Pilot Property Management

Serving Coastal North San Diego County (Vista & San Marcos), too

Association Management Governance

How do Officers and Directors get elected?

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There exists in the mind some confusion about who is an officer and who is a director.

Directors are elected usually by a majority of the members. To hold a valid election for directors, usually but not always, a majority of the membership must vote. After a majority has been reached the election is valid and the person or people with the most votes get elected. In some associations a majority may not be needed. Some organizations require only a certain percentage of people vote, maybe as few as a third, to hold a valid election. The governing documents usually the bylaws and/or articles spell out the required percentage.

When the association has voted its directors, the directors then appoint from among themselves who shall serve as officers. There is always a president and a secretary and usually but not always a treasurer, often a vice president and sometimes one or more members at large. These positions can change at any time in the year by a simple vote of the directors. For example, the president may become very busy in their other work and offer to step down as President. The directors decide among themselves who will succeed him and replace him by a simple majority vote.

However changing a director is much more complicated. If a director removes themselves as a result of moving away, sickness or worse the remaining directors may choose a replacement without a vote of the membership, unless the articles or bylaws state otherwise. They appoint by simple majority vote their retiring member’s successor. This is the procedure if a vacancy occurs, unless the number of directors remaining is less than a quorum in which case the remaining directors must unanimously agree in writing.

Directors may be removed from office by the membership or by a court order.

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Why some associations have staggered terms for directors.

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Many associations elect all 3, 5 or 7 directors for one year terms. If a high percentage of directors in any one year are new, the incumbents start with a significant advantage when it comes to the association’s business and the way it is conducted. Phrases such as “that’s the way we have always done it” are bandied about and the incumbents continue to rule the roost. This uneven playing field may be an anathema to new members who may feel stifled by the incumbents. Having staggered terms allows for new members to work with existing members knowing that their two years term includes a period on getting the feet under the desk, before flexing muscles. Having two year terms allows members to gracefully get up to speed knowing that about half the board’s membership is familiar with the procedures and the issues facing the board. In their second year, they will be the teacher to the new crop of first timers. Of course some boards retain the same directors for several years with both members willing to serve and members willing to let them.

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Can we ban political signs?

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Section 1353.6 of the civil code prohibits governing documents of associations from banning non-commercial signs banners flags or posters in or on an owners separate interest. They may be posted in a window a door a balcony or wall of a separate interest as long as they are made of paper cardboard, cloth plastic or fabric but may not be made of lights or balloons or certain building materials and they may not be painted on an architectural surface. An association may prohibit non-commercial signs that are more than 9 square feet in size or more than 15 square feet if a banner or flag. So political signs or banners, subject to size limitations, must be allowed. Many associations use the size limitations for commercial real estate sale or lease signs also.

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Do we have to allow fake grass?

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The short answer and this may surprise you is a yes. Presently the civil code 1353.8 provides that an association shall not prohibit nor included conditions that have the effect of prohibiting the use of low water-using plants as a group. So the quick corollary is this. While fake grass may not be a plant as such, it won’t be long before this clause is amended to prohibit the banning of fake grass. Nothing however in the section says that associations may not have specifications or list of what is allowed and what is not. So once again being proactive, I hate that word; I suggest the association generate its rules on grass. They might as they did with say garage doors select a brand or style, a grade also perhaps so that as with paint there is a harmonious feel to the community. There are some pretty good products out there. I even know an attorney who got down on his knees to satisfy himself he was actually on fake grass and not the real thing. Sorry, no names.

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Satellite Dishes: Must we have them?

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Now that we have removed the ugly TV antennas from our communities, we have oval dishes with a diagonal or diameter measurement up to 36 inches in length, appearing and being hung suspended from anywhere. Associations used to be able forbid the installation of dishes visible from anywhere in the common area. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) took away that right and ordered that associations may not require prior requests for installation approval. The FCC was telling associations to create a dish installation policy and only take action against owners who do not comply with the policy. Many associations have still not produced a policy and therefore have no enforcement rights against the ugly or open installation of these dishes. The association may make reasonable restrictions on their placement so long as those restrictions do not impose significant additional cost or reduce its performance. The restrictions must include all of the following:

  1. Requirement for application and notice, 2. Requirement to obtain approval from the association, 3. Provision for the maintenance e repair or replacement and 4. Requirements for installers to indemnify or reimburse the association for loss or damage caused by the association. The rules are not uncomplicated. While the FCC has ruled that owners may install on exclusive use properties including balconies. Patios and roofs in condominiums however it also issued a ruling that determined that associations may not be forced to allow installation in common areas. The FCC has said that if an owner has installed

 

What is cumulative voting and how does it work?

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Older associations almost always had a provision that allowed for cumulative voting. Cumulative voting allows a member to use all his votes in favor of one candidate. So if 5 members were up for annual election as board candidates, a member could cast all five votes for one candidate and none for anyone else. In a smaller association it would not take many people doing the same thing for one candidate to get elected if he had just a few stalwart friends who always voted for him. In a larger association the same holds true but less certainly. As a rule, it is not uncommon for members not to know the candidates personally, except perhaps in a senior community. The result is members will tend to disperse their votes evenly among the candidates not favoring any one person. A determined effort by one person accumulating 5 votes at a time can lead to a minority candidate being elected. Nowadays most associations do not allow cumulative voting and members are forced to choose from among a few perhaps unknowns or to cast maybe a single vote or two for their favored candidates.

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