Election season is beginning in all of our condos and HOAs. Now is the time that most of your associations are sending out their first notices of the annual meeting and people are returning a notice that says they want to run for a seat on the Board of Directors.

Each year, without fail, I get a complaint from someone that says a particular unit owner should not be allowed to run for a seat on the board because they only live in the condominium or HOA half the year. I tell them time and again that as long as they otherwise meet the criteria (no prior felony conviction where civil rights have not been restored for at least five years or being delinquent in assessments) the snowbird has the right to run. It gets a lot of people mad. They think that someone who lives in the community half the year, cannot possibly be a good board member because they cannot physically attend a board meeting. With the invention of ZOOM, physical presence at the board meeting clearly isn’t necessary.

And then there’s the next person who quite possibly may be able to run for the Board. Hold on to your hat now. A person who doesn’t even own a home or unit in your community. You heard me right. Sometimes you can review the bylaws over and over and there is simply no requirement for a board member to own a property in the community in which they are a board member.

Clearly, it would be difficult for such a person to run for the Board, because only owners are entitled to notice of the election. However, I have personally been involved with condominiums where once the board is elected, the members need to fill an open vacancy and look outside of their community association if the governing docs allow for it. Sometimes they know someone who is an accountant or an engineer that they believe would make a great fit for the board, and as long as that person is willing, the board appoints them to fill a vacancy and/or makes them an Officer.

There are some people that are willing to serve on multiple boards at the same time. There are some people willing to serve on boards in places they don’t even live. Even if I think that these people are sadists, no doubt that they can lend a helping hand to communities where it’s difficult to find others willing to serve.