Barony Place I/Barony Place II

Did you know that the Summit Community Association has a Facebook page? I had been thinking of starting one, had periodically searched Facebook, and had never found one. There are other Summit HOA pages on Facebook (Ex., Summit, S.C.), but no page for the Summit's HOA in NE Columbia. Today I found one. It's not new, either. It is sub-titled "Local Business - Unofficial Page", and it can be found  here . The page was created on October 17, 2010, and the oldest message was posted by John C. Mello on April 27, 2014. This Facebook page may have been private or restricted, because it never showed up before.  I have posted a request on that page for the page Administrators to be identified.

I understand that the "new" HOA board is planning to hold in-person board meetings, starting with the December 5, 2023, 6:30PM meeting at the Brookland Baptist Church Northeast. The board hasn't made any announcements, although it held an Organizational Meeting on November 14. Officers for the next year were elected, and the resignations of two board members were accepted. My opinion was that the Organizational Meeting should have been held on November 7, immediately after the election by the Voting Members before the board meeting started. It wasn't. I felt that the Organizational Meeting should have been announced to the Association Membership and held as an open meeting on November 14. It wasn't. CAMS, as a professional HOA management company (as claimed on its website ), should have been guiding and advising the "new" board on operations. It apparently didn't. The board needs to announcement the two vacancies on the board and search for qualified

The directors and officers of the HOA should be listed on the HOA's website in an easy-to-find location. Their terms-of-office and contact information should also be listed. The board of directors held an Organizational Meeting on November 14, one week after the election by the Voting Members was held. One newly re-elected director resigned, and one director, who had one more year to serve, also resigned. There are five directors now, and the board will be declaring two vacancies on the board and appointing successors to the two vacant positions. Of the seven-member board three directors have 2022-2024 terms-of-office. They are Tanisha Holmes,  Dennis Rybicki, and one vacancy. Four directors have 2023-2025 terms-of-office. They are  Brenda Bryant,  Linda Potter,  Danny Trapp, and one vacancy. Directors will be appointed for the 2022-2024 and 2023-2025 vacancies. The officers of the board are President (Danny Trapp), Vice President (Brenda Bryant), Secretary (Tanisha Holmes), and Tr

An early action taken by the new Board of Directors (BOD) of the HOA was to dissolve the board's Neighborhood Committee. That committee has already been removed from the listing of Committees on the HOA's website. That action was taken after the November 7th Regular Meeting of the BOD and done possibly at the private Organizational Meeting held on November 14. It was at that Organizational Meeting that officers were elected, Greg Thomas' resignation was announced, and Vernell Butler resigned after he was not re-elected by the BOD as treasurer. Should the board have disbanded its Neighborhood Committee? The board's committee is not the same as the Neighborhood Committee required under the By-Laws for each of the 28 Neighborhoods of the Association. When Jesse McClinton was appointed as Chair of the board's Neighborhood Committee in October 2021, I had hoped that he and that committee would work with each of the 28 neighborhoods to help them come into compliance with

Homeowners, look at what four former HOA board members did to your Association? They tried to stick the HOA with two more years of management by CAMS. Who were the four? Justin Martin, Mary Ann Game, Vernell Butler, Greg Thomas. None of those four is on the BOD now. On October 3rd, after the regular board meeting, the board met again at 8PM in an unannounced meeting to discuss the bids for the management contract. Are the Minutes of the 8PM meeting (distributed at the Nov. 7th meeting) correct? Some board members say not.  If Mary Ann knew she was going to withdraw from the election of directors and if she had started "getting signatures" to become a Voting Member in Pine Brook, she should have recused herself from any vote. Then a vote on the management contract bid to award the contract to CAMS would have been 3-3. A tie vote fails. Was the board supposed to meet again (after Oct. 3 and before Oct. 15) to make the final decision, after further discussion? They didn't. D

The Summit's HOA has four new officers. President - Danny Trapp Vice President - Brenda Bryant Secretary - Tanisha Holmes Treasurer - Linda Potter Two directors resigned at the November 14th Organizational Meeting. Gregory Thomas, long-time Secretary, resigned, and Vernell Butler, Treasurer from December 2021 until last night, resigned. The Board will be declaring the board seats vacant and appointing two directors to succeed Greg Thomas' term-of-office (2023-2025) and Vernell Butler's term-of-office (2022-2024). These appointments are dictated under the By-Laws, Art. III,  A, §7, ¶2. The directors of the HOA are: Tanisha Holmes (2022-2024) Dennis Rybicki (2022-2024) Vacancy (2022-2024) Brenda Bryant (2023-2025) Linda Potter (2023-2025) Danny Trapp (2023-2025) Vacancy (2023-2025)

When the HOA's new Board of Directors meets tomorrow night, November 14, will it broadcast the meeting on Zoom? The Board will be holding a Special BOD meeting for the purpose of electing officers - President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Perhaps other business will be on the agenda. Maybe the 2024 Proposed Budget? The officers should have been elected last Tuesday at the first regular meeting of the board after the Annual Meeting of Voting Members. They didn't do so, likely for one or more of several reasons: - the Board was not familiar with the By-Laws; - CAMS (the professional HOA management company that is supposed to provide expertise to the Board) didn't advise them that the By-Laws required them to do so; - the Board has not done so in the past; - in the past the board has elected officers in a private, pre-board meeting; - in the past the board has just continued with the same officers as in the prior year. Should ALL meetings (Regular and Special) of

When the Board of Directors held its monthly meeting on November 7th, why wasn't the Proposed Budget for 2024 presented? Surely, the Finance Committee had completed its work. The Summit's HOA is not operating like the Federal Government, is it? IS IT? There is supposed to be a Summit Assets Committee -  (" Mission: This Sub-committee, is responsible for establishing a balanced annual budget, and presenting it to The Summit Community Association, Inc. Board of Directors for approval. The budgeting process considers input from all levels and includes members from the general community. "),  That sub-committee has no Chair and no members. The Finance Committee should have been working diligently on the 2024 Proposed Budget. It should have delivered that Budget to the BOD on November 7. Had it done so, the BOD would have had a month to consider it, before approving it on December 5, the next regular BOD meeting. Who are the "members from the general community" w

How many homeowners actually look at the monthly financial statements? And of those who do look at them, how many understand them? For example, the monthly financial statement for the period ending 9/30/2023 was distributed at the November 7, 2023 board meeting. In the Statement of Revenues and Expenses is Line 4000 Assessment Income . Actual* Year-to-Date receipts, through 9/30/2023, total $948,295.  The first thing an unknowledgeable person might do is compare that to the 9-month budget of $946,687.50 and think, "Nothing wrong there. In fact, Actual exceeds Budget." However, what's wrong, and what's really wrong, is that assessments were due 7/1/2023 and were late after 7/31/2023. Perhaps many homeowners paid on-time, in July. Some paid a little late, in August. And some may have paid a little later, in September. How likely is it that those who didn't pay in July, August, or September will pay in October, November, or December. I'll venture a guess that it

Several documents are missing from the HOA's website and should have been published by now. - October 3, 6:30PM BOD Meeting Minutes - October 3, 8:00PM BOD Meeting Minutes - September 30 Financial Operating Results   2022 Annual Audit, Pages 1-2 There were two BOD meetings on October 3rd. The Regular meeting was held at 6:30PM. A Special meeting was held about 8:00PM to discuss two management contract bids. That discussion should have been held in public at the 6:30PM BOD meeting. Remember, it was the "old" board at that time. The October 3rd Minutes were approved on November 7th. The Minutes should have been published on the website the next day, November 8. They weren't. And they weren't published on November 9 or November 10. The September 30th Financial Operating Results were part of the October 3rd Minutes. There is no reason they should not have been published also on November 8, except it doesn't seem to be very important to CAMS that the homeowners (Me

The Annual Meeting of the Voting Members was held on November 7, 2023, prior to the 6:30PM start of the Board's regular November meeting. I arrived at the church at about 6:15PM and entered the meeting room. Quickly, I was politely asked to step out into the hallway, because the Voting Member meeting was still in progress. There was no way to tell, because no sign had been placed on the door. There appeared to be more than 35 people in the room. The only people who should have been in the room were the eligible Voting Members (or Alternates), and the HOA's President and Secretary. Only one representative of each neighborhood should have been in the room. If the Voting Member was there, the Alternate(s) should not have been. Allowing only eligible voters in the room would have preserved election integrity. But there were others in the room, too. Members of the Nominating Committee were there. There was no reason for them to be there. Their work had been completed. When it was ti

At the November 7, 2023 HOA Board meeting I asked for the election of officers to take place and quoted the pertinent section of the By-Laws. In the By-Laws at Art. IV, Section 2, it reads, in part, "The officers of the Association shall be elected annually by the Board of Directors at the first meeting of the Board of Directors following each annual meeting of the Voting Members , as herein set forth in Article III." [ emphasis added ] The 6:30PM regular meeting of the Board last Tuesday was the first meeting of the BOD following the 6:00PM 2023 Annual Meeting of the Voting Members. Director Brenda Bryant spoke up and said that another Section of the By-Laws provides for an Organizational Meeting to be held within ten days. Sure enough, Art. III, B, Section 8  Organizational Meetings reads, "The first meeting of the Board of Directors following each annual meeting of the membership shall be held within ten (10) days thereafter at such time and place as shall be fixed

In October the Board of Directors (BOD) of the HOA decided to stick with CAMS and entered into a two-year contract for management services. The vote by the BOD was 4-3. The four who voted for CAMS were Justin Martin, Mary Ann Game, Vernell Butler, and Greg Thomas. Voting against the contract with CAMS (and therefore in favor of the second bidder) were Brenda Bryant, Dennis Rybicki, and Tanisha Holmes. The second bidder was William Douglas Property Management Company, founded in 1980 and serving HOAs in 13 communities in South Carolina and North Carolina. Looking at its website , they would have been my choice. Why might the CAMS renewal backfire? Two of the four directors who voted for CAMS just a month ago are no longer on the BOD. Mary Ann Games resigned from the board between the October and November meetings, after the vote on the CAMS contract. Why? Did she believe she would not be re-elected? The other director who voted for CAMS and is no longer on the BOD is Justin Martin, who

Four directors were elected to the HOA's Board of Directors tonight. Brenda Bryant (Fawn Ridge) was re-elected. Linda Potter (Founders Ridge) was elected. Greg Thomas (Summit Hills) was re-elected.  Danny Trapp (Hunters Pond) was elected. The election results were announced at the beginning of the meeting, and the newly-elected directors were seated. Mary Ann Game had resigned from the Board before tonight's meeting and apparently secured enough "signatures" to become the Neighborhood Rep. (Voting Member) and fill the vacant position in Pine Brook. Justin Martin was not re-elected and turned the reins over to Greg Thomas, who chaired tonight's meeting as Acting President. Although Art. IV, Section 2 of the By-Laws states that officers "shall" be elected at the first BOD meeting after the Annual Meeting of Voting Members, which was tonight, Brenda Bryant explained that there is language elsewhere that calls for an Organization Meeting within ten days that

Will tonight's HOA election of directors be legitimate? Will the HOA President and HOA Secretary ensure the integrity of the director-election process? Preceding tonight's HOA board of directors meeting at 6:30PM, the 2023 Annual Meeting of Voting Members (VM) will be held at the Brookland Baptist Church Northeast. Only Voting Members, the HOA President, and the HOA Secretary attend this VM meeting. Only  legitimate  Voting Members should attend. Only  legitimate  Voting Members should be allowed to vote for four directors tonight. There is one way, and one way only, to become a legitimate Voting Member. The procedure is described in the By-Laws in Article V, Section 3. At tonight's meeting a quorum of the HOA's 28 Neighborhoods must be represented by its legitimate Voting Member or Alternate. A quorum is 15. That's 15 legitimate Voting Members. Will the HOA President, who conducts the meeting, and the HOA Secretary, who keeps the Minutes of the meeting, enforce thi

Do homeowners (Members of the HOA) have the right to inspect the Management Contract that the Board and CAMS agreed to? Here is what the By-Laws say in Art. VI: Section 4. Books and Records. (a) Inspection by Members and Mortgagees. The Declaration, By-Laws and Articles of Incorporation, any amendments to the foregoing, the rules and regulations of the Association, the membership register, books of account, and the minutes of meetings of the Members, the Board, and committees shall be made available for inspection and copying by any holder, insurer or guarantor of a first Mortgage on a Unit, Member of the Association, or by the duly appointed representative of the foregoing, at any reasonable time and for a purpose reasonably related to his or her interest in the Unit at the office of the Association or at such other place within the Properties as the Board shall prescribe. The Management Contract with CAMS is not specifically mentioned, and you can bet your bottom dollar that CAMS an

Why is one of the best-kept secrets in Richland County who is running for the HOA's Board of Directors this year? Although homeowners don't get to vote for directors, they should know who the candidates are, so that they can express their opinions to their Neighborhood Representatives (Voting Members). Did any of the Neighborhood Reps find out who is running and inform their neighborhood's homeowners?  It certainly did not happen in Barony Place! The professional HOA management firm (CAMS) hired by the HOA should be advising the Board to inform the homeowners about this election. Is it? The election is tomorrow night, Tuesday, November 7, 2023, prior to the 6:30PM start of the regular November board of directors meeting. Voting Members meet in private to elect directors. This month's Board of Directors meeting will be in-person at the Brookland Baptist Church Northeast, 1203 Summit Parkway. 6:30PM. Do you have questions about the integrity of the election of directors?

On Tuesday, November 7th, there is supposed to be an Annual Meeting of Voting Members (VM). This meeting is scheduled to be held before the start of the Board of Directors' open meeting at 6:30PM. Will the VMs be able to meet? First, any VMs who show up can only be admitted to their meeting IF they are legitimate VMs; i.e., selected through the process described in the By-Laws. ("Getting signatures" is not a legitimate way of becoming a VM or Alternate.) Each of the 28 Neighborhoods must have held an Annual Neighborhood Meeting in 2023 or 2022. This is the first obstacle to the VM's Annual Meeting. The second obstacle is attendance by a quorum of eligible (legitimate) VMs. Fifteen (15) legitimate VMs (or legitimate Alternate)  must attend.  Minutes of the Annual Meeting of VMs should reflect the names of the legitimate VMs in attendance. The Secretary of the HOA, Greg Thomas, should certify a quorum. The President of the HOA, Justin Martin, should not conduct the Ann

Why is the HOA continuing to withhold Pages 1-2 from the 2022 Annual Audit? The Board of Directors publicly received the Audit on June 6 but did not publish it on the website. With the proper legal authority, I requested it on August 9th. The HOA probably incurred a significant legal bill obstructing my request and demanding payment of up to $265, but it finally allowed me to examine the Audit in mid-October - without any fee.  On the same day it published the Audit on its website. However, the HOA is withholding Pages 1-2, which contain the name of the Auditor and the name of the accounting firm, along with some general boiler-plate wording. It does no good for a homeowner (or her legal representative) to request Pages 1-2. The Board and the CAMS office just disregard the request and don't answer.  The Voting Members should demand answers on November 7 before they vote on candidates for Directors, if they can muster enough legitimate Voting Members to hold their Annual Meeting.

What is Directors' and Officers' (D&O) liability insurance? From Founders Shield's website ," D&O insurance protects the company and its executives from certain claims made against them. Shareholders, competitors, investors, etc., can sue a company’s directors and officers, putting their personal assets at stake. Directors and officers (D&O) insurance protects these assets from lawsuits alleging leaders of wrongful acts managing the business ." Keyword: "certain" From Wright Commercial Litigation's website , " Most D&O policies exclu de coverage for  acts of fraud, dishonesty, or intentional misrepresentation , often wi th a qualification that they are deliberate. However, rarely is it the case where the only claim in a suit is one based on fraud. " From that same website, " some states also prohibit insurance from covering “willful acts” and many do not allow a company to do so either " and " Both criminal ac