Q. I live in a small HOA, and our same board has been in place for over a decade. We hold annual elections as per our governing documents, but we can’t get anyone else in the building to serve, and none of us can step down because our governing documents mandate a minimum number of board members. A couple of us are nearing retirement age, and want to hand our administrative duties over to the younger residents. We can’t force anyone to be on the board, but with so few people in the association, how will we function if nobody else steps up to do their part? 

                                      —Ready to Retire

A. “First,” says Gary M. Daddario, partner at Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks in Merrimack, New Hampshire, “I advise board members to take it as a significant compliment when their community is apathetic. While that isn’t a great quality for community members, it’s actually the biggest vote of confidence that a condominium board ever gets. When owners have concerns, any concerns at all, about how the board is performing, they will be there to make sure you know it. So if all is quiet, take some comfort in the fact that your community is very satisfied with your performance. Of course, that doesn’t solve your problem of getting new people on the board. To that end, I have several recommendations:

“Have board members announce resignation dates that offer a safe leeway by being set months into the future. Explain the need for an election of replacement board members and ask for candidates. The subtle difference here is the formal identification of the resignations and the community being placed on notice that you are no longer gently seeking participation and, instead, that they need replacements—period. This might motivate folks who otherwise would be willing to test the limits of how long the current board members will be held ‘hostage’ to the role. 

“Some residents might be shying away for fear of the unknown. You could try telling people that candidates are welcome to ‘train’ with the current board members between now and when the resignations take effect and that new board members will receive all the relevant information, documentation, and instruction they need to get started. 

“If you find that you need to get really aggressive, you could send a memo to the community explaining the consequences of the association having no board. Those consequences could range from a cease of operations (no maintenance, no projects, no bills getting paid, etc.) all the way up to a concerned owner seeking the appointment of a court-appointed receiver. I have seen courts appoint receivers where a board is dysfunctional or non-existent. It isn’t pretty. The receiver has no personal ties to anyone in the association, and will objectively review the property, as well as any work needed on it, and then simply assess owners as necessary to fund anything that must be done. I’ve seen significant numbers of owners end up in collections for inability to pay a court-appointed receiver’s assessments. Further, the association will also be billed for the receiver’s time and services. Boards who explain this to their community as a last resort will typically turn up some candidates, even if begrudgingly so. 

“Best of luck with navigating a successful transition.”