HOA Board Makes Unilateral Project Decision

[rbravo]

My jurisdiction is: California

I believe my HOA board is illegally making major changes to the common area of our property without seeking the required majority homeowner approval first. I have a detached single family home in a development with 272 homes and a private greenbelt that includes two tennis courts. The greenbelt is very peaceful and beautiful with lots of well maintained grass and peppered with mature Pine, Magnolia, and Eucaplyptus trees. I've lived here for 20 years, and I love how my house is at the end of a cul-de-sac with the greenbelt right next to my home. You can imagine my frustration when I heard our board was considering installing 7 foot tall fencing with a locked gate at each entrance to the greenbelt in an attempt to prevent non-residents from using the greenbelt. Despite my complaints, the board made a unilateral decision to proceed with the gating project, and now about four of the 15 street entrances have prison-like black bar fencing between their house and the greenbelt. The board says they can do this without homeowner approval because they reserve the right to 'maintain' the greenbelt, and also to provide 'protection' to its homeowners. I completely disagree as this is not maintenance, nor is it the type of protection they are responsible for. I wrote a letter to the board asking them to stop any further gating work until the homeowners can verify if they have the right to make this unilateral decision to completely change the aesthetic look of our property. I'm looking for guidance on what I can do as a next step.

 

[dee_dub]

Short of taking your bylaws to a lawyer and getting a legal opinion, whether the board has the power they assert is anybody's guess.

I would suggest talking to your neighbours and see what they support. Even if these actions are not within the present power of the board, it could presumably vote on a motion to grant it that power, and that motion might pass. So you could wind up on the losing end in the long run anyways.

If your neighbours don't want it either, petition the board to stop. If the board considers it to be within their power and refuses to stop, bring a motion clarifying the power of the board and requiring the board to stop.

 

[rbravo]

Board Makes Unilatetral Decision

Thank you for the response. Would it require the homeowners to vote to grant the board the authority to include this additional power? Most neighbors I talked to hate the proposed gating project that is underway.

I'm attaching a couple of pictures, one with a home with no gate as it is today, and one of the completed gate that some of us are challenging.

 

[dee_dub]

Would it require the homeowners to vote to grant the board the authority to include this additional power?

Sounds like the board already thinks it has the power and no vote is required. I would suggest your first step would be to submit a petition to the effect that whether or not it has the power, it should refrain from exercising it by erecting the gates, which are an eyesore and are not supported by the signatory owners.

If the board still wants to go ahead, then you can worry about whether the board has the power and how to remove it.

 

[rbravo]

HOA Board Makes Unilateral Decision

Thanks Dee Dub.

I wrote a letter formally requesting the board stop any further gating work until the homeowners have a chance to meet with the board. After talking with a board member it appears we will get a meeting in a few weeks. The board member also stated that we usually get a very small percentage of homeowners participating in voting, and they're using this as an excuse for moving forward without a vote. In addition, this gating project was discussed in the past, and it has been a strongly debated controversial project.

So the goal of our meeting will be to identify all of the board's interpretations of the CC&R's and board's charter, and why they believed they could legally pursue this project without homeowner involvement.

 

[mi737373]

HOA Board problems

Hello,
I am NOT a lawyer however I have had similar problems. Read your bilaws. There should be a section that describes what you can do to remove any and all board members. Typically, you need to call a special meeting of the homeowners for this purpose (not as part of another meeting) and must have a simple majority or other rule to remove the boardmember(s). You should be prepared to elect new members and perhaps then make a committee to redo the bilaws to lessen the power of the board in the future (how much they can spend without homeowner approval, what common areas can or can not eb changed without approval etc.).