Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Re: secret exclusion from HOA board

If your attorney mistakenly informed the management firm that you were a convicted felon then their stating that is not their fault unless they had knowledge that that linformation was wrong. You need your attorney to clear up their mistake. You also need to find out on what basis a convicted felon could be excluded from the Board as I doubt your CC&R's say that.

One obvious problem is what damages have you suffered? What economic loss occurs from your not being on the Board? I would first try to straighten out the misinformation and then later consider whether it is worth while to sue anyone and then find out if you have any legal basis to do so.

Re: secret exclusion from HOA board

First and foremost, your property management company should not be running your board of directors nor your HOA. There are there solely in a support capacity, and if the Board has delegated too much of its authority to the PM company, then they have breached their duty to the members of the HOA.

You may have an action for defamation, but defamation is a hard case to prove. You need to review the facts with a plaintiff's attorney in your area before taking any action. In terms of being elected to the board, you need to campaign at the next election, and refute whatever those trying to keep you off the board have said about you.

Do your Bylaws or CC&Rs have a prohibition against convicted criminals serving on the board? I don't ever recall seeing this, except in the role of a financial officer. Either way, your options are probably to investigate a defamation lawsuit against the PM company and/or the Board of Directors, and to campaign like crazy for the next election.

*Due to the limitations of the LawGuru Forums, The Gibbs Law Firm, APC's (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided is general and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.