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DO YOU STILL QUALIFY TO SERVE ON THE BOARD OF
DIRECTORS?
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published March 7, 2016
Last week we discussed the minimum requirements to
serve on your Board of Directors. In sum, you can’t even run
for the Board if you have a prior felony conviction unless your
rights were restored, you can’t owe the association money, and
you have to be the owner, not just married to the owner.
Let’s assume that you meet the minimum
qualifications, you develop a mental illness, and you decide to
throw your hat in the ring and run for the Board. In fact, you
even wind up getting elected. Is there any way for you to get
removed from the Board, once you are on the Board? Believe me,
there is a lot of confusion in this area.
Too many times to count, board members have appeared
in my office begging me to find a way to have one pain in the
rear Board member removed. It normally starts out with the
brave one of the bunch saying something like “If all of us want
this crazy ___________ off the board, we can do it right? We
can kick him/her off right? We don’t need a vote of the owners
right?” No matter how many times they say the word “right” they
are still wrong. Board members cannot remove fellow board
members from the Board of Directors. I then explain however,
that Board members do have the ability to remove that person as
an officer of the association. So, if that person is the
President, Vice President, Secretary or Treasurer, that title
can be stripped with a vote of the board. The person still
gets to remain however as a member of the Board. They simply
are not an officer any longer.
Here’s another way to be removed…….In a condo and HOA, a
director or officer more than 90 days delinquent in the payment
of any monetary obligation due the association shall be deemed
to have abandoned the office, creating a vacancy in the office
to be filled according to law.
Additionally, in a condo and an HOA a director or
officer charged by information or indictment with a felony theft
or embezzlement offense involving the association’s funds or
property must be removed from office, creating a vacancy in the
office to be filled according to law until the end of the period
of the suspension or the end of the director’s term of office,
whichever occurs first. While such director or officer has such
criminal charge pending, he or she may not be appointed or
elected to a position as a director or officer. However, if the
charges are resolved without a finding of guilt, the director or
officer shall be reinstated for the remainder of his or her term
of office, if any. So….. the trick here is not to get
caught stealing ------ then you can stay on the Board.
Yet another way to be removed from the Board is
through the recall process. Basically, the recall process is a
way to remove a sitting director without waiting for the next
election, hoping that they won’t get re-elected. In sum, a
majority of the owners need to each sign separate petitions to
remove the board member. There are lots of defenses however to
the filing of a recall petition and owners who attempt recalls
without the assistance of counsel often times find they wasted a
lot of their time.
Finally, if you fail to get certified within 90 days
of getting elected to the Board – you are automatically off the
Board. Don’t let that happen to you. Take our Condo Craze
Board Certification Course. For times and locations, and to
register, go to:
www.condocrazeandhoas.com.
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About
HOA & Condo Blog
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Eric Glazer graduated from
the University of Miami School of Law in 1992 after
receiving a B.A. from NYU. He has practiced community
association law for more than 2
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decades and is the owner of Glazer
and Associates, P.A. a seven attorney law firm with offices in
Fort Lauderdale and Orlando and satellite offices in Naples,
Fort Myers and Tampa.
Since 2009, Eric has been the host
of Condo Craze and HOAs, a weekly one hour radio show that airs
at noon each Sunday on 850 WFTL.
See:
www.condocrazeandhoas.com.
He is the first attorney in the
State of Florida that designed a course that certifies
condominium residents as eligible to serve on a condominium
Board of Directors and has now certified more than 10,000
Floridians all across the state. He is certified as a Circuit
Court Mediator by The Florida Supreme Court and has mediated
dozens of disputes between associations and unit owners. Eric
also devotes significant time to advancing legislation in the
best interest of Florida community association members.
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