HOA Board Violates Policies

As the owner of a condo in Southeast Denver and consequently an HOA member, I was involved in a dispute with the HOA Board of Directors.

The HOA in question held an election for the purpose of recalling a member of the board of directors. This election was not conducted in a proper manner and was in violation of the by-laws of the HOA and in violation of election procedures prescribed in the CRS.

The election ballots were sent out a week for more before the board meeting where the board member who was being recalled was given a chance to defend himself. People were able to vote to recall him before he had a chance to present his side of the case.

I sent the Board of Directors a “cease and desist” letter, which was ignored. I did not even receive a response from their attorney. I was then informed by my attorney that I had no standing to sue since there was no financial remedy to be had. The remedy I was seeking was a proper and fair election, not a financial reward.

In the process of trying to force a fair election, I made the startling discovery that no one in state government is responsible for the proper conduct of HOAs. All the agencies I contacted, and I contacted quite a few, claim that it is not their responsibility. There is an agency that is set up to “monitor” HOAs, but no one wants to call the HOAs to order. The city tells me they don’t either.

It seems to me that if HOAs are quasi-governmental agencies and that they are supposedly bound by the CRS, that there should be a way to hold them accountable for following their own guidelines WITHOUT having to resort to the expense of taking them to court. I have invested several thousand dollars of my own money trying to force them to follow their election guidelines but have been told that since they ignored my “cease and desist” letter, I have no standing to sue since there is no financial remedy (just an issue of fairness and honesty.)

Why is there no agency or department to which improper conduct by an HOA can be remedied?