Asked 12 months ago - Miami, FL
Flagthe presindent of the HOA in the community that I live has moved to another state and he is renting his home. can he still be president of the association while is is out of state and renting his unit. also, our comminity is been managed by a the company called property management and the president of the association is the owner and his wife the accountant. is this legal also.
Unless your governing documents state otherwise, anyone can be a board member of a HOA, even if they do not own property in the community. They do not have to be a resident unless the documents state otherwise.
The board president should not engage in business between the association and a company he owns. This is a conflict of interest. The new law that went into effect July 1, 2010 is debated among the HOA lawyers. The new law states that board members, officers and committee members cannot be compensated for their services to the association (Fla. Stat. 720.303(12)). It further states "and may not in any other way benefit financially from service to the association." It then goes on to exclude benefits that accrue to all members for services such as property management, landscaping, accounting, etc.
My position on the interpretation of this statute, which is in agreement with some of the biggest HOA firms in this state, is that this absolutely prohibits board members from doing business with the association as they are getting a financial benefit (compensation) that not all members receive.
Some HOA attorneys state that the exclusion paragraph states that they can own companies that provide these services to the HOA because those services are excluded. I think that is a ridiculous interpretation because again, they are receiving a benefit that not all members are receiving, which is compensation for providing those services.
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