S.L. from Florida writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
I was being bullied by my board so I ran for the board. I figured if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, and then beat ’em. Once I became a board member, the bullies on the board resigned! The problem is, the bullying by the former condo president got even worse. I stand up to him on a regular basis but it is a very hostile situation. Also, now that I am a board member, I have to be careful. I know he is trying to trick or trap me into doing something questionable. It feels like junior high school and most of the residents are on his side. Fortunately, he is a snow bird and will be leaving soon. That will give me time to decide if I want to continue to live like this. I am a single female age 60 and he is married age 75 and acts like a 12-year-old. If there was some way to stop this, then I could write a book and become very wealthy!
Mister Condo replies:
S.L., I am sorry for your problems with a bullying former Board President. Even as a regular association member, his bullying ways will undoubtedly make your term as President uncomfortable. You are wise to remember that he may very well be trying to trick you into doing something questionable. It is unfortunate that most of the residents are on his side. I wonder why that is. Typically, a bully is seen for what he is and is not popular with the rest of the residents. Perhaps this is just a difficult community. If there is an atmosphere of hostility abounding within the community, I am not sure I would even want to live there, let alone volunteer my time to serve on the Board. That is a conversation you will have to have with yourself if you are going to enjoy your time there as a resident or on the Board. As you mention, he will be leaving soon for the season. I hope you use that time to your advantage and evaluate your future with this community, as a Board member and even as an owner. All the best!
One way a bully can have backing from most owners (whether the bully is on the board or not) is when a unit owner starts trying to resolve longstanding building problems or start reserving for them. Many times unit owners will support anyone whom they feel will fight to continue to keep the condo fees from going up, or not increase by much. Sometimes unit owners don’t realize big assessments could be looming when they least expect it as a crisis and no planned reserving for them,
R.M. is correct. I have a association president that is also a bully…always trying to shut me up. He is well liked in the community, which is mostly snowbirds, because he keeps the fee down. I would leave if I could but the price of real estate is just too high at this time.
And, to S. L. I am in SW Florida and I am 75 year old single female – prime target for a bully. I am sure if I had a man in the house he would not talk to me or treat me the way he does. Management company is no help since when I file a complaint with them they just forward it to him and then I get a scathing email from him. It would be interesting to know where your president is from, mine is from Ohio. A majority of snowbirds owners are also from Ohio. Good luck, I feel your pain.