Real Estate & Property Law

Who Can Serve On The Board? Wife/Husband? Brother/Sister? Convict? Minor?

Who Can Serve On The Board? Wife/Husband? Brother/Sister? Convict? Minor? Someone by Proxy? Someone by Power of Attorney? The HOA Landscape Company Owner? the HOA manager? the developer? The local dogcatcher? The Governor? A Board Member who owes the association back dues? An undocumented or illegal alien? A husband or wife not on title?

This question seems to be coming up alot lately. Owners down and out who need something to complain about, or who are afraid, sick or suspect of what their boards are doing, especially like to focus on "qualifications" or potential "conflicts" of or between Directors and/or members when there is any situation that can be perceived as a problem.

And some situations do seem inappropriate to the average person, although they may be perfectly legal and even workable. And some of these situations arise because NO ONE ELSE IS WILLING TO STEP UP!

However, the bottom line is that if the HOA documents do not prohibit board service by any of the above persons (except those holding a proxy or power of attorney, if they are not MEMBERS of the HOA), they (if they can get elected) can probably serve. Persons attempting to gain rights by proxy or power of attorney are in a separate category, and the documents would have to be examined to see what rights there are (or are not) to "stepping into the shoes of any owner/member."

I would have to know the particulars of any given situation to say definitely that any person in any given situation could or could not serve because there are other factors that might come into play about the giving of proxies, powers of attorney, rights conferred, or about elections, history of board service parameters, etc. (And, no, this is not an invitation for a request for free legal advice). However, generally, it is fair to say that if the HOA governing documents do not state qualifications that preclude any of the above, the biggest legal barrier to running for the Board and serving is removed.

Full post as published by California Condo & HOA Law on December 14, 2008 (boomark / email).