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SERVING
ON THE BOARD TO ENRICH YOURSELF?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
December 20, 2013
Let’s
make no mistake, it can be of great advantage for the
association if a board member’s company is contracting to do
some work for the community.
But
over the year’s we have seen many bad examples where owners
were running for the board with the clear intention to enrich
themselves. These “new” board members were suddenly
handymen, managers, accountants or even owners of a landscaping
firm and made sure that their fellow board members voted in
their favor to get a contract. I know quite a few associations
where presidents “work” as handymen and charge outrageous
money for changing light bulbs or similar easy jobs!
That’s
why we pushed for adding FS
720.3033(2) to the HOA Act this year. It makes
things a little bit more difficult for board members who want to
earn some extra bucks!
But
no matter what, even board members need to be insured when
working for the association in some sort of capacity as
contractors or service providers. So even if you are inclined to
trust this board member with doing a good job for the
association, make sure that this person (or his/her company) has
the required insurance policies in place.
Otherwise
the association may one day face a serious lawsuit if the
handyman fell off the ladder – or something similar. You need
to make sure that you treat this board member like any other
contractor/service provider, with the necessary licenses and
insurance policies in place!
Believe
me, it would not be the first time that somebody out of work
would use this kind of opportunity to earn a living – even if
he/she doesn’t know what they are doing.
Considering
my experience with these kind of cases I always suggest that
this person should resign from the board before starting to work
for the association. I consider it a conflict of interest –
similar to the association
CAM
serving as a board member!
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