Reader Questions - Management Dissatisfaction, Off Site Landscaping

board members community managers governing documents h o a homefront reader questions Oct 07, 2013

Management Dissatisfaction

Kelly,

Our board works harder than our property manager. How do we fire him? I just want the best property and I don’t think our manager is doing that. Our directors are so stressed out from all they do. Please help.

Thanks,

J.C., Encino

Dear J.C.,

Well-intentioned boards can be frustrated in their belief that their manager was not sufficiently proactive. However, is it from poor performance, or board reluctance to allow the manager to perform? As a volunteer director, your role is to make decisions, and your manager should provide the information to help you make those decisions. However, some managers are discouraged because their boards micromanage and do not trust them to do their job, and so they feel they are reduced to basically a clerk. If your manager is not meeting expectations, deal with it directly. Meet with the manager and the supervisor. Set forth reasonable expectations, and be prepared to listen with an open mind if the manager asks the board to not micromanage. Your manager is a professional, and should be treated like one. Expect them to do their job, and let them do so.

On the other hand, if you have tried, and your manager is clearly not measuring up, before you dump the management company, ask for a different manager to be assigned to your account. That way, your association might avoid the disruption of having a new company step in. If that doesn’t work, then hire a new company.

Best,
Kelly

Off-Site Landscaping

Hi Kelly,

Enjoyed your column this morning and have the following question. I have repeatedly requested our board not to persist in having our landscape workers to go off property and trim bushes, etc. on the city street which fronts our common area property. They ignore me. I have quoted this line to them which I saw in another columnist’s writing: Civil Code section 1364(a) says that a boards duties are limited to “repairing, replacing, restoring or maintaining” the common areas.

It also said the association could lose its tax status for such activities. What is your take on this?

B.S., Santa Barbara

Dear B.S.,

The board’s primary responsibility is to protect, preserve and maintain the common area. These are not the only duties, but they are some of the most basic duties. I am assuming from the question that the city is not adequately maintaining the city landscaping adjacent to your association. Before one can accuse the board of stepping outside its authority, one might consider whether or not the work is necessary to preserve the positive image of your community.

A similar question was addressed in 2000 in the case of Finley v. Superior Court. Finley’s association donated money to oppose the proposed El Toro airport, at the former Marine Corps Air Station. The association was near the proposed airport, and under its possible glide path. The appellate court found that the donation of money by the association to oppose the airport was a permissible exercise of the Business Judgment Rule, since the proposed airport would directly affect the association.

In your situation, the board may be justified in spending money “off-site” if it directly benefits the members, to the extent the board is removing an eyesore.

Thanks,
Kelly


Written by Kelly G. Richardson

Kelly G. Richardson Esq., CCAL, is a Fellow of the College of Community Association Lawyers and a Partner of Richardson | Ober | DeNichilo LLP, a California law firm known for community association advice. Submit questions to [email protected]. Past columns at www.hoahomefront.com. All rights reserved®.