Submitting a Petition to our HOA Board

I live in a Florida HOA holding an Annual Members Meeting on March 19th. It is my understanding that an Annual Meeting provides an opportunity for any homeowner to raise an an issue, make a motion or present a petition to the board. Reason I ask is because i think the president is trying to set the agenda to ensure there are no surprises at the Annual Meeting. Now for some more specifics.

I have been the Maintenance Director on the board for the last year. Recognized for making significant improvements to the community, philosophical differences with the president and vice president have caused me to tender my resignation in January, effective with the end of the Annual Meeting. The one thing I could not improve during my tenure is the deplorable turf conditions throughout the community. Although it was never voted on (some discussion in passing) select board members have let homeowners know the board has no plans to do anything with turf this year. Since I could not improve the turf conditions while serving, I devised a plan to petition the board to hold a special meeting to discuss and develop a plan to fix the turf issues. Our by-laws require signatures from 25% of homeowners (29 in our case) to submit a petition. I am an over achiever so I secured the signatures of 51% (60 homeowners) to request the board conduct a special meeting to address the plan. I believe it is irresponsible and unacceptable for the board to say they will do nothing this year. I could have gotten more signatures. I knocked on 61 doors and got 60 homeowners to agree that the turf throughout the community looks terrible and they agree the board should hold a meeting to discuss/develop a plan for the way ahead.

I am just a 72-year old retired Army officer with 26 years of service. I am not trying to do anything illegal and the only skin I have in the game is to improve the look of our community. This is not a solution to the problem but rather an attempt to make the board openly communicate with its homeowners, which is something they consistently fail to do as none of the other board members share information with the community. Decisions are routinely made at meetings with very limited homeowners in attendance and no updates posted after-the-fact. Here are some of my questions:

1. Can I submit the petition at the Annual Meeting even though it is not on any agenda?
2. Am I violating anything by submitting the petition as a board member?
3. Can the board vote down the petition because it is not on an agenda.

I know this is a lot. I hope I have made it clear. I am simply trying create awareness and make our board accountable to its membership. Thanks.

I am reading FS 720 for the requirements to get a meeting here. Questions for you:

Is the petition for a Special Meeting of the Board or a Special Meeting of the Owners?

Answer to Question 1:
As for trying to, say, get some kind of vote at the upcoming annual meeting of owners: You are out of luck, since the deadline for notice has passed. Any topic on the agenda must be presented with proper notice. This is so owners can decide whether they want to attend based on the agenda.

Answer to Question 2:
No, as a director you are not violating anything by petitioning for a Special Meeting of either the Board or the owners.

Answer to Question 3:
At the annual meeting of owners, an owner can object to discussing the topic on the petition, on grounds that notice was improper. Any vote on a topic not on the agenda would be null and void, due to improper notice.

Please see FS 720 here:
https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/Chapter720/All

Keyword search FS 720 for phrases like "Special Meeting" and so on.

anything submitted at the meeting for the membership to vote on should not be voted on at that meeting.

This would be due to notice requirements.

If something was submitted and voted on, there would be those in the community unaware of the issue and not informed that a vote was to take place on that issue.

Great job rallying your members to sign a petition!

Assuming the board continues to ignore, I'd also post the petition and signatures on facebook (and/or nextdoor) and create an open moderated group(s) to encourage people to talk politely about this and other issues. There's no reason that civilized people cannot discuss issues online and it creates a public record of the will of the community that is hard to ignore. The board can use their power to control meetings, but they cannot control what people say online. Be sure the online forums do not let people spread gossip or libel others. Board members would be foolish to ignore a polite forum like this. I guarantee the board members who tried to ignore you at the meeting will be up reading your forum in the middle of the night.

You did everything right. You got the signatures, you followed the bylaw threshold, and you resigned rather than stay silent. That is integrity.
To your questions: Florida law generally allows owners to raise matters from the floor at an annual meeting even without agenda placement. Your petition triggers a separate obligation — with 51% of owners signed, the board is on much weaker ground claiming they can simply ignore it. They can delay, but ignoring a majority petition creates real exposure.
You are not violating anything as a departing board member. Your duty runs to the membership, not the president.
Bring the petition in writing. Date and signature count on the face of the document. Hand it to the secretary on the record. If they table it, you have something to work with later.
Good luck on the 19th.

but sending an email notice suffices as notice right?

under Florida Chapter 720, an HOA can send notice by email for an upcoming board meeting or member vote meeting, but only to members who have consented in writing to receive notice by electronic transmission and provided an email address for that purpose. Section 720.303 allows electronic notice for board meetings, committee meetings requiring notice, and annual or special member meetings, and § 720.306 also recognizes electronically transmitted meeting notices.

I am back. First of I want to thank all of you who responded to my original petition question. Our Annual Meeting was conducted on March 19th where I presented the petition requesting a special member meeting for the purpose of discussing a plan to fix the yards throughout the community. The ball now resides in the board’s court. During the meeting another issue arose concerning the election of new board members. Both the VP/Treasurer’s term and the Architectural Committee Chair’s (ACC) term expired on March 19th. The VP/Treasurer was going to re-up and the ACC was not. As Maintenance Chair I submitted my resignation during our January board meeting with an effective date of March 19th. Our bylaws state that board members will be elected at the Annual meeting. In addition, it states the association will provide for self-nomination in advance of the Annual Meeting with the Notice of Intent to be a Candidate Forms mailed to each homeowner at their last known address. The stated forms were never mailed out as they have been I the past, most notedly like they were for the March 2026 Annual Meeting when I was voted in along with two others to fill three positions (one was a re-up of the acting president) that were coming open. This year the CAM and the board decided that it was unnecessary since the VP/Treasurer was going to re-up, and the board internally found a replacement for the ACC (something that is allowed when a vacancy occurs mid-term). They stated my position for maintenance chair was not open since my resignation did not go into effect until 12:01 am on March 19th (a spiteful decision or one supported by legal opinion?).

It appears to me that a violation of the bylaws occurred and the board failed to exercise its fiduciary responsibility to the association members as a result. The maintenance position remains open since the members were unaware I resigned (in the 2 months from January to March the board never made that known) and never invited to submit a Notice of Intent to be a Candidate Form for themselves or someone else.

I have one additional question. While reviewing the Florida Statute it seems that it is unlawful for any association member to send out an email blast to the association’s membership announcing or reminding them of an upcoming meeting. Does the same restriction apply if I have an email address group of say 15 or so friends within the association and I want to share an email I sent to the CAM requesting (1) an explanation as to the failure in sending out the Notice Forms and (2) the way ahead once the board certifies the petition after 5 days?

I know there is a lot to unpack in this post. I appreciate the feedback any of you can offer. It is no wonder HOAs/POAs have such a bad reputation when a board (1) does not communicate with its association members; (2) fails to follow the established bylaws or statutes; and (3) fails to act in the interest of its association membership. Thanks!

For the greater part you violate no law nor bylaw by emailing 15 or so friends who either gave you permission to email them or have not told you to take them off your email list. Under these conditions, you can send them whatever you want pertaining to HOA business that does not violate any confidentiality rules/laws.

Someone here may chime in that it is not cool to use email addresses you obtained while serving as a director. I do not know if this is the case. Regardless, anyone who tries to give you grief on this point should be told that anyone who wants off your email list of friends can get off the list instantly, by asking you not to email them.

For your reference, the courts give a lot of deference to boards when it comes to determining whether a board is acting in the best interests of the owners. I advise focusing on clear violations of either the bylaws, articles of incorporation, Declaration and state law.

Ellen N (Idaho)
Posts 1187

Thank you so much for your responses and detailed questions. I will try to answer as best as possible.

1. I submitted a Notice of Intent to be a Candidate in preparation for the March 2025 Annual Meeting. I received 55 votes from homeowners from an association of 114 homes. More than 51%
2. All board members are elected for a 2-year term.
3. I resigned after serving 1-year effective March 19, 2026, which is the date of our Annual Meeting.
4. Our board has 5 members (president, VP/treasurer, secretary, architectural control committee (ACC) chair, and maintenance director (me). We seem to use the term director and chair to be interchangeable. All serve 2-year terms.
5. Bylaws state that if a board member resigns, falls ill or leaves for any reason during his/her term, the board majority is authorized to appoint a replacement to serve out the remainder of that term.
6. Before each Annual Meeting, the bylaws state that the association is to send out a Notice of Intent to be a Candidate Form to each member of the association, to the last known address, announcing positions that are to become vacant
7. That never happened this year for the VP/Treasurer and ACC positions whose 2-year terms ended.
8. The VP/Treasurer was going to renew (already been in that position for over 11 years) and the board already had a replacement in mind for the ACC (not as per the bylaws)
9. Therefore, it was decided that the bylaws need not be followed
10. Even though off the board as of 12:01 AM on March 19th the president said I could give my report and say whatever I wanted.
11. While this was our Annual Members Meeting, our full board presided at the front (less me who was told to sit in the audience) as we tend to run it like a board meeting
12. After rendering my report, I went into a presentation of the petition with some prepared comments
13. At the conclusion of my comments, I presented the petition to the CAM "on this the 19th day of March 2026 to be entered into the official minutes"
14. Seems we do things a bit squirrelly as the CAM takes the minutes and the secretary just listens, watches, and signs
15. After handing it to the CAM, the president acknowledged the petition by saying they would look at it after certifying the 65 signatures.

I hope I have covered all of your questions and look forward to any feedback you may have. Thanks again.

Chuck.

ElleN,

Thanks again for all your replies. There was objection raised during the meeting as to why the Notice of Intent Forms were never sent out. That has been the established norm for the four years I have lived in this community. Residents complained they were not aware of the positions open for election since the Notices were not sent out like in past years. The CAM responded that it was not necessary since they only had 2 vacancies and 2 residents (one incumbent renewing for another term and the board selected ACC replacement) who showed interest. In addition, as a new CAM that just went under contract in January (the board 86'd the CAM they had for the past 12 years) she opined that she does things differently. There was never any intent to sue. There are some disgruntled residents that are considering a petition to recall the president as this is but one of the many dictator-like decisions he has made and continues to make. He ignores homeowner inputs and fails to communicate with the association members he was elected to serve. While our bylaws provide for recall without cause, this is just another brick in the wall to be used as justification. Thanks again.

I used the word renewed. Not sure you can say he ran for re-election since no election occurred. The CAM stated it was unnecessary with 2 vacancies and 2 applicants. While people challenged the Notices not going out, no one bothered to ask how she knew no one else was interested. Wait, as a matter of fact, one lady did ask and it was just sort of side stepped. The problem with POAs is that most people are sheep that complain but never really take action. It si a significant event to get people to attend meetings much less read the bylaws of statute. I got 65 signatures on the petition. I would day 30 people showed up to the meeting. Of those 30, I would say that no more than 10 of them signed the petition. So, even though it was noted by all 65 that I was presenting the petition, only 10 bothered to show.

As for the question you asked 3 times that I did not answer, I must apologize because I do not see one.

Just a note about emails and FS 720. In Florida, the emails of members who have consented to receive electronic mail are part of the official records of the association. Any member can fill out a records request and receive a copy of the the email list for those who have consented to receive emails of official notices. The association has to provide the list or allow the member to copy (and can charge for copies) of the list. At that point, the association can't control what the member does witht the email list. Any member who obtained the list through a records request could email the whole list with a reminder about a meeting or anything else and it's not illegal.

The difference is that the association may maintain a list of emails of people of more people than just those who signed an electronic consent. A lot of people asked to be "put on the email list" but with a different, or additional, email than the one in the records request. The association does not have to have to disclose all those additional emails.

Most people don't know they can legally obtain the association mailing list, which is a good thing. Electronic consent has made the election process, the annual meeting, and the governing document change process immensely easier than it used to be. I'd hate to see people withdraw their electronic consent because they are being spammed by other members.

Several of these rules are a result of statute sections.

FS 720.306 (3) states in part:
Business conducted at a special meeting is limited to the purposes described in the notice of the meeting.

FS 720.306 (6) states:
RIGHT TO SPEAK.—Members and parcel owners have the right to attend all membership meetings and to speak at any meeting with reference to all items opened for discussion or included on the agenda. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the governing documents or any rules adopted by the board or by the membership, a member and a parcel owner have the right to speak for at least 3 minutes on any item. The association may adopt written reasonable rules governing the frequency, duration, and other manner of member and parcel owner statements, which rules must be consistent with this subsection.

One reason for these laws is to ensure that all owners know in advance what will be discussed at the meeting, whence they can make an informed decision whether they want to attend. Remember that all owners have a legal interest in the operation of the HOA and corporation. Hence proper notice is important. Abiding by all else that the statute says is important.

One reason the Association President needs to be able to cut people off is if they violate the statute section; become disruptive in the way they deliver their comments; or start defaming someone.

I advise at least skimming through FS 720.306 Meetings of Members... See https://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0720/Sections/0720.306.html