HOA Board Member Causing Trouble

Q: We have a new HOA board member who is very troublesome and off the wall with regard to rules and regulations. I am a board member along with one other person. The actions and language of the new board member with vendors and the other owners are offensive.

We are currently documenting everything he does. Do you have any recommendations for us? I believe he may be slandering me with negative and untrue information. He doesn’t work and is home all day long, getting into everyone’s business. He’s like Gladys, from the television show “Bewitched.”

A: You’re doing the right thing by documenting this board member’s bad behavior. The next step is to vote him off the board. Talk with your neighbors and find someone else to run for his seat. If you can get him off the board, at least you won’t have someone who legally represents your building offending vendors, neighbors and the property manager.

What is a Homeowners Association and What Can It Do?

But first you need to make sure you and your fellow board members are following your own rules. Take a look at your governing documents to make sure that you have the right number of board members. Some governing documents require five board members but sometimes they only require three. It depends on the board.

If you have the right number of board members, then you need to figure out when each board member’s term comes up. Make sure terms follow the building’s governing documents. So, with this information, you’ll know whose term is ending and when the board vote has to take place. Then, you can get support from owners to vote in the board members that will handle the affairs of the association in the best manner possible.

Having said all that, let’s flip it around. Does this other board member actually have the association’s best interests in mind? Is it possible you and the third board member are not following the rules? Is the board member not actually being rude but is just firmly saying no to an out-of-bound request? When we get these letters, we start by accepting the facts as presented. But it’s possible there’s another side to the story.

HOA Problems

In your case, the unit owners of the association must make sure that the people running the association are doing a good job. That they’re polite and professional to building employees and vendors, and that the finances for the association are above board. All unit owners must feel the board members are working for and on behalf of the association.

If board members aren’t doing their job, it’s up to the members of the association to vote them out. Given that many people don’t want the job of being on an HOA, sometimes associations keep bad board members in place just so that the other members in the association don’t have to step in and do the work.

A good association usually is made up of board members that don’t have to get into everybody’s business. They simply want to get the work done to maintain and govern the property. If you can divide the chores into smaller, doable tasks, you be able to entice more people to become board members.