Running for Office of the President of the HOA

Hi there everyone. I enjoy reading all these articles and found them very interesting. Keep up the good work.

I am a retire Sergeant Major form the US Army. I have a proven track record of effective leadership of 27 years of active duty in both peace time and in war. My wife and I just purchased a beautiful Condo on a Gulf Course. Hopefully in the next year or so I can learn to play gulf.

We have a HOA in place. The HOA was previously in the hands of the developers. Since all the lots have been sold, the HOA is now in the hands of the property owners. We are in the process of creating a Board with 5 voting members. We are to vote of board members on January 5th, 20121. There were three individuals elected to run a temporary board until we vote in our new board. One of the individuals (Mr. X) on the board is relator and he is running for the President of the HOA. Mr. X is also my next door neighbor.

When we moved into our Condo, we received no welcome by no one in the community. We found that very odd, but we soon found out why, but that is a long story. After 2-3 months, my wife was outside with are little Chihuahua (name Luke) playing with him. The next door neighbor Mrs. X was also outside. My wife approached her and introduced herself to Mrs. X. Mrs X immediately started "in a loud voice" you need to keep your dog from barking so much. Barking dogs are in violation of the HOA by laws. Mrs X kept on saying things about our dog barking all the time over and over and over. Mrs. X completely discarded the my wife's introduction to her. So my wife went back into the house. Yes, our dog barks like any other little Chihuahua until they get to know you. Mrs X was very disrespectful to my wife.

We (my wife and I) stayed on the "high road", saying Good Morning to Mr and Mrs X to an attempt to be nice and friendly. They never return a greeting. Even today when they see us, they don't say a word.

Over the past several months we have learn from other sources that Mr and Mrs X are angry individuals becasue they had to move from a $800,000 house into a $180,000 Condo, and they Mrs X lost $1.3 million dollars from her mother becasue of her husband filing a Chapter 7 for a failed business. But that is there business and not ours. But they should not take it out on us. We are a normal retired military family, middle class that pays ours bills, and lead an active and fun life.

I also requested a meeting with Mr X, but he will not meet with me becasue he says it doesn't have any value.

After reading the above, could someone give me some advise on how to effectively run for office of the President of the HOA. I want to block his nomination and run for the position, to but in some effective leadership in the community to turn it around. I have more experience in leadership then in the military. I am also a retired Vice President of an IT Department. I know for a fact, I turn instill some leadership in this community that will make us all a happy family.

So how do I run for office ?

Can a request to debate Mr X ?

How do I exposed Mr and Mrs X to the community as non leaders, and are very angry individuals becasue of their losses?

In closing, if you have any suggestions for me, I am open to anything, please send me e-mail to: [email protected]

Thanks

Dave

PS: I am not a good proof reading, so please forgive me for any grammar or spelling mistakes.

DaveS,

If your HOA is structured like most HOAs I am familiar with, you can't simply run for "president of the HOA." If your HOA is like most, the association members elect directors to serve on the Board of Directors (BOD) and the board then meets (usually termed an organizational meeting) and elects the association officers. You would have to read your bylaws to see if this is the process, but it is my expectation that it is.

So, it's a two-step process. First, you would have to convince enough homeowners to vote for you to be on the board of directors. Then, if you are successful in being elected to the board, you would have to convince at least three of the five board members that you should be elected as the HOA president.

In addition to studying the Bylaws and CCRs, you may want to walk around your community and get to know your neighbors. Ask them what sorts of things they like and don't like about the community and suggestions on improving ti. Think about their suggestions and think about what you'd like to see, put them together and make your case when the association meets to vote.

I've found it takes about a year to get well acquainted with the goings on of a HOA, so give yourself time. In my HOA, we prefer our presidents have at least two years of experience and that seems to work out since our terms are two years at a time.

Finally, I note you're in Indiana - if you're in the Central Indiana area, consider joining the local CAI (Community Association Institute). CAI is a national organization of HOAs and companies working with them and the local chapter has quarterly meetings and seminars on various HOA subjects. It's great to meet different people and get ideas on what to do (and not do!) in a HOA. I can't remember the website address, but if you Google it, you should find it.

Whether you become president or not, I'm glad you care enough about your community to get involved - so many people move in and do nothing but complain. Good luck to you!

Don't run out of spite.

Do not entertain the notion of becoming an HOA president before simply serving as a director of the board.

I like the comment made above that presidents don't rule over the board. They do not. They persuade and work on projects, hopefully with overwhelming board support.

Dave,

Thank you for your service to our County. Your decision to serve on the Board should be the same decision used when you stayed in the military - TO SERVE. The Board should not be a place for personal agendas but for the betterment of the development.

As others have said - Read and understand your documents. Also Read and understand corporate law.

Submit your name to the nomination committee and start letting people know you have done so.

Typically, there are no debates - there may be a quick introduction with qualifications at the meeting or in a newsletter.

Hope this helps,

Tim

Yes you are perfectly correct. Running out of spite is wrong and I will not run. Someone told me I need two years of experience to run for President.

The president may not rule the board, but his personality will or can persuade the board of doing things. I've seen so many people practice leadership by their personality. Leading by personality is wrong, fair and not effective. Also, he does not set the example and possess the character to be the president of this board.

Over the weekend I sent him a e-mail message asking for a meeting between him and I, and he responded that if I can prove to him my meeting has VALUE ON THE PHONE than he may consider it. Gee......that's a leader. I just wanted a simple meeting between him and I at a natural place to sort our our issues. But he refused.

I'm done. But thank you very much for your message. I appreciate it

Dave

No one can "screen" candidates for office (Except if they violate what is in the bylaws, i.e. must be a member of the HOA)

You must attend meetings to find out what's going on here. It sounds like he is a one-man band - the other board members are weak and just go along with him.

Find out when the next elections are. Insist that you be on the ballot and privately go door to door and campaign. Tell people that you will be on the ballot and will work for their best interests.

But you MUST be more informed if you are going to go toe to toe with him. (Know your enemy, huh?) He seems very knowledgeable, you must be, too.

Him being a realtor is not a conflict of interest unless he is gaining monetarily from decisions made by the board (like getting commissions on sales of HOA owned properties)