Amendment to CCR’s
Our HOA has a failing tennis court since it was built 25 years ago in a common area drainage easement and the water drainage causes accelerated depreciation of the court slab and court surface. Six years ago the entire court was resurfaced for almost $17K and it began failing within four months and within 5 months the slab crack widened. The contractor made spot repairs but would not honor the warranty to redoing the entire surface because of the water issues, not poor workmanship. Over the past six years many repairs have been done, ie french drain, spot resurfacing, etc and all have failed to solve the water issues causing ongoing damage. Fewer than 30 members use the court out of 942 members. The HOA Board says it is an amenity and it must be kept unless a 2/3 majority vote of the total membership votes to not retain the court and remove it.
In an Open HOA meeting, a motion to put the question of retention of the tennis court in a formal vote to the total membership of the HOA was made and seconded. It failed to pass with the Board vote of 6 to 2 to not send the retention question to the membership.
Is this the correct process to attempt to get the formal vote out to the total membership? Can the HOA board vote to block a formal vote from going to the total membership?
Can a Special meeting be called and a vote of those in attendance be an option to try to remove this failing and unrepairable court?
The Board insists the court is an amenity and must be kept by the HOA. Were it in a more suitable court location, this would not have become an issue.
Thanks
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Ann,
While I do not know exactly what your CC&R’s stipulate relative to changing common elements, I can only assume that the board correctly interpreted the CC&R’s to require a vote of the members. Why the board refused to bring such an issue to the members is probably because the board members are all tennis players, and they don’t want to lose the courts. The members have the right to petition for a special meeting to conduct any business of the members. Such a petition would require the signature of 25% (236 members) or any lower number specified in the community documents of all the members in the community. Upon receipt of such a petition the board must then call and hold the special meeting of the members to decide to remove the tennis courts or not. Before anyone proposes such an action you should have a clear picture of what it would cost to do that and return the space back to green space. Also remember that the courts are a feature that may have factored in the decision of many of the residents to buy homes in your community. Removing that feature may negatively impact the resale value of every home in the community whether you use them or not. Someone looking to buy a home may want to look at communities that have tennis courts or other similar features. You have to weigh all of these factors in making this decision.
Dennis
Dennis, Thank you for your prompt response. You are totally correct in that the Board members are either tennis players or connected in some way with the tennis court/club. So much for representing the best interests of the corporation when less than 1% of the total membership uses the tennis court. The other members have responded in an informal survey that over 70% of them would like to see it removed, leaving a majority of us providing the 1% with their private tennis court when they likely have a greater annual income than most of the membership.
As I noted, this would likely not be an issue had the court not been built in a drainage ditch requiring almost constant expensive repairs to it.
Ann,
I’m sorry to hear of your situation. Please remember that the majority of your community are free to recall the entire board and replace them with members that will truly act in the best interest of the community. If this board is truly self-serving despite the recurring cost to the association and unwilling to listen to the legitimate concerns of the community and work with the community to solve the issue than they don’t belong in their positions. Any responsible board needs to look at this issue objectively, and weight the cost benefit of continued maintenance of this feature and the resulting cost to the community as a whole. Allow the community to decide for themselves if the cost of continued maintenance of on an improperly located feature is worth the cost and individual potential benefit of each homeowner. If they refuse to look at this issue legitimately, then start a petition top call for a special meeting of the members to recall the entire the entire board or at least the majority of the board that drives this perspective. You will need 25% of the membership or 100 signatures whichever is less. Once the necessary signatures are obtained the board will have 30 days to call and hold the meeting. the majority of the members voting on each board member named will decide their future on the board.
A recall petition is very divisive in a community and the board will stop at nothing to discredit and slander the leaders of this effort to protect their power over the community. So be prepared for this onslaught and don’t take any of it personally stay focused on the truth and the good of the entire community and do not fall into the same game that the board has stooped to, and the community will see the truth and vote accordingly.
Dennis