How to Oust a Condominium Board or HOA
About 30% of Americans live in a property managed by a condo board, homeowners association (HOA) or other community association—more than 70 million people. These associations are usually responsible for maintaining the property , enforcing community rules, and acting as a mediator between residents if disputes arise. Most people have a good or at least neutral experience with a condominium or HOA board, but not everyone does .
If you find yourself in a serious conflict with the board of directors of an apartment building or HOA and have reached the point where normal channels (discussion, attendance at meetings, or even running for office yourself) cannot resolve the issue, you may want to consider filing a lawsuit. . If common areas are not maintained or repairs are not being made, this may seem like your only option, but suing your condo board or HOA is often not your most effective option, and there may be more effective avenues to explore.
Why You Should Probably Ditch the Suit
Thanks to pop culture images of lawyers and a constant stream of headlines, there’s a tendency to think that you can (and should) solve any problem with a lawsuit. Lawsuits can certainly be an effective way to obtain a variety of relief, but they are also an expensive, slow, and completely unguaranteed way to achieve change or redress.
This is especially true when it comes to suing your HOA or condo board due to something called the business judgment rule . This rule requires judges to consider a claim in favor of the condo board or HOA if they believe they are acting in good faith and with a reasonable belief that their actions are for the benefit of the public, and it may be difficult to prove otherwise. The specific laws governing your community association may vary, but in general, these guidelines make winning a lawsuit against your community association very difficult.
Vote for them instead.
Instead of wasting a lot of time and money on a lawsuit that you very well may lose, the best way to deal with a condo or HOA board that is either not fulfilling its responsibilities or is actively causing harm to your property is to remove the problematic board members or replace them. the entire board as a whole. This is usually a less complicated option because the association’s governing documents (the Statement of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, or CC&Rs) will specify exactly how to do this. Most states require that these governing documents include mechanisms for calling a special meeting (usually through a petition signed by a majority of the property owners). This can be done even if your condo board is shirking responsibility by claiming there is no quorum every time a regular meeting is called, a tactic that bad condo boards sometimes use to maintain their control.
Here are the main steps you need to take:
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Read the bylaws. Review these governing documents to ensure you know how your association is structured. Pay special attention to two things: automatic removal criteria and forced voting methods. Most bylaws include certain requirements for board members, including the minimum number of meetings they must attend and their ownership status. They could potentially provide an easy way to remove board members without the need for a lengthy process, but you need to know what the criteria are first.
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Contact your neighbors. If you don’t see an easy way to push bad board members out the door, you’ll need to carefully review the removal procedures outlined in your bylaws. These will vary from state to state and from association to association, but generally, removing a board member (or the entire board) requires a vote of all property owners. This means your first step is to meet with everyone and make sure you have the support you need.
You will then need to call a special meeting of the condo or HOA board to take a vote. If your board is avoiding calling meetings because it knows residents are up in arms, you can usually force a meeting by getting a majority of the owners to sign a petition.
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Be ready. If you are planning to remove the entire board of directors, it is a very good idea to line up candidates to replace them. This will minimize chaos and delays, and also reduce the likelihood that the board members you just worked hard to remove will not simply return to their seats without anyone standing up to them.
Keep in mind that if your association is openly working to prevent such organizations among your fellow owners (for example, by issuing fines for distributing leaflets in an attempt to prevent owners from organizing), this is a pretty clear indication of bad faith that will likely lead to there are no protections for business judgment rules and makes litigation a little riskier.
The work of dissolving a community association takes a lot of time and effort no matter which path you choose, but if your property is being negatively impacted by mismanagement or malfeasance, you really have no choice. If you feel this way, understand these rules before calling an attorney.