ARC - NEW HOA BOARD

Could I please ask many of the experienced guys on here a few questions? I have just found this forum and it has been very useful reading so far.

It's reference our community HOA down in Florida and our ARC. At a recent board meeting the Board has decided it shall get rid of we ARC ‘volunteers' and that the three board members will now do these duties. As our C&R’s state the board SHALL appoint an ARC, it makes me wonder if this is legal? I would be grateful for any guidance before I approach the board re their decision.

The election of this board about 6 weeks ago was a surprise and not the expected outcome, as previous members that had done a fantastic job over the last couple of years lost their seats because the secretary gave the proxies to a third party who did not follow the voting pattern to the letter. The proxy made a snap decision on the night about the election of another new member to the board, which lost the longest standing member of the board his seat and the Presidency.

At this AGM it was alleged there was a quorum to vote in a new board. We have a lot of joint or even 4 couples that own one home so obviously it should be only one vote per home, not per homeowner. Many of these joint owners were at the meeting and I suspect that they cast individual votes, which will have skewed the result and subsequently not be legal. My second question, therefore, is should there be documentation of who voted at that meeting?

Thank you in anticipation of some much-needed guidance.

Jack,

Fl 720 does not address who or how many members are on an ARC. The Sunshine Law as it relates to the ARC does not either. 720 dictates that there be 3 or more members appointed by the BOD, not associated with BOD members, for the Grievance Committee only. 720 only provides the manner in which the ARC will perform.

If your documents speak of the BOD appointing the ARC this is what has to be done. They cannot appoint themselves. First state, if not there, your HOA doc's.

WOW!! What kind of an election was that? The records for an election should be kept for at least one year. Our HOA keeps them for 3 years. If the proxy did not follow the format as it is laid down, the proxy should have been invalid.

Do your documents say that there is only one vote per qualified homeowner? If so then the other 7 votes should have been invalidated.

The HOA election committee should provide all of the materials that were used in the voting process. Again, your doc's should tell you how the voting process should have been operated.

Kelly,

Don't be sorry. It is very confusing, your Hoa doc, the state, the government, and who should we follow. Everyone has different language in their doc's. If ABC developed 10 HOA's they may all have different doc's. All documents for a HOA start with the CC&R's. They run with the land so they explain that portion. The By-Laws run the business of the HOA and how its members must perform. The Rules and Regulations are made by the individual boards. These can be changed on a weekly basis if they want, not a good idea but they can be because they are not cast in stone as most CC&R's and By-Laws are.

Going back to Jack's original statement, he said the BOD was taking control of the ARC committee. Going against their own documents. They elect a committee they are not the committee. IMO all committees should be autonomous to a point. The Grievance is totally in Florida. If BOD get involved in the committees, why bother with any committees. The committee should be formed by members of the community and a BOD member can be a liaison. If a situation arises and that particular committee wants something changed the board member can bring it to the whole BOD. It does not mean that the BOD has to act on it but at least the committees concerns were brought to the BOD.

Again, IMO when a BOD dictates how committees are run, or who can volunteer for them, it will cause great apathy in the community. Why should anyone join the committees if the BOD control them. This comes from a BOD overstepping their authority. The BOD makes the ultimate decision for the community but the thoughts and wishes of the members have to be taken into consideration. If you have no input from the community it becomes a totalitarian government.

Jack, if you think the election was a farce, question it. Follow your docs and request the information about the election.

Donna,

I know you and I were sisters in another life.

Thank you so much guys for all your valuable input and advice, it makes me feel more belief in the whole thing being a farce and being able to challenge the results and decisions more confidently.

I plan to spend the next few days reading up on the documents you mention and also contacting the Community Managers/Board to get the answers to much needed questions.

I have never lived anywhere with a HOA before and wanted to be involved with the Board/ARC in the past as I have great pride in where I live and keeping it a top community therefore have studiously gone over the T&R with a toothcomb and think I understand most of it. To be told that the ARC is being removed and the Board will do the duties themselves "to keep it simple" doesn't wash with my or indeed other home owners I have spoken to.

Thanks again.
Jack

Jack,

Do read up on your documents. On this forum you will see that most of the questions are answered with "review your doc's". HOA's have an insular government for that community. Documents will vary from HOA to HOA. Florida was one of the first to enact laws regarding HOA's (FL 720), you also should know this document. This is what you will follow first then your doc's.

If BOD do not follow the state and then their own doc's, there is reason to call them to task. A community should be a democratic society not totalitarian. There are always certain board members that have personal agendas and this is what has to be stopped. When there is a person like this on the board, the other members have to control him.

It is commendable that you want to serve your community to make it the best it can be. Keep up the good work and stay on this forum. You will find a lot of good advise here from some people who are very knowledgeable.

Good luck!!

Not to say that there are not a few of us honest well intended boards out there, but after awhile things could and probably will get clouded. Does your association use a management company? If this can be something with guidelines from the association that the Management Company property manager can over see until the Board of Directors can get some homeowners to become active in the community. Just a thought. We dont utilize this but it was an option when we negotiated our contract with our management company.

Donna,
I think there is some confussion maybe when I posted my reply. Our HOA is not having issues with volunteers and our Property Manager does attend our meetings at our request it is part of their package, they do not vote on any committe, when I referenced using the property manager for ARC I meant to help the ARC get rolling and do property inspections if that is what they have in their contract. As far as the decisions it always comes back to the board and or committee. I just wanted to clarify that I was responding to the original message, not needing the info.

Committees such as the ARC are appointed by the Board. Usually there are 3 members on the ARC. In our HOA the Board "Member at Large" is dual hatted as the "ARC representative". This works well. Requests to complete projects/changes are submitted to any ARC member who gives it to the ARC representative. As a committee, they review the request and make a recommendation to the Board. A meeting is called by the Board where any member of the HOA can appear and voice questions. The approval/disapproval is provided in writing by the Board.
Unless committees are answerable to the Board, you could have the ARC approving projects that are not reviewed or validated by homeowners with perhaps more expertise than the ARC members. The Board would be powerless to reverse bad decisions.

StanM,

We have an ARC committee consisting of 7 community members with a single BOD liaison. The liaison brings situations back to the board if the ARC cannot answer them but most of the decisions are the ARC's. They know what colors, plants, materials and plans are needed to approve and disapprove of any particular change.

Recently our BOD, the first time in 12 years, was asked to reverse a decision that the ARC made. The homeowner wanted a certain color pavers installed in their driveway. The ARC disapproved, the written reason was because the homeowner only presented a picture of the stone and color; there was no actual stone presented to the ARC. We, the board, found out later that this was not the reason, disapproval was because the chair of the ARC has a personal grudge against the homeowner. There are also 30 something homes that have this same color paver. No reason to turn it down.

We reversed the ARC decision and asked the chair of the committee to step down. If individuals on committees cannot be unbiased they do not belong on the committee.

So true!! If you know that you cannot be a fair and just person even when your worst nightmare comes before you, opt out of the discussion our recuse yourself from the vote.

Just to point out a recent change in Florida. All meetings of the ARC must be posted 48 hours in advance and open to anyone. For this reason we have re-absorbed the ARC back into the board and hold the applications for board meetings. It makes everything much slower but it is the law.

IN GENERAL, Committees are appointed or elected. They are an advisory to the Board and can make recommendations, but the Board does not have to accept them. The job descripton of the committee should be stated in the documents.

A Committee liaison to the Board can make the report to the Board and include a recommendation, which can be passed by motion of the Board at any regular board meeting. Committees don't have any other power, except that which is funneled through the board.

Hey All,
Above post is in the wrong spot. Ignore it and thanks, Had a senior moment.

AlexL1................. Architectural Review Committee...LindaC3