HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - September 6, 2019
Published: Fri, 09/06/19
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Board Member Blabs: How to Handle a Breach of Confidentiality
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In this week's tip, we address a real-life breach of board confidentiality.
It's not from an HOA but another nonprofit, though the situation could easily arise at a condo or HOA. The board is considering a gift of property from a member who is terminally ill. The board has just begun its due diligence to figure out the legal and financial issues accepting the gift would raise. It hasn't mentioned the gift to its members yet because it has just about no concrete information to share, and disclosure might reveal a member's health condition.
A board member up for reelection publicly starts trashing the idea as a way to show how he's shaking this board up — and in the process, he provides blatant misinformation. Fellow board members are mortified that he's disclosing confidential information discussed at a board meeting and send a formal notice to stop.
Now the board is worried that even if that board member isn't reelected, he'll continue to improperly reveal confidential information he acquired during routine board meetings.
Boards need to take this type of breach very seriously, asserts Brad van Rooyen, founder and senior member of Tampa, Fla.-based HomeRiver Group and its national specialist for community association management and the president of Home Encounter.
"Confidentiality is, first and foremost, a fiduciary responsibility," he explains. "To maintain confidentiality, you have to protect the information you obtain in your role as a board member.
"When there's a breach, the negative effects have far-reaching impacts, not only to the matter at hand but also to the reputation of the nonprofit and the board. Nobody wants to associate with an entity with a board that has a bad reputation. There are some communities I know of that have a very bad public image based on the actions of the board.
"These boards may be operating within their legal boundaries, but just because something is legal doesn't mean it's the right thing to do," insists van Rooyen. "In these specific communities, people don't want to buy into them, and people who live there want to get out.
"At an HOA, the whole purpose is to preserve and maintain property values — that's the association and board's first and foremost responsibility," he notes. "Taking action that hurts the reputation of the community directly affects property values."
Dealing with this situation begins long before the breach. Find out how you can avoid this situation — plus get specific guidance on how to deal with it if it does occur — in our new article: https://www.hoaleader.com/members/3976.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Condo/HOA Governing Documents That Go Too Far to Protect Board Members May Do the Opposite
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Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Are-These-CondoHOA-Board-Member-Truly-Conflicted.cfm
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An HOAleader.com writes, "I find that attorneys give varying answers to statute interpretation. Our Florida home is in an HOA with each home having their own mailbox by the curb. Some call this common ground, but a mailbox purpose is for owner's use. Who's responsible to repair and replace mailboxes? If there's no indication in our documents related to this, then who's responsible?"
Click here to read full article:
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HOA Policies: 25 Sample Policies Every Homeowners Association Board of Directors Should Consider
In this newly updated and expanded special report, we lay the groundwork for your HOA board to draft policies and procedures governing a broad scope of condo or homeowners association life by providing you with 25 sample policies released exclusively to you by HOAleader.com's expert contributors.
Click here for the special report:
https://www.hoaleader.com/public/HOA-Policies.cfm
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