Board should call member on bad behavior

Q: A board member without board approval went to this homeowner’s place of business and, according to the homeowner, was very abusive about her wanting to extend her current lease to add a tenants’ friend. The owner must approve this and she did and tried to add her to the current lease. The board has no authority to tell an owner who they can rent their unit to. Now, the homeowner wants to know of any recourse she can take against this board member as this was not authorized or proper to disturb her at her place of business. No notices or other forms of communication have been sent to the homeowner. Do you believe she can take action against the board and or this member?

The board has given many variances to the rental rules in the past and others have added additional tenants. Also, this board member is contacting the tenants — two women — on their personal cellphones and asking very personal questions. The owner also wants this to stop.

The board member has called a meeting as an emergency even though the owner is allowing the guest to stay at her rental unit until the meeting so she can go to the executive meeting and state her case. Two board members feel this is an unlawful call for a meeting as it is not an emergency as defined by law.

A: It is the homeowner’s prerogative to add the friend to the existing lease. It would still be in compliance with your CC&Rs as the friend and the current tenant would constitute “one set of tenants.” If the friend was a stranger and if the homeowner just wanted to rent out the various bedrooms in the home, the homeowner would be in violation of the “one set of tenants” regulations.

A board member does not have the authority to call a special meeting of either the membership or the board of directors. Most governing documents require at least a majority of the board members or the president to call for a meeting of the directors.

The specific issue of the homeowner, the current tenant and the friend does not meet the requirements of a special meeting. In fact, if the issue is to be discussed, it would occur in an executive session and not at an open board meeting.

As to the independent action of your board member, he is absolutely creating a possible lawsuit against the association and the board of directors, as well as himself.

He potentially could have caused the homeowner to lose her job, which could have resulted in a lawsuit for lost wages and any other collateral damages.

You should contact the association’s legal counsel to discuss these issues. At the minimum, a written letter of cease and desist would be needed, which would include some statement that continued behavior would result in a recall as a director.