HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - June 3, 2011
Published: Thu, 06/02/11
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Beware Making these HOA Board Mistakes
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We've covered the mistakes that new board members make. But
experienced boards make mistakes, too. In this week's tip, we
cover three of the most common board mistakes.
1. Not reading your own governing documents.
"One thing I notice a lot is that boards don't look at their
own documents," says Ben Solomon, an attorney and founder of
the Association Law Group in Miami Beach, Fla., who advises
more than 500 associations and also represents developers
through his second law firm, Solomon & Furshman LLP.
"They start operating in a way they think makes sense, that
others have told them is OK, or according to what their manager
says. I can't tell you how many times I've found when a board
first comes to us that it's been noticing meetings incorrectly.
Some boards are completely operating outside their declaration
and bylaws, and the reality is that's legally improper."
2. Not following your own rules.
Some boards know what their governing documents require, but they
ignore those mandates. "One of the biggest problems I see is
boards not following their own governing documents on really
simple stuff," says Nancy Polomis, a partner at Hellmuth &
Johnson PLLC in Edina, Minn., who advises associations. "There
are some associations where the bylaws say the meeting has to be
on the third Tuesday in November, and for whatever reason, they
just say, 'We don't really want to do it then. We've never done
it that way before.' I really don't like to hear that. I say,
'You're going to do it now because that's what your bylaws
require.' Inevitably someone who's a stickler for procedure will
call the board out on that."
3. Meeting informally--and improperly.
"I've seen boards violating Florida's Sunshine law, which governs
members' right of access to board meetings," says Dennis J.
Eisinger, a partner at Eisinger, Brown, Lewis & Frankel PA in
Hollywood, Fla., who represents more than 500 condo and HOA
associations. "When a quorum of board members gets together and
talks about association business--maybe three of five board
members are talking about association business over a poker or
pinochle game--it's a board meeting and has to be noticed. Or
three of five members get together for lunch and talk about
association business. That happens all the time. Homeowners get
irritated, and they have a right to."
To discover 6 additional mistakes HOA boards commonly make, see
our new article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/582.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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HOA Boards' Biggest Mistakes: Have You Made These Nine Blunders?
If you're not careful, you can take huge missteps in overseeing
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Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/582.cfm >
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HOA Voting: Can You Track and Publish How Owners Vote?
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< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/581.cfm >
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< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/580.cfm >
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Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/579.cfm >
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How and When Should You Bid Out Homeowners Association Work?
At most HOAs, bidding out work is an on-the-fly type process. It'
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Instead of an unplanned process, your board should have
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the bids will be solicited and reviewed. Here, we show you how.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/576.cfm >
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