What should an HOA board do when a board member is arrested or charged with a crime?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 11, 2026

When an HOA director is arrested or charged: what TX, FL and CO law requires, a voluntary leave versus removal, protecting accounts, and what to tell owners.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

An arrest is not a conviction, and in most cases no law takes a director off the board because police filed a charge. The board's first job is smaller. Confirm the charge from a public record, protect the association's money and records if the charge touches them, decide whether the director should step back from duties connected to the charge, and say very little in public. Florida removes directors for a short list of charges tied to the association. Texas acts on convictions, not charges. Colorado has no automatic rule. The usual case is not embezzlement. It is a drunk driving arrest, a fight with a neighbor, or a charge that has nothing to do with the community but ends up on the local news. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents. This guide is general education, not legal advice. Talk to the association's attorney before the board votes.

What Texas, Florida and Colorado law says

Texas. Property Code section 209.00591(b) applies once there is a conviction. If the board is shown written, documented evidence from a database or other record kept by a government law enforcement authority that a director was convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude within the past 20 years, the director is immediately ineligible, automatically considered removed, and barred from serving again. A pending charge does not trigger it. Otherwise, Business Organizations Code 22.211 leaves removal to the bylaws or, if they are silent, to the people who elected the director. Property Code 209.00593(a) lets the board fill an open seat for the rest of the term. Florida. Section 720.3033(4)(a) says a director or officer charged by information or indictment with any of five crimes must be removed and the seat declared vacant: forging a ballot envelope or voting certificate in an association election, theft or embezzlement of association funds or property, destroying or refusing inspection of official records in furtherance of a crime, obstruction of justice, or any criminal violation of chapter 720. While the charge is pending, the person can't serve on any association board or see association records without a court order, and is reinstated for the rest of the term if the case ends without a finding of guilt or a guilty or no contest plea. A charge outside that list, such as an assault or a DUI, removes no one. A felony conviction does: under 720.306(9)(b), a person convicted of a felony is not eligible for board membership until their civil rights have been restored for at least 5 years. Colorado. Nothing in the Common Interest Ownership Act removes a director for a charge or a conviction. Section 38-33.3-303(8) lets the owners remove any director with or without cause by 67 percent of those present and entitled to vote at a meeting with a quorum, except declarant appointees and seats elected by a class vote.

Match the response to the charge

Sort the charge into one of three groups. - Charges about the association. Missing dues money, a forged ballot, records shredded before an audit. This is the urgent case. Change bank signers and passwords the same day, and in Florida follow 720.3033(4) to the letter. Our guide on what to do when an HOA treasurer takes association money covers the insurance notice and proving the loss. - Charges that touch people the director deals with as a board member. An assault on a neighbor, a charge involving a child when the director runs the pool committee or the youth events, a protective order that names another owner. The director usually keeps the seat, but should give up the duties that put them in contact with those people. - Charges with no link to board work. A DUI, a business dispute, a case in another state. Most boards take no formal action, beyond asking the director not to speak for the association about it. For the middle group, the board's tool is the officer title. Texas BOC 3.104(a), Florida 617.0842(2) and Colorado 7-128-303(4) each let the board remove an officer with or without cause, subject in Texas and Colorado to the governing documents. Committee chairs can usually be changed the same way.

The first week, step by step

1. Confirm the charge. Look the case up on the county court or clerk's website, or ask the director. Write down the court, the case number and the charge as filed. Don't act on a neighborhood post or a screenshot of one. 2. Talk to the director. A short call from the president and one other director is enough. Many people facing a charge would rather step back for a while, and some resign. A written resignation ends the question. 3. Lock down access if the charge touches money, ballots or records. Remove the person from bank signers and online banking, reset shared passwords, and collect keys and fobs to the office or records room. Call the agent who wrote the crime or fidelity policy and ask what notice the policy requires. Florida 720.3033(5) requires that coverage for everyone who controls or disburses association funds. 4. Meet in executive session with the attorney. Texas 209.0051(c) allows a closed session on personnel, threatened litigation, attorney communications and owner privacy. Colorado 38-33.3-308(4)(c) names investigative proceedings concerning possible or actual criminal misconduct, and 308(5) requires the chair to announce the topic first. Florida 720.303(2)(b) covers meetings with the attorney on pending litigation and on personnel. Ask the attorney whether the charged director should attend. 5. Vote in the open meeting. Texas requires decisions made in executive session to be summarized in the minutes in general terms. Put any officer removal or accepted leave on the record in one plain sentence. 6. Criminal cases take months. Check the court record before each board meeting.

Wording the board can copy

Motion to remove an officer: 'Moved, that [name] is removed as [treasurer] effective immediately, that [director] serves as acting [treasurer] until the board elects a successor, and that [director] and [director] are authorized to update the signers and online access on all association accounts.' Motion accepting a voluntary leave: 'Moved, that the board accepts [name]'s written request to step back from board duties until [date] or the end of the pending matter, whichever comes first; that during this period [name] will hold no officer position, serve on no committee, and have no access to association accounts or owner records; and that the board will review this arrangement at its [month] meeting.' A leave has no legal effect on the seat. The person is still a director, so check how your bylaws count a quorum before you rely on the remaining members to make one. Note to owners, if anyone asks: 'The board is aware of a pending legal matter involving a board member. The board has taken steps so that association business, funds and records are not affected. Because the matter is before a court, the board will not comment on it further.'

A sample timeline

- Day 0: An owner emails the president a news link saying the vice president was arrested after a fight at the pool with another resident. - Day 1: The president finds the case on the county clerk's site. The charge is misdemeanor assault. The president and the secretary call the vice president, who agrees to step back from the pool committee and the officer role. - Day 3: A 30 minute call with the attorney, who confirms the bylaws give the board power over officers. - Day 10: Regular board meeting. Five minutes in executive session, then an open vote accepting the leave and naming an acting vice president. The minutes record the vote and nothing about the charge. - Each month after: The secretary checks the court record before the meeting. - Month 5: The case is dismissed. The board votes to end the leave. If the case ends in a conviction instead, go back to the state rules above. Texas removes on a felony or moral turpitude conviction, Florida on a felony, and Colorado only by bylaw or owner vote.

What to say, and what to keep out of print

Say less than you want to. Telling owners a director committed a crime, when the director has only been charged, invites a defamation claim that the association pays to defend. - One person speaks for the board. Our guide on how an HOA board should respond to a reporter has a holding statement. - Keep it out of the newsletter, the community Facebook group and email threads that copy owners. - Never name an alleged victim who lives in the community, even if everyone already knows. - Write executive session minutes for a reader who might be a judge. Record what the board decided, not what directors suspect.

Mistakes boards make

- Declaring a seat vacant by board vote with no statute or bylaw behind it. Every vote taken while that is challenged is open to question. - Doing nothing about bank access because the charge seems unrelated. If there is any chance it involves association money, change the signers first and sort out the rest later. - Treating every charge the same. A DUI and a theft of reserve funds do not call for the same response. - Forgetting the Florida reinstatement. If the charge ends without a guilty finding or plea, the person goes back to the board for the rest of the term, and the appointee has to step aside. - Ignoring a conviction. In Texas, once the board has the government record in hand, the removal is automatic. Record it at the next meeting and fill the seat.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

More on dues & money

Or browse all hoa dues, fees & money guides.