We hear quite often today that "everyone wants it" or that "the majority rules". This is an important issue, especially in the smaller HOAs of under 100 members. Any minority group, in the sense of less than 50% of the members, is labelled as "trouble-makers" and that they should abide by the wishes of the majority. "It's the American way", we are told.

The answer the question, "Should majority rule prevail in an HOA?", is not so simple. In general, the answer is "yes" provided that the rights of the minority are not interfered with or denied. In other words we are talking about fairness, justice, equal treatment for all.

For example, is it fair to decide that certain large trees would not be maintained by the association, yet a smaller, flowering tree would be maintained (a real, live issue at one HOA, assuming that it is permitted under the CC&Rs, which it is not). Those members with a flowering tree should not vote. This should be a vote for only those members "paying the penalty" and are affected by the outcome, because it's basically an unjust and unfair proposition whereby certain rights would be denied to them and not to others.

As I state on my internet site:

"An HOA must be a government under law, whereby the Board governs according to known and fixed laws."

The Founding Fathers knew of this problem and the problem of justice within smaller democracies like an HOA. The "tyranny of the majority" was an important concern for them, for if this did indeed occur then the "unalienable rights" of certain members, the minority members, would be denied. Therefore, the Declaration of Independence states:

"...that to secure these [unalienable] rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their JUST powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends [securing these rights], it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it ..."

Pretty strong stuff! It is simply a reminder that the HOA Board is here TO SERVE ALL OF ITS MEMBERS IN A JUST AND FAIR MANNER. Is the proposition and the vote fair? Needless to say that, if a Board is abusive and corrupt, the means of rederessing the issue, especially by members in the minority, must be made available. If the Board can't be altered, it must be abolished!

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George Staropoli, Moderator
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