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PattyB1
(Kentucky)

Posts:30

10/25/2006 11:28 AM
I am the VP in our HOA.Yesterday I received a phonecall from our secretary that cought me off guard.In the midst of her "shock and awe" and "put me in my place" screaming,she dared me to ever send her another email that would tick her off.I had copied some letters for her for delinquint dues and told her they were ready. She said,"if they're ready,go ahead and mail them".I told her she was secretary,she could do it.Don't ever tell anybody what office they hold.Since our HOA began 6 months ago,I have only tried to get the other 3 officers to organize.Right now we need to collect our dues as most people have not paid and they are late.We can't even afford our attorney.Because the secretary is too busy to perform most of her duties,I have been taking care of the letter writing and mailings,but this time I couldn't.She says the other officers agree with her although I've not heard anything.I'm not sure what my role is anymore,what I can or can't say,but I'm out of their loop unless they want me to know something.I was elected by a majority of the homeowners,but the 3 other board members are ready to throw me off a bridge.For all the good it'll do,I have every email ever sent between the board members.How do you work with people that don't want you to open your mouth?I could really use some advice because I may need to send another email and I'm not sure now which word might set her off.If the other board members think what she did was acceptable,this association is going down.PattyB1

GlenL
(Ohio)

Posts:1458

10/25/2006 12:21 PM
A little more information please. How big is your association and are you self managed or do you have a management company? The secretary may have just been having a bad day (we all get them) and you were just handy to vent on. But as long as you do their jobs for them people will come to expect you to do it. You say there are three other board members plus you, how do you break a tie vote with four people? As for collecting dues that is the age old problem especially when you're on the board and have to vote to foreclose on your neighbor!!! What we did is hire a collection attorney. If a homeowner is more than three months in arears, we give them to the attorney to collect. The attorney adds fees and charges on top of what is owed your association, that is how he makes money. In effect the past due homeowner pays the attorney to collect for you. In Ohio on top of the fees and court costs we can even charge the past due homeowner rent on his own property till s/he gets current.

RogerB
(Colorado)

Posts:3724

10/25/2006 12:36 PM
Patty, your post suggests to me that your Board needs to get organized and may need to hire a management company to handle accounting including collection of assessments. For self managed HOAs it is the responsibility of the Treasurer to collect assessments so I don't understand why the President or the Secretary are involved. Perhaps if you are having problems with the other Board members the first place to look might be in the mirror. What can you do to improve things? How can you more effectively relate with the other Board members? Do they not know what their duties as officers are?

Roger Borcherding Official HOATalk.com Sponsor DARCO Property Management (Colorado) (303) 925-0150 *See legal notice below (end of page) or go to www.hoatalk.com/legal

GeraldT1

Posts:0

10/25/2006 1:08 PM
PattyB1, If you look in the mirror (as was suggested by an HOA poster), make sure you can see the secretary's reflection as well. Because it seems to me that she is 99% responsible for what is wrong in your situation. You are 1% responsible by performing the secretary duties. Stop being nice, don't enable. All Board members are directors. Once on the Board, officership is then elected by the Board members. Your question, "how do you work with people that don't want you to open your mouth", is a good one. The answer depends on your audience. Some people will get it, some people will not. You can try to bridge the gap with a joke or a story about the team approach. Or you may try to just diplomatically cut to the chase and define your officer position as everything but what the secretary is too lazy or bitter to accomplish. GeraldT1 NNJ

PattyB1
(Kentucky)

Posts:30

10/25/2006 2:23 PM
This is a fairly new subdivision with only 56 homeowners. With a majority showing up for elections,we elected 4 officers.The other 3 had nobody running against them,I won VP against 1 person.The secretary has 2 kids and a husband, she doesn't need to vent on me. We have an attorney,but not enough money to use her to collect from the 27 homes that still owe.One person can't organize a group that doesn't think it's important.Because of their jobs,they asked me to find an attorney,so I did.They couldn't find time to open a bank account,so I got it started.We needed a POBOX,I had to get it.The secretary told me she doesn't have time for anything but the minutes and the newsletter,and whatever else I think needs to be done,I should do it.The treasurer threatend to quit if I continue to inquire about our finances and collections.This was done through the President in an email.Organization was my top priority,now I'm just wondering if they can through me off.It may be my own fault,but right now, they run things and I'm the gopher.I don't really know these people,and the phonecall yesterday was hatefull,mean,and threatening.I wanted to see this association do well,but I don't see at this point I could make a difference.PattyB1

PattyB1
(Kentucky)

Posts:30

10/25/2006 2:35 PM
I'm afraid these people do not have a sense of humor with me.We have got so much work to do.We don't have insurance yet,and we haven't even discussed a budget.Well, they may have,but they didn't tell me.PattyB1

GlenL
(Ohio)

Posts:1458

10/25/2006 4:51 PM
Patty, You missed the point of a collection attorney. There are attorneys that specialize in collecting money. Say someone owes your association $1,000.00 the attorney collects $1,500.00 they keep $500.00 for their fee and you get $1,000.00 they don't collect they don't get paid. If no one wants to or is too busy to do the work, a management company may indeed be your best option. Not only to do the work but guide your association as it gets on its feet. As far as the budget goes your declarations or even state law may mandate when they are done or what they contain. For instance Ohio law mandates at least 10% of the budget be placed in reserves and special assessments are banned unless the majority of the association votes to allow them.

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