As with other associations, there should be covenants, conditions, restrictions, regulations, bylaws and rules documenting the mission and how the organization is governed. The governing documents will include information about membership, voting rights, property rights, board of directors, officers and their duties, annual and other meetings, employment conditions and terminations for employees, if any, and so forth.
For example, members might elect a board (or fill rotating vacancies), which then appoints officers. Or the members may elect an "executive director" (or president) who is a member of the board, or the members might directly elect the officers, which collectively become the board.
You can consider that these kinds of associations are essentially private democracies.
Property Owners' Association (similar to Homeowners' Association)
A homeowners association cannot be a mandatory association without the consent of 100% of the property owners in the development attempting to establish an association. In addition to the consent of the property owners, the association must follow certain procedures and file the proper documents in order to subject the property to the association's rule.
This act is apparently the Georgia state 'association' act, enacted in 1994, to address the issues involved in association forms of real property ownership. It is Article 6 of the Property Act, Title 44.
Any association, regardless of its location, is governed by its owners/ investors. Read your governing documents and your state law that governs home owners associations to discover how owners govern in associations.
If you purchased your property subject to the by-laws and rules & regulations of a Homeowner's Association you cannot remove your property from the association. All the other owners have the right to expect that each owner must follow the rules and pay their share in the assessments and maintenance fees. Removing your property from the association would mean that you could not share in any of the benefits of the association, including amenities, roadways, common area parking, trash removal, sewer service, master insurance coverage and so forth. There would be no way to accommodate your property separately from the common elements owned by all owners. As an alternative, you can remove yourself from the association by selling your property to a new owner.
No. The association board members, presumed to be owners in the association, are governed by the CC&Rs, the By-laws and the rules the same way all owners are governed. Often, sadly, board members choose to ignore these agreements that they make with all other owners, especially when they are elected by members. Read your governing documents to determine how to gather owners to collaborate with each other to document rules violations by board members and keep that documentation in board meeting minutes. Sheding light on these issues, sometimes is curative.
PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION is usually the governing body in any housing development. It charges property owners for the maintenance on your property as well as common property shared by all, pools - picnic area's - playgrounds, etc.
"PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION" would apply if what you are buying is land, but you did not specify.
As most home owners associations are written into the deed as a convanant there is no way out but to sell the property.
An assessment lien is a legal claim on an owners property for collateral against delinquent assessments for a homeowners' association. They are provided for in the governing documents of an association.
Once they have been recorded in the land records property deeds cannot be altered.
If the homes are within the provenance of the association, the new owners are automatically members of the association and are required to pay monthly assessments and live in the property according to the governing documents.