conflict of interest?

Is there any laws or bulaws in HOA's against a family dominating the official positions of a board...such as the president being the father of the son who is the v.p. and owning the maintenance contracts on the community and the presidents wife being the treasurer? Isnt this called a conflict of interest? Is this right or legal??

Where would I find the Texas laws and statutes governing HOA's on conflicts of interest?

Thank you Donna

BillL3: It seems that you have 2-issues of concern here.
First, you have the President and Treasurer married to each other which means
2-Board positions from the same household. Your documents would speak to this; also check your state laws.

Second, you have a "son who is the v.p. and owning the maintenance contracts on the community"; not sure whether the son is the V.P. on the Board or is the V.P. of the maintenance company. However, the son being awarded the maintenance contract while his father is President of the Board could appear to be a 'conflict of interest'. But, prior to the contract being awarded to the son, did the Board (or Prop. Mgmt. company) seek multiple bids on the work? were the bids reviewed and compared without predjudice? Is the work being completed and billed according to the contract?

There are other posts on this site speaking of conflicts of interest, however, that's not to say the 'son' could not be awarded the contract provided he is reputable, professional and is responsible to follow the contract as it was agreed upon. To avoid even the 'possibility' of a conflict of interest, IMO, the President, as a Board member and as the father, should not have applied his signature to the contract.

Thank You Jan,
It saves us lots of time from having to look these all up every time that we need reference.

Bill:

If the father owns his own home and the son also owns his own separarte home, then yes, the father and son can serve on the board. However the wife cannot be Treasurer. There shall be no split votes, only 1 vote per household.

Because you didn't elborate about the maintenance contract; if the father or son has a contract for maintenance with the HOA, then the conflict would come in if they are involved in the voting process or discussions about the contract.

If all 3 live in one household then they are truly violating the governing documents.

So the son is President of the HOA, what is the father? Does he serve on the board or is the VP of the management company that manages your HOA? Then you state the son owns the lawn service company. Am I correct?

The son being the Presidnet of the HOA and having the lawn service contract IMO I do see as a conflict. He should have a lesser role on the board.

I still need you to confirm whether the father has a seat on the board?

All in the Family! IMO I do see a conflict; Presient's lawn company doing the work in his own HOA, his father's managment company performing services to the HOA and the mother is the treasurer.

Now, that is not to say that there are some board members who in some of our communities bid on a project or services and were awarded the job; but that board member was not included in the dicussions, bidding process, or the vote for who would be awarded the contract, as not to have a conflict of interest. They provide a great service and are held to the standards that all contractors are.

But in the scenario you presented, the flag should be thrown out on the field for the ref to look at.