I try to keep this brief. About 9 months ago we moved to a 55 and over small semi-gated community with 50 houses. In the 9 months, I have had to deal with a real bully who is on the board and wants t be the president of the board. The guy lives across the street and is a real bully to everyone, especially women. I have had 5 non postmarked letters put in my mailbox over truly non issues since I have been here. After the third one I confronted him about the letters and when his wife started to say something, he was so mad he nearly hit her. Only about 10 percent of the people like him and damn near everyone is in the upper 70's or 80's with several houses empty or women only.

I had thought about meeting with my attorney about the non postmarked letters and turning them over to the postmaster here in town and filing charges, but I am not quite there yet. After meeting a few people here that I had not met yet, all of them asked me to run for the board as it's a few really hateful guys that seem to despise everyone especially women. They even gave a board member real hell for adding a roof to cover his back patio. I will have the time to deal with being on the board and after so many people wanting me to do, I thought maybe it can change the balance of power with these aholes. Do you think I am out of my mind for considering it? Thanks in advance for your opinions everyone.

No you are not out of your mind for wanting to make a difference.

You've only been on the forum for a short while.

There are many threads about H.O.A. communities and the people in them.

An AL legislator has introduced a bill to outlaw HOA’s. All fucking for it!

RMD

If you have the time and motivation, I would say do it. Think of the alternative if you don't.

People complain about HOAs but rarely, if ever, has the complainer ever served on the HOA committee, or even gone to a meeting. Hopefully you'll be able to convince some other like-minded folks to serve with you.

Even if you are fortunate to have a good group of members with common-sense, be ready for 90% of your problems to come from 10% of the community. Your assholio neighbor will be a constant problem but at least you'll be in a position of quasi-authority to administer the legal smackdown when required.

I'm not sure the board is a long term solution. It may be better to figure what a good long term solution and work toward that. The board may be useful for short term pain relief. But you still need to do something about the source of the pain.

Does your community have an HOA Management company to handle all the admin requirements of an HOA? If so, please visit with your Community Representative from the company to learn how much time a board position in your community really takes and number & problems the board must deal with as a whole. Does the HOA company provide board member training so you all know what you're really supposed to be doing? Check to see if the board is covered by insurance which the HOA should be paying for. This will protect you and your assets should someone decide to go so far as to sue the HOA for decisions the board made. This is currently happening in our HOA, and the attacks on the board are from multiple people and coalitions of homeowners. It is a mess.

I applaud you for wanting to get involved and be part of the solutions rather than sit on the sidelines and simply wish things were different. There will be times you'll wonder why you even ran for the position and your patience will be tested. Depending on the size of your HOA it can become a full-time job if you're not careful.

I spent eight years on the Architectural Control Committee (ACC) and then in 2018 was pushed into running for the board when some great board members hit term limits. After getting elected, a few days later the new board met and the first order of business was to elect the President among the board members. 30 seconds later I found myself as the new President of the board. Try as I might to be fair to the other board members and run good meetings using Robert's Rules of Order, it was the least satisfying endeavors I have ever been a part of.

Sorry to be so blunt, but know all the aspects of what you're getting into. I wish you the best.

I was on the board of my HOA for 8 of the 22 years I lived there.

I HATE HOAs. That being said, when I had to live in one, I was sure as hell as involved as I could be to reduce the amount of bullshit the residents had to deal with.

It really depends on the scope of your HOA. I begrudingly joined mine after being pissed off at the common area that surrounds have my house never being mowed and full of weeds. Now I handle the landscape company for the HOA. We only meet 4 times a year.

Nope

IMO any messages without Postmarks should be reported to your local Post Office, because it is actually against Federal Law to abuse the Postal System. Hey if the guys an asshole make sure that he suffers for his misdeeds. I would also suggest installing a high resolution camera aimed directly at your mailbox if you have one. The postal Inspector would just love videos of him stuffing a mailbox.

I think that you should seek a position on your HOA board. I served several terms on mine. It’s a thankless job, but I learned much about the association.

I live in a gated community, and I’m happy to say that our board does a generally good job.

quote:

Originally posted by marksman41:
If you have the time and motivation, I would say do it. Think of the alternative if you don't.

People complain about HOAs but rarely, if ever, has the complainer ever served on the HOA committee, or even gone to a meeting. Hopefully you'll be able to convince some other like-minded folks to serve with you.

Even if you are fortunate to have a good group of members with common-sense, be ready for 90% of your problems to come from 10% of the community. Your assholio neighbor will be a constant problem but at least you'll be in a position of quasi-authority to administer the legal smackdown when required.

Sounds like a cop job…

Personally I am not a fan of HOA’s. However, I understand the concept.

As former president of hoa I ask that you consider the real questions. Can you be the iron fist when required? It seems noble to be on the board. You can thwart the angry man leaving the letters. But, can you also sign the letter that fines a resident for failing to pay? Can you fire the managing agent? Can you deal with feuding neighbors and make a decision? For some these are not easy and may bring stress you don’t want. You have to live in community and a board position can be segregating.

Resident's apathy is how the Karen's and the bullies of the world end up making HOAs miserable.

Every HOA resident should do it once, but nobody should do it twice

If you are a sane person (and can continue to put up with the BS involved), you’ll be a great addition to the HOA board. The problem with HOA boards is that too many of the folks who get involved are folks that don’t have enough going on in their own lives so they use the opportunity to power trip over their neighbors.

Just recognize that he and his cronies will not give up their power easily.
If you think they are insufferable now, you have only seen the tip of the iceberg if you run and are successful.
Not saying you shouldn't do it, just pointing out that it will not be any fun at all.
You will very likely want to put that attorney on retainer.

Thank you all for your advice. I am going to carefully consider running and will refer back to this thread while I make my decision.I really appreciate the advice of the forum members here and I am thankful for your views.

I had a similar experience at my last house with their HOA, which led me to run for the HOA board. I won a seat, as did another likeminded homeowner.

However, we still ended up the lone two voices of reason on a board of overbearing petty tyrants.

Without a majority, I wasn't able to accomplish anything, other than adding to my own frustration and headaches. It rammed home the concept of how a certain type of person becomes a complete asshole if given even just a tiny bit of perceived power and authority.

Luckily, shortly afterwards, I sold that house and landed in a neighborhood without a HOA where I'm much happier. "No HOA" was near the top of my house hunting wish list.