As a person who lives in a COA (condo association), I can tell you that the board's are commonly made up of idiots. Idiots who have NO relevant business experience. Think about it, useful intelligent business people do not usually have time to fool around with a side hustle of COA board management, so that leaves the retired school teachers, retired bureaucrats, bums who live off an inheritance. or dingy housewives.

They spend money like water on useless resident feel good BS in order to win their elections (just like our current politicians). Primarily because most people are dumb as doorstops.

I had a 2 year fight with my board over their useless spending habits and not putting enough money aside for emergencies. I tell them to forecast expenses, properly budget and strive to put aside as much money for emergencies. They ignore my suggestions, and brand me a meanie because I investigated the President of our board. I find she was sued 4 times over fraud, I publish this information and get kicked off of our facebook page for being mean! MEAN! I thought we were adults. MEAN!

What happens in 2 years, management finds out that our pool deck is about to fall through our 5 story garage. Our reserve study was incomplete and short about $500k. Long story to short ending...we get a sob story from the board saying "we don't have enough money to pay for all this, so here is a bill for $2,000 and a monthly dues increase of $150. Thanks for supporting our community."

Had they done what I had suggested 2 years ago, we would have had the money and noone would have been displaced from their homes (20 units had to go on the market as a result of the increase), which has changed our community dynamic.

COA/HOA are full of idiots and there are no laws to protect residents properly.