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-Note-related documentation to validate the story below is posted in the updates section-
My name is Mike and in our picture is my wife Nhan and our three year old Keanu. We were recently part of a group of organized neighbors at Holly 100 Condominiums that needed to petition for a special meeting where the residents were able to take a vote and hold an election for a new HOA board for their condo complex located in Everett Washington.
There were many reasons why most of the complex felt compelled to do this and it was largely due very suspicious, potentially self dealing, conflict of interest within the HOA board that was ruining our complex. The president was using a LLC that owned a Company under the name PA building maintenance that the HOA board contracted with. A undeniable conflict of interest. Coupled with the Vice President approving via vote on utilizing a roofing company owned by her brother-in-law to conduct a $116,000+ roof replacement on one out of the two large building the complex is comprised of. Their decision that was not properly inspected by a third party outside of the bids for it's replacement, plummeted the associations reserves...
The conflict of interest was rampant, communication sparse, and amenities and renovations unjustifiable for the amount residents were paying monthly dues for or from reserves garnered from past periodical special assessments. Nobody was happy, and many were suffering. Some were getting their cars stolen due to the front entry gate of the gated community not working.
The blood loss of the complex has been severe. Costing the neighbors their reserve money that they pay a hefty $550/month HOA fee towards. Some neighbors are still paying off a $10,000 dollar loan they took out to pay an assessment that every unit was mandated to pay in the past 3 years. Yet the condo reserves currently sit below $300,000 despite that assessment garnering $700,000+ from 75 units paying that assessment.
Residents at Holly, some young with families, some old and retired, some who don't speak English, all felt hopeless and not sure what to do about the situation. Initially the roughly 48 residents organized and held their own meeting at the Village on Casino Road in early March of this year, since the board would not hold meetings for the residents. Following that, they petitioned for a special meeting to the management company the board contracted with and to the board itself via by mail with Fedex signature upon receipt. This special meeting request was to vote out this corrupt HOA board.
Unfortunately, that properly formed special meeting request document garnering the required 20% and even more of resident signatures, was received by the board and management company, but ignored. Fedex confirmed that they received it, yet this board knew that the agenda specified for that special meeting was to vote them out. So they chose to disregard it.
That is when my wife and I decided to request the help of Jo Flannery, an attorney working under the Ryan Swanson Law Firm who specializes in helping grassroots-type organized groups of residents take back their HOA run communities. After giving over two weeks for prior the board or management company to reply to our request and still receiving no acknowledgement of the request or getting the meeting scheduled, Jo sent in a letter on behalf of Mike and Nhan requesting that the petition be responded to along with a request for financial documentation that would be necessary for a forensic audit to be done to figure out where all the reserve money for Holly 100 Condominiums has gone.
Sure enough, they responded to that letter she sent with their own attorney that was being paid for by the HOA reserves.
On May 14th at a special meeting that Jo Flannery helped over half the complex's residents get scheduled, the residents exercised their voting power to take back their HOA board! Not only did Jo Flannery help with getting that Special Meeting getting scheduled, she also attended it to ensure that the electoral process and all by-laws and statutes were followed. And now she is currently helping with the newly elected board members transition into their position as Board of Directors. In the near future, many of the residents hope to retain her as the associations attorney to assist with any litigation that may be required following a forensic audit.
Unfortunately, all this came at a cost for myself and my wife. Despite our group of organized residents trying to keep attorneys out of the process of electing a new board to avoid legal fees, the prior HOA board only acknowledged the residents properly submitted special meeting request form when Jo Flannery sent in a letter about it. In addition to the aforementioned assistance Jo provided, she also furnish a proper special meeting request form for us before stepping in. As well as a viable, legally acceptable, voter proxy form that enabled some residents to give their voting power to a neighbor since they couldn't attend the meeting due to schedule conflicts.
Jo Flannery reviewed evidence, supplied legal documents, provided legal counsel, sent a demand letter, attended the special meeting and currently is working with the management company and new board to pull Holly 100 back into the realm of what it is capable of being. And that is a thriving well maintained condominium complex. A home to a group of both young hard working families and older retired individuals that are a diverse group of residents. Now with their board back on track, hopefully their complex can be what it ought to be. And that is a community that is well maintained, with modest dues, and no special assessments that cause financial strain on it's residents.
Thank you for reading. We appreciate any support with the legal fees associated with recovering a HOA Board for a condominium association of residents that was taken advantage of.
Note: Any donation towards the $2,200 legal costs is appreciated. Big or small, the gesture itself means the most. For complete transparency, the invoice will be shown in this gofundme post.
Organizer
Mike Norton
Organizer
Everett, WA