A.K. from Lee County, Florida writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
Our board president is a paid employee of the management company that runs our community. Is this legal?
Mister Condo replies:
A.K., I am not an attorney and offer no opinion on the legality of anything. I will say that it is unusual and a clear conflict of interest to have anyone on your Board who is also a paid employee of any vendor, especially the management company. How could they possibly act in the best interest of the association when they are drawing a paycheck from the vendor managed by the association? The lone exception to this might be when an association is in the developer transition phase when the “Board” is largely functioning on behalf of the developer and/or their agents, which would include the management company. If your association has already transitioned away from developer control and is completely autonomous, I can’t think of any reason for a member of the Board to be employed by any vendor of the association. Like I said, it would create a clear conflict of interest. All the best!
Not good and not allowed. Condo board membership must be pure and voluntary. … “Florida statute chapters 718, 719, and 720 currently all expressly provide that directors serve without compensation unless their membership votes to allow it,”