Former board that got voted out having sour grapes

Started by PatrickS • 6 replies • 1710 views

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PatrickS (Washington)
Posts: 34

Posted:

I have a question. I have been on here before in regards to minor problems, but I am near the end of my rope and considering resigning. I am the treasurer of our 44 house HOA. Our dues are $20 a month and we had about $6500.00 in the bank. We have done the landscaping, mowing and have built a fence which is to be used for sports, dog park and assorted other activities. Now the former vice president has been activley saying we should have receive homeowner approval for the upgrades. I am a very hady guy and so is the current president and we have been doing these projects as well as several others and spent no more than $4000.00 including the repairs on the mower that was donated. We still have about $4000.00

The part that bothers me is that the former board upgraded the childrens park without a vote with the homeowners, yet they are demanding that we vote on everything. I find that ridiculous to say the least. Kind of like we can do it, but I demand that you can't.

Should I throw in the towel? The former board would even change the bulbs in the streetlights, let alone get approval from the homeowners on anything. I have all the ballots before us, and nothing on paper even to previous officer elections let alone any projects except for a special assessment to build a wruoght iron fence.

Comments?

Advice would be appreciated.

Patrick

WilliamT (Arizona)
Posts: 489

Posted:

You must first check with your bylaws to see what authority the board has. Most of the time the bylaws give the board the authority to make repairs and upgrades as the board sees fit.

They may also limit the amount of money the board can authorize, and require homeowner approval for upgrades that exceed a specified amount.

PatrickS (Washington)
Posts: 34

Posted:

No dollar amounts or limits in the bylaws. The board does have the authority as stated above by William T. It is pretty much word for word.

Patrick

WilliamT (Arizona)
Posts: 489

Posted:

Then all you have to do is cite and quote the bylaws and state that you are operating in accordance with the authority as granted in the bylaws by article xx Section xx paragraph xx, and that in doing so you have added value to the community and at the same time saved the community money by doing the work yourselves.

I'm assuming you were reimbursed for the materials and did not charge for your own labor.

If you charged for your labor, then you may have a conflict of interest.

In that event you would have had to disclose to the board that you were charging for the labor, and it would have been best to have obtained two other bids to show that you were performing the work for less than the contractors were charging.

GeraldT1 (<Not Specified>)
Posts: 519

Posted:

PatrickS,

Don't throw in the towel over loosers.

Even though you don't have to, you may consider funding projects in phases so as to reduce the amount spent at any one time.

However, as I've said before, the best way to flush out rats is to shine a light on their activities. In your case, put the concerns regarding board spending on your next open meeting agenda, state the reason it was placed upon the agenda, the by-laws/facts and the ability of the board to act accordingly.

Then move on to the next topic, and away from the annoyance of child-like grown "adults".

Best of success!!
GeraldT1
NNJ

PatrickS (Washington)
Posts: 34

Posted:

Thanks you for your responses. I don't need to be paid for my labor. I never have accepted money for what I have done, I have done it out of pride for what we have done. Money is not an issue, but we are going to do a full audit of the books for the last seven years and hire an attorney to make a written explaination of why and what we are doing. There are only receipts for the last three years. I am sure someone will have somthing to answer to. The past president has also is over two feet on my property with his fence and he is selling his house without disclosure. I really don't know how I am going to approach that.

I know this will be expensive, but a small price to pay for peace of mind.

WilliamT (Arizona)
Posts: 489

Posted:

You may want to check your state laws on easements and encroachments. You may want to call the realtor and tell him that the fence is an encroachment. Realtors don't want to know those type of things because when they do know, they are required to disclose it.

So when you tell the realtor, s/he is obligated to disclose it. If the neighbor denys the encroachment, then you can have a survey performed. The survey will determine with certainty where the property line is and you can probably demand to have the fence moved to on side the neighbors property. Usually if it is on the lot line, then both neighbors will share the expense. Perhaps you could agree to share the cost of moving the fence to the lot line.

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