Talk me out of volunteering for HOA BOD

[street]

I'm not going to talk you out of it. I think you should throw your name in the hat and if you get it maybe you can make a difference. In a year if it seems like you don't enjoy it or you are up against a brick wall then resign your position on that board. I'm on two community boards and love them both and has been a time for me to give back and my hope for doing them are because I see the value and also hoping to make a difference.

Lets us know your decision.

 

[braumeister]

The HOA should consider filing a lien for the unpaid HOA dues. It is unfair to the other residents that not enough money is available for amenities because some people choose not to pay what they owe.

I agree. We're lucky in that the president of our HOA is a practicing lawyer in the neighborhood. We've had to file liens a couple of times for nonpayment of HOA dues, and it has always worked out. Once they realize that they have no hope of ever selling without settling the bill, and that the history of the lien takes time to work its way off their record, they seem to get the message loud and clear.

 

[rt-texas]

Did it for 10 years until we sold and left the country last fall. Royal pain in the ass to say the least, but it was worth while. Amazing how some people want to spend everybody else's money on what "they" thought we needed and would throw a hissy fit and threaten people if the vote didn't go their way.

But it was worth it to watch our pocketbook.

Heard they did a one time assessment of $500 in January and raised the dues both.

 

[troutnut1]

Been there done that. I was on the board in several capacities in a large (454 units) in the 70’s. I was making a killing at the time as a Realtor selling those things by the dozen. And I owned 16 of them at the time as rentals. So I thought I had a good reason. In hindsight, it was foolish. Luckily, a board that size can afford good counsel, and good insurance. My attorney told me “never volunteer for anything with a job title, or that involves money”. And I was doing both. The builder had set the dues artificially low ($21.50 in 1972) and it was part of my job to raise them to $27.50 because I determined that otherwise we would have no reserves for painting, roofing, etc. My attorney advised me that 20 years from then when the roof needed replacement, and no money was available, that they might look back on my actions to see if they were “reasonable”. Inflation was creeping in at the time and I knew dues increases would be a regular problem. And boy were they! I finally decided the liability was just too much. My mother just sent me a postcard from a Realtor there that sold a unit just like mine for $350,000. I bought mine new for $18,000 in 1972. I can’t imagine what dues are now, but the grounds and condos are very well kept 48 years later. Maybe may efforts to establish reasonable reserves back them had something to do with that. But it was sure unpopular at the time.

As a retired appraiser with a lot of condo knowledge, one of the businesses I have thought about starting is that of analyzing condo HOA reserves. Potential buyers, or lenders may one day insist on such “reserve studies” to see if the association is solvent or a giant special assessment waiting to happen. If I were to get involved with another HOA, the very first three things I would want to know would be:

1. Does the current budget and assets of the HOA provide for reasonable reserves for future repairs and maintenance?

2. Are there any existing lawsuits or pending lawsuits? Has there been any in the past?

3. Are the officers and directors provided D & O insurance coverages? Is this coverage sufficient?

Small HOA’s are mostly just toothless tigers. Lots of talk and no real money for attorneys or legal actions to enforce anything. That can be really frustrating. Big HOA’s can divide up the costs of any legal actions over their membership, and it’s still not financially practical in many cases.

 

[scaubie]

I served a three-year term on my HOA years ago as VP, Pres and post Pres....early 30s maybe. It was great experience for my work career, a great way to learn and stumble without personal economic impact LOL. I met lotsa people, enjoyed interacting with most everyone. But get ready! Somebody's cat in their yard...your phone rings. The adjacent property to the neighborhood wants rezoning....you're at county council meetings giving speeches. The neighborhood clubhouse gets trashed by a party...you're arguing with the neighbor about keeping his deposit to hire cleanup. It's an underappreciated role but somebody's gotta do it. Good luck in your decision!

 

[SimplySuzie]

I served on the HOA Board of a previous property we owned for nearly 10 years and will never, ever do it again. People in my neighborhood started disliking me because when they were sent warning letters of infractions and violations of by-laws, they took it personally and took it against me. I even had a resident bang on my door at 10:30 PM waiving a letter she received in the mail and yelling at me.

It was a great learning experience for me in terms of how the neighborhood/development needed to spend money and be more discerning regarding frivolous spending or spending that added value to our properties.

For many, you may have a different experience. I don't recommend it. When I thought my neighbors were "normal" and reasonable, many of them turned out to be quite the opposite.

 

[Scrapr]

As a retired appraiser with a lot of condo knowledge, one of the businesses I have thought about starting is that of analyzing condo HOA reserves. Potential buyers, or lenders may one day insist on such “reserve studies” to see if the association is solvent or a giant special assessment waiting to happen. If I were to get involved with another HOA, the very first three things I would want to know would be:

1. Does the current budget and assets of the HOA provide for reasonable reserves for future repairs and maintenance?

I am buying this summer.Most likely in an HOA. And the Reserve study will be Exhibit A in due diligence. I have seen too many developers put an low HOA dues on the start of a development then hand it over to Homeowners and say "here ya go"

 

[ejko]

I've served on the 5-person HOA Board of my 60 home development. I felt at the time I ran for the Board that in a small community, everyone has a duty of sorts to serve on the Board at least once unless extenuating circumstances exist (health, etc). After having served a three year term, I still feel that way.

As with any groups of authority it is healthy to have regular turnover so that new ideas get their due, and groupthink does not take over. Our HOA has term limits of three years to help with this.

On the Board itself, I've found most people have the right motivation and sincerely want to make things better. Of course, different personalities will arise that may conflict with yours at times, but that happens with any group of people. Keep your eye on the big picture.

Regarding homeowners, the Pareto Principle is clearly at work. 20% of the people cause 80% of the headaches (probably closer to 10% : 90% in our small neighborhood). Initially I tried to work with the 10%, but soon learned that it was a fools mission (some people aren't happy unless they are unhappy). Once I started following the adage "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" (Spock?), Board life got better for me.

So I say go for it. If not you, then who?

 

[eytonxav]

The HOA should consider filing a lien for the unpaid HOA dues. It is unfair to the other residents that not enough money is available for amenities because some people choose not to pay what they owe.

Absolutely. We tack on late payment fees, with a lien being the ultimate enforcement mechanism, but never had to go that far.

 

[Crabbyjerry]

Elections

Very good perspective.

Live in a small HOA - 33 property owners, and I have volunteered for board or ARC when things get silly. Now three years into president role to get the bitterness of the petty fighting out of the system and to make common area improvements. It took 1 year to stop the spiteful emails and stop the lawyer fees, and 2 years to show and engrain how a board election is properly held, run an ARC and get the vice president and treasurer I wanted, and in year 3 we are putting down some serious improvements. Figured from the outset it would take 3 years minimum to accomplish these goals. Next goal is to find my replacement for year 5 now that things are smooth sailing.

I have also previous self nominated for elections when it looked like a spiteful person was running for the board - just to block them. Easy election to win - but if only 3 candidates run for 3 slots - they are all legally in.

Understand your goals, alliances, strategy and tolerance before serving. Have an exit strategy.

just curious how your election took place. We have a cocky rude lawyer that did the ballots behind closed doors where nobody saw who voted for who. We have a management company that that is hooked in with president and it appears they are all in cahoots spending money on bs stuff. I had no problem with the old crew but these guys do not play fair. How can you fine someone for leaving a toy on their stoop and yet a neighbor next to president has a basketball hoop in street. Neither item bothers me but to fine one and not the other is bs.

 

[CoolRich59]

I haven't, and wouldn't.

two questions:

Have you attended more than a half dozen board meetings?
Do you have "Nextdoor" for your neighborhood and read it regularly?

If the answer to both of those is no, then do both before you decide. Be warned, doing either/both might make you hate your neighbors.

^^^^ This x100

I had a Nextdoor account for a couple of years but never went on the site. I figured it was mostly notifications for yard sales and alerts for lost cats. But, earlier this year a friend asked me to log in and visit a thread discussing a proposed bond measure to refurbish some existing schools and build some new facilities.

I posted some questions asking stuff like: Did the school board base their need on their own review or had they gotten an engineer or contractor to inspect the school structures? Had they gotten multiple estimates for the work? And, why did we need new school buildings when the school board's figures showed student enrollment had declined for the last three years? I thought these were reasonable questions to ask, but the amount of hate and vitriol directed at me from the supporters of the measure was incredible. Anything perceived as less than full support for the bond measure was denounced as "anti children" with plenty of profanity and personal insults for good measure.

One really obnoxious supporter said a couple of times that maybe he'd come "pay me a visit". I didn't give that any credence - until the DW pointed out that our address was in my profile. I thought Nextdoor just needed your address to make sure you were in the right "neighborhood" and had no idea it was published.

I tried to remove my address but could not figure out a way to do so, so I just deleted my account.

 

[Shardo]

+1

I served on my HOA for several years a decade ago, and started my second round of service last year. If you live in a community with an HOA, several SOMEBODIES have to serve on the board. Most folks don't care enough to be described as apathetic. But if you value your neighborhood you should consider it.

Yes, it can be a pain at times, but in my neighborhood it wasn't unreasonable.

Huge difference between a condo association and an HOA mostly consisting of single family homes. Condos usually have more shared space so they have more to manage.

I have personally found and fixed several problems, so I know I have made a positive difference.

Amen!
I was the VP of our 60 unit condo HOA for several years since no one else wanted the job and I wanted to keep track of how my $$ were spent. Same guy has been PREZ for at least 25 years. It was mostly a positive thing and I'd probably do it again but hope I don't have to.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

OP here. Thank you for all the replies. You've given me some useful information to consider. At this point, I think I'm going to pass up this opportunity for the following reasons:

- The leadership of the current BOD (5 people) seem to be part of the 'good old boys club'. They tend to just swap out one good old boy for another. It feels like any real change would be difficult.

- There are some difficult issues that needs to be dealt with - aging infrastructure for example - that may require increased HOA amounts or special assessments. We just had an assessment a couple of years ago. (This is a 350 unit beachfront complex built in the 80s using wood/hardie board.)

- Most of the owners are older and have been owners for many years. Needless to say, they tend to be 'set in their ways'. They want *everything* fixed but are not willing to increase monthly HOA or pay an assessment or even have our renters pay for parking.

I think I'd get too frustrated to enjoy the experience or feel like I was being helpful in any way. Thanks again for the insights.

Our ENTIRE 5 person board resigned yesterday, effective immediately. A new interim board was named today, to serve until the annual board voting the end of August.

The old board mentioned in their letter that some responses to their decisions have been "hostile, abusive, and emotionally disturbing". They've had to make some difficult decisions during the covid crisis. The latest was 5 days ago when they announced the pool wouldn't be opening this season due to insurance and liability concerns (after meeting with our insurance carrier and lawyer).

 

[eytonxav]

My 3 year term as HOA President ends in December, and I am only too happy to be done with helping our neighborhood. It's not so much the residents that are an issue, but we have a 5 member board and most of the others do very little or nothing, and want me to do everything. I feel burned out and taken advantage of.