HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - October 8, 2021
Published: Fri, 10/08/21
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HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - October 8, 2021
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Here's a situation you don't want to be in: You have two warring camps in your community, and each is evenly represented on the board—and then suddenly, there's an open seat to fill.
In this week's tip, we get you started on solving that challenge.
In most states, either the law or the governing documents will provide for the board to appoint a member to the open position. Illinois is typical. “If a seat is empty, Illinois has two options for condos,” explains Michael Kim, of counsel at Schoenberg Finkel Beederman Bell Glazer in Chicago, who represents about 500 associations. “One is to have the remaining directors appoint a replacement.”
But what if those board members can't agree on a replacement? “This comes up regularly enough to be annoying,” states Todd J. Billy, CCAL, an attorney at The Community Association Lawyers in St. Louis, who is licensed in Missouri and Illinois and has more than 1,000 active condo and HOA clients. “We've had two camps so entrenched they're not ever willing to do what they need to do, which is find a suitable candidate who works.”
This stalemate is bad for communities. “Michigan law provides that when there's a vacancy, the remaining directors have the right to appoint a successor board member,” explains Jeff Vollmer, a partner at Makower Abbate Guerra Wegner Vollmer PLLC, whose firm advises nearly 2,000 association clients throughout Michigan. “The problem is that deadlock isn't in the association's best interest. The deadlock probably extends to a lot of other issues as well that could prevent the community from moving forward.”
Luckily for Kim, he's seen this, but it hasn't been a sign of complete and total dysfunction at an association. “I've never had to deal with that,” he says. “I've had very divided boards, but as a practical matter, in terms of the day-to-day operations, the division hasn't come to a point where they've stymied the association from operation.”
Associations need boards that do their job, and this sort of impasse prevents that. “What makes an association work is a unified front, or what we call boards that work,” notes Zulema Mendoza, LCAM, regional vice president at KW Property Management, who oversees about 20 condo and HOA communities in Southwest Florida and North Carolina. “Those are boards that work together and want to move forward for their organization.”
How can you get to that place? Here's the first of six ways our experts say you can break the logjam:
1. Appeal to board members' better nature.
“Our strong recommendation is that someone has to give in,” says Vollmer. “You could explain to the board members that holding an election will cost the owners money and that being forced to hold an election would be giving a dangerous sign to the membership that decisions may not be being made timely. Both of those things are appropriate to point out.”
Do board members give in when Vollmer spells those things out? Find out and read five more suggestions in our new article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/4400.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Join us for an in-depth webinar on October 14 led by two community association lawyers who’ve devoted their extensive—and impressive—careers to solving the challenges HOAs face every day. You’ll log out of the webinar with valuable, workable tactics you can implement immediately to make your election process smoother, more successful, and less contentious.
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