BOD's not following CC&Rs & Bylaws

For 7 of 15 years we had a homeowner serve as president who made things up as he went along rather than follow the CC&Rs and/or Bylaws. Rather than raise maintenance fee he had homeowners pay for some of their own repairs which is not in line with the CC&Rs. Homeowners who followed and served as President, did much the same thing.

Naturally, when my husband served as president he follwed and emphasized following the governing documents; he created quite a stir. Now, I've been placed in the presidency mid-year and am facing the same resistence.

During my husband's tenure, communications were attempted through newsletters and at the annual meetings emphasizing the governing documents but it made no impact. Afterall weren't we allowed to do pretty much as we wanted for 7-10 years; why not continue?

People have become accustomed to maintenance fees remaining at the same level for 5 and 6 yearsat a time respectively which, of course, resulted in deferred maintenance and some maintenance even being reduced or eliminated or handled by the individual homeowner. Now maintenance is beginning to stack up and there isn't enough funding (including reserves) to handle it all. (the HOA is responsible for all outside maintenance...building as well as lawn and landscaping)

I've initiated a Town Hall style meeting to take place in September. What suggestions would you have as to how to approach and emphasize following the governing documents vs. the freelancing together with adequately funding maintenance and reserves?

I suppose I'm interested in your horror stories which I can share with my folks regarding low maintenance fees and deferred maintenance and too low reserves as opposed to providing raw data which I have plenty to share.

Although few do, all owners of an Association are required to follow the rules set forth in the governing docs. Pleading ignorance is not an excuse and failure to follow them (especially failure of the Board to enforce them) will cause legal trouble for the Board and the Association.

This may be your best bet in terms of your meeting in Septembe i.e. point out that as a Board member, you have a legal and fiduciary obligation to enforce the docs (or else BIG trouble could ensue for all). Avoid selective enforcement at all costs and make right what has been done wrong in the past, even if your community gets up in arms about it.