Condo board

[PaulaO]

I am on the board of my condo. We employ a property manager who AFAIC does a good job. We have over $250K in reserves. The property is well-maintained. However, we have not had a meeting in over a year. The president (female) is now in p!ssing fight with the property manager (male) about driveway repairs. She doesn't communicate with the other board members for months, then sends nasty emails to the property manager accusing him of not getting her quotes, etc. This all started up again over the weekend.

I sent a group email to the board suggesting communication and a scheduled board meeting. Crickets. Yet another email from the president about why isn't he communicating, etc. I again suggested a meeting for us to put together a schedule of projects. I get a snippy reply from her.

I'm sorely tempted to resign, but I harbor a small hope that I can fix this and we go on our merry way. Tell me I am wrong to be hopeful. I'm at the point where I am going to no longer reply to emails.

[Sunshine2Me]

I'm a bit surprised that you aren't required to meet AT LEAST once a year.

[PaulaO]

The state law says we are required to meet 4 times a year. I'm tired of being the school monitor on this.

[M&M]

Can the President be ousted for failing to follow state laws?

[heddylamar]

If the state law is clear (confirm with another property management company), I'd contact a lawyer. The current board is not fulfilling their obligation to the residents.

[Literiding]

I was employed by a “property management” company that provided condo and home owner associations with managers and purchasing support . . . for four months - it was that bad! It would have been only three months but I didn’t want to ruin someone else’s Christmas Holidays. I managed four “properties,” mine were all home owner associations but with minor differences, same rules apply to condo associations. One of the “properties” had sued the management company and lost (or ran out of money). Unless someone gives up quickly, the solution to your problem will result in a lot of social ugliness and possibly be quite expensive.

So the first thing I would recommend is to throughly study the Association’s “Documents.” Clearly understand the associations responsibilities and obligations to the home owners. Also understand exactly what your manager is contracted to do. Assemble your documentation that the association failed to meet it’s contractual obligations.

Once you have your documentation in order you have a couple of options on how to proceed. But I would strongly suggest that it would be wise to contact a lawyer who practices in the field of condo association law. From the lawyer, you need to develop a feel for the strength of your case and the estimated cost to proceed in a legal proceeding. You also have to sort out what blame belongs to the association and what blame will be assigned to the manager. They will point at each other as soon as some fault in the association’s actions can be found.

The Condo Association can and probably will use it’s moneys to defend it’s self from legal proceeding. So you get to pay for bring the proceeding and pay for the association’s defense. If the association has a liability insurance policy, the policy may pick up the association’s legal tab and may even provide the lawyer. If your manager is employed by a management company, it will likely to have liability insurance to protect it’s self. Before you start, you need to clearly understand how much lawyer time is going to be need to make the case because you will be the one paying those bills.

If you want to try avoiding bringing lawyers into the proceedings, and your case appears to be good, you might want to consider a “home owner’s revolt.” Usually the properties documents have some provision for removing ineffective association officers from office. If successful, you’ll probably wind up as the association’s president and all the headaches that entails in the wake of legal proceedings.

Another popular approached is the hybrid approach, threaten legal action then settle out of court.

The management company I worked for had well over one hundred managers and two branch offices. I never met anyone who worked as a manager that would ever live in a property that had an homeowner or condo association.

[PaulaO]

My inclination is to resign from the board. I apparently am the only member who wants to have meetings and follow the law. No residents ever come to the board meetings. Nobody cares. I feel like this is a situation waiting to explode.

[lorilu]

I would follow your gut, because when the shit finally hits the fan (resident does something against rules, etc etc..... or something happens that costs the assoc. $$, or heaven forbid a lawsuit fo some sort (seller doesn't get offers because of dysfunctional board?).... you will be part of the board and possible involved in some nasty business. However, I would first write a paper letter to all board members, explaining my concerns, and have it delivered signature required. Perhaps also send it to all residents??

[Tarlo Farm]

As long as following your gut doesn't lead to much higher homeowner fees via the condo association. Everything I've ever heard about condos and condo fees leaves me to believe I'd never want to live in one.