Determining Validity of Voting Member

How can the HOA determine whether a Voting Member is legitimate? 

There is one way, and one way only, to become a Voting Member.

That way is described in the By-Laws. "Getting signatures" and just holding onto the title for years (without Annual Neighborhood Meetings) is not an approved "way".

The officers of the HOA should know.
The other three directors of the HOA should know.
The on-site Property Manager should know.
The chairman of the (HOA's) Neighborhood Committee should know.
The attorney for the HOA should know. 

The office should have documentation on file from each of the 28 Neighborhoods in the HOA.

What should be in the documentation?
  • The name of the Neighborhood.
  • The date of the (most-recent) Neighborhood Meeting.
  • The number of homeowners attending, in-person and by proxy.
  • The number of properties in the Neighborhood.
  • The quorum for a Neighborhood Meeting.
  • A statement as to whether a quorum was present.
  • That an election of a Neighborhood Committee was held.
  • The names of the three homeowners who were elected to the Neighborhood Committee.
  • Whether the Neighborhood Committee held an election of its Chairman.
  • The name of the member of the Neighborhood Committee who was elected as chairman. This person becomes the Voting Member for the following 12 months.
  • The names of the two Alternates.
  • The name of the person designated to file the Minutes of the Neighborhood Meeting with the office.
These items could be a form provided to each Neighborhood by the office.

When any meeting of the Voting Members is announced, the on-site Property Manager should provide a certified list of legitimate Voting Members to the Secretary.

When the Meeting of the Voting Members is called to order, the Secretary should call the roll and ascertain that each person attending is a legitimate Voting Member or Alternate. Only if a quorum is present can the meeting convene.
 
The Minutes of that Voting Member Meeting should list who attended and include a statement that each attendee was eligible to be present and to vote on any matter on the agenda.

The office should maintain a calendar and notify a Neighborhood when an Annual Neighborhood Meeting will be needed. This reminder should be sent ten months after the date of the last Neighborhood Meeting.

If the HOA did this, it wouldn't have to worry whether an election of directors was fraudulent. 

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