need a copy of it?

MagdaS
(Florida)

Posts:21

07/19/2008 6:16 AM
Gee, I thought every member of an HOA, not just BODs, is entitled to look at any and all contracts the HOA enters into. At least in Florida per Statute 720. Is your State that different? Look into the State Statutes and Laws.

SusanW1
(Michigan)

Posts:2184

07/19/2008 7:05 AM
Do you mean personnel information? (you said personal) I don't think staff contracts are intended to be taken from the "office" and while you should be able to look at them, to clarify job description and responsibilies, along with other contracts (like landscaping, maintenance, etc) you might want to review them if there is a problem. You really can't do anything about signed contracts, right now, as a new member. Was there a reason you wanted to delve into contracts? What is your "expertise" that you bring to the board? Don't feel that you have to be an expert in every aspect of running the HOA. Find your niche and develop that. If contracts are your thing, then perhaps when the contracts are up for renewal, then you could be on the committee that write/reviews them.

KirkW1
(Texas)

Posts:1145

07/19/2008 8:47 AM
The poster asked about "Contracts" not contacts. I think they should be available for every member of the HOA to view and a copy should be provided to each board member to keep. Further, restricting a BOD member's access to a contract is a serious problem. Fiduciary responsibility dictates that every BOD member should review every contract. They are charged with ensuring that the contract specifications are kept and can not possibly do so without seeing the contract. You may have a problem similar to ours in that our manager doesn't seem to grasp that the BOD is in charge. She has said that we will need to get "authorization" for several things and suggested that we might somehow be prohibited from having a copy of our documents in Word format. (The president and I intend to meet with her boss to straighten things out.) As for contacts, I also think the BOD member should have a copy of them to keep with them.

PatR
(Florida)

Posts:136

07/19/2008 10:49 AM
Call the Vendors...Any member of the HOA should be able to look at contracts. Confidential..hmmmm And check your budget, to be sure that big items such as secuity and landscaping amounts are the same as on the contracts.

MaryA1
(Arizona)

Posts:2259

07/19/2008 10:56 AM
Albert, You are a member of the board and are entitled to see any contract the board has entered into, whether or not it contains confidential information. The fact that you cannot take a contract off the premises is one thing, but you should be able to make a copy of it (minus any truly sensitive material) and remove that copy. IMO, your manager needs to be reminded that he/she doesn't make the rules!

MikeS11
(Pennsylvania)

Posts:1

07/20/2008 5:46 AM
I had just joined our HOA and have discovered that the Board Members are not following the Declaration concerning (i) having the books & records reviewed or audited annually (since 2001), (ii) not enforcing the failure of submission by memberrs for in-ground pools for HOA to first review & approve, (iii) not adopting annual op budgets and giving to its members, (iv) no annual meetings, (v)granting approvals to some members for installation oftheir fences by merely receiving a letter of request whereas other members submit as required under the Declaration (submission of plans, permit & specifications del by US cert mail)and withold approvals without letting members know why their approvals are not being granted, the list goes on....We are self managed..What is my exposure as a new board member here??

SusanW1
(Michigan)

Posts:2184

07/20/2008 9:29 AM
Mike - sure wish you would have started a NEW thread! YOU have no "exposure" - you are new and not responsible for the good or bad the Board did in the past. Have you had a one-on-one with the president to lay out your concerns? What steps have been taken to recifiy these issues? If you have and are not getting action, be sure that your concerns are listed at the next meeting and documented in the minutes. Write a letter to the Board stating these issues and ask that is be considered an official communication and an attachment to the minutes. Then volunteer to establish compliance committee to get these things straightened out. P.S. If there was no annual meeting, HOW did you get on the Board???

MaryA1
(Arizona)

Posts:2259

07/21/2008 1:53 AM
Posted By MikeS11 on 07/20/2008 5:46 AM I had just joined our HOA and have discovered that the Board Members are not following the Declaration concerning (i) having the books & records reviewed or audited annually (since 2001), (ii) not enforcing the failure of submission by memberrs for in-ground pools for HOA to first review & approve, (iii) not adopting annual op budgets and giving to its members, (iv) no annual meetings, (v)granting approvals to some members for installation oftheir fences by merely receiving a letter of request whereas other members submit as required under the Declaration (submission of plans, permit & specifications del by US cert mail)and withold approvals without letting members know why their approvals are not being granted, the list goes on....We are self managed..What is my exposure as a new board member here?? Mike, Now that you are a board member and have all the assn records available to you, perhaps you can research some of these claims and ascertain their validity. If, in fact, the board has really done -- or not done -- some of the things you claim, you're now in a position to make some changes. Make an outline of all the issues that need to be corrected, along with your recommendations to rectify and discuss them with the board. In answer to your question: "What is my exposure as a new board member here??" You have no liability for any wrong doings committee by the BOD before you were elected to the board. However, now that you are a board member, your liability is the same as all other board members. If you know the board is doing something illegal you need to state your objection to their action and make certain it becomes a part of the official record of that meeting.

GlenL
(Ohio)

Posts:1377

07/22/2008 12:31 PM
Posted By MagdaS on 07/19/2008 6:16 AM Gee, I thought every member of an HOA, not just BODs, is entitled to look at any and all contracts the HOA enters into. At least in Florida per Statute 720. Is your State that different? Look into the State Statutes and Laws. Magda not all States are the same in Ohio there are some things we can prohibit the general membership from seeing: 5311.091 Examination of books, records, minutes. (A) Except as otherwise prohibited by this section, any member of a unit owners association may examine and copy the books, records, and minutes described in division (A) of section 5311.09 of the Revised Code pursuant to reasonable standards set forth in the declaration, bylaws, or rules the board promulgates, which may include, but are not limited to, standards governing the type of documents that are subject to examination and copying, the times and locations at which those documents may be examined or copied, and the specification of a reasonable fee for copying the documents. (B) The unit owners association is not required to permit the examination and copying of any of the following from books, records, and minutes: (1) Information that pertains to condominium property-related personnel matters; (2) Communications with legal counsel or attorney work product pertaining to pending litigation or other condominium property-related matters; (3) Information that pertains to contracts or transactions currently under negotiation, or information that is contained in a contract or other agreement containing confidentiality requirements and that is subject to those requirements; (4) Information that relates to the enforcement of the declaration, bylaws, or rules of the unit owners association against unit owners; (5) Information the disclosure of which is prohibited by state or federal law.

MaryA1
(Arizona)

Posts:2259

07/22/2008 2:35 PM
AZ HOA statutes also have restrictions. All of the following can be restricted from viewing or copying by a member: 1) Privileged communication between an attorney for the association and the association. 2) Pending litigation. 3) Meeting minutes or other records of a session of the board meeting that is not required to be open to all members pursuant to (the open meeting law) 4) Personal, health or financial records of an individual member of the association, an individual employee of the association or an individual employee of a contractor for the association, including records of the association directly related to the personal, health or financial information about an individual member of the association, an individual empoyee of the association or an individual employee of a contractor for the association. 5) Records relating to the job performance of, compensation of, health records of or specific complaints against an individual employee of the asociation or an individual employee of a contractor of the association who works under the direction of the association. Note that items 1, 2, 4 and 5 are also topics that may be discussed in a closed session of the board, as specified in the open meeting law.

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