HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - June 10, 2016
Published: Fri, 06/10/16
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HOA President Is Out of Control: Here’s the Simple Solution
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We like to help our readers whenever we can, so that’s what we’re doing in this week’s tip. The problem for our gentle reader is an HOA president signing contracts of more than $100,000 without the board’s approval, not following through on other contracts, and signing five-year contracts with suspicious numbers.
There’s much more. But so far, one board member has quit, and the treasurer has resigned. Our reader, a remaining board member, wants to know if notifying the association’s lawyer is the answer.
It’s like déjà vu all over again for Christopher J. Shields, a partner at Pavese Law Firm in Ft. Myers, Fla., who’s represented associations for decades.
“I see this happening more often than not,” he states. “I think part of the problem is that board members, especially the presidents of these boards, forget that in a not-for-profit world or at the association level, the board president doesn’t have any privileges or rights over any other board members. It’s the board as a collective body that makes decisions.
“Frequently, many of these board members think back to their for-profit world days, where the president of a company makes all the decisions and reports back to the board every 90 days or so. From time to time, board members elect presidents who think they have more responsibilities and privileges than other board members, and they don’t.”
Explaining that fact is an important step for any board early on, which may help boards avoid these types of problems altogether. “This question leads to the whole discussion of the authority of the board, which is as a group,” notes Debra A. Warren, CMCA, CCAM, PCAM, senior vice president at Dallas-based Associa®, a community association management company with offices throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. “It’s important for the board to remember that although one person is the presiding officer, they really have authority only as a group.”
Our reader actually has lots of options. Read about 5 Things Board Members Can Do to Stop a Rogue Board President in our new article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/1382.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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5 Things Board Members Can Do to Stop a Rogue Board President
An HOAleader.com reader writes, "I am vice president of a five-member board of 548 homes, villas, and condos. Our president is signing contracts for more than $100,000 without the board's approval. He isn't following through with contracts involving effluent water rations and signing five-year contracts with suspicious numbers. He is signing contracts for vendors that we don't want to extend. He and the property manager have been calling our lawyers without notifying the board and then hiding their bills in lake reserves or other nonrelated places even though our treasurer told them that wasn't acceptable.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/5-Things-Board-Members-Can-Do-Stop-Rogue-Board-President.cfm
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HOAs and Zika: How to Stay in Your Lane
In this week's tip, we take issue with articles we've seen posted on certain websites advocating that HOAs take an active role in the prevention of the Zika virus, which has found to cause birth defects in newborns.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/public/HOAs-Zika-How-Stay-in-Your-Lane.cfm
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Should HOAs Try to Combat Zika?
We have recently seen an article posted online advocating that HOAs take an active role in the prevention of the spread of the Zika virus now linked to birth defects in newborns.
We had a feeling our experts would disagree with the idea of HOAs sticking their nose in public health issues. Turns out, we know how our experts think. Here's their take on how involved you should be in combating Zika.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Should-HOAs-Try-Combat-Zika.cfm
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What It Means to Run Your HOA Like a Business--and How to Get It Right
Stop us if you've heard this one before: "You need to run your HOA like a business!"
Seems like smart advice. Condo and homeowners associations are corporations (nonprofit, usually), so you should adopt practices that successful corporations follow. But what does that mean when it comes to your day-to-day operations?
Join us for a June 30 webinar on steps you can implement to ensure you're running your HOA smartly, professionally, and successfully. You'll hear two community association experts with decades of hands-on experience in advising associations share their best advice.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/products/run-your-hoa-like-business-a.cfm
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Owner Disputes HOA's 15-Year-Old Debt. Does He Have a Point?
We're helping out a reader in this week's tip. Paraphrased, our reader's beef goes like this: "Hey, my board just passed a special assessment for a 15-year-old loan I never knew about. I call baloney!"
Our experts offer a range of opinions on this issue, from never having seen it to saying it happens all too frequently.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/public/Owner-Disputes-HOAs-15-Year-Old-Debt-Does-He-Have-Point.cfm
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