DO YOU STILL QUALIFY TO SERVE ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Last week we discussed the minimum requirements to serve on your Board of Directors.  In sum, you can’t even run for the Board if you have a prior felony conviction unless your rights were restored, you can’t owe the association money, and you have to be the owner, not just married to the owner.

Let’s assume that you meet the minimum qualifications, you develop a mental illness, and you decide to throw your hat in the ring and run for the Board.  In fact, you even wind up getting elected.  Is there any way for you to get removed from the Board, once you are on the Board?  Believe me, there is a lot of confusion in this area.

Too many times to count, board members have appeared in my office begging me to find a way to have one pain in the rear Board member removed.  It normally starts out with the brave one of the bunch saying something like “If all of us want this crazy ___________ off the board, we can do it right?  We can kick him/her off right?  We don’t need a vote of the owners right”  No matter how many times they say the word “right” they are still wrong.  Board members cannot remove fellow board members from the Board of Directors.  I then explain however, that Board members do have the ability to remove that person as an officer of the association.  So, if that person is the President, Vice President, Secretary or Treasurer, that title can be stripped with a vote of the board.  The person still gets to remain however as a member of the Board.  They simply are not an officer any longer.

Here’s another way to be removed…….In a condo and HOA, a director or officer more than 90 days delinquent in the payment of any monetary obligation due the association shall be deemed to have abandoned the office, creating a vacancy in the office to be filled according to law.

Additionally, in a condo and an HOA a director or officer charged by information or indictment with a felony theft or embezzlement offense involving the association’s funds or property must be removed from office, creating a vacancy in the office to be filled according to law until the end of the period of the suspension or the end of the director’s term of office, whichever occurs first. While such director or officer has such criminal charge pending, he or she may not be appointed or elected to a position as a director or officer. However, if the charges are resolved without a finding of guilt, the director or officer shall be reinstated for the remainder of his or her term of office, if any.   So….. the trick here is not to get caught stealing —— then you can stay on the Board.

 

 

 

Yet another way to be removed from the Board is through the recall process.  Basically, the recall process is a way to remove a sitting director without waiting for the next election, hoping that they won’t get re-elected.  In sum, a majority of the owners need to each sign separate petitions to remove the board member.  There are lots of defenses however to the filing of a recall petition and owners who attempt recalls without the assistance of counsel often times find they wasted a lot of their time.

Finally, if you fail to get certified within 90 days of getting elected to the Board – you are automatically off the Board.  Don’t let that happen to you.  Take our Condo Craze Board Certification Course.  For times and locations, and to register, go to: www.condocrazeandhoas.com.

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