Smart Ways for Condo/HOA Boards to Shut It Down With Owners Who Bring the Drama

This article first appeared on HOAleader.com Tip of the Week here.

In this week's tip, we help a reader who wrote in asking if their condo/HOA board can kick a troublesome owner off the ballot for a board seat and stop her from showing up at board meetings and creating chaos.

The answer to both questions is maybe, depending on your documents and your state law.

Our reader is in California, so we turned to Matt D. Ober, CCAL, a partner at Richardson Ober LLP, a Pasadena, Calif., law firm with a significant community association practice.

“In general, you can't bar someone from running for the board in California,” he says. “You can prevent them from being a candidate under certain circumstances, if your bylaws allow that. You might be able to disqualify them if they happen to be filing a claim against the association or involved in a lawsuit against the association.

“Otherwise, eligibility to run is based on limited items mentioned in California's civil code, like delinquency, living with another board member in the same residence, or having been convicted of a felony that would prevent your association from getting insurance,” says Ober.

“Everybody has a right to be a jerk or to be difficult, and it happens all the time,” he adds. “The way you address difficult people is through the democratic electoral process. If they're so difficult, if they're not good for the community, you hope the voters will make this determination.”

Outside of California, the answer will also depend on state law and governing documents. Read more, plus get great tips for setting appropriate standards for owner behavior if you must allow them to attend your board meetings, in our new article, Board Wants to Kick Troubled Owner Off the Ballot and Out of Board Meetings.

Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President