The owners of property in Captain's Cove, A Property Owner's Association on Virginia's Eastern Shore, petition the VA legislature to strengthen and expand consumer protections.
Captain's Cove has been under Developer control for more than 50 years. The developer controls the Board and staff, and leaves property owners with no say in how much our dues are, how our dues are spent, or how our community is run. This allows the possibility of violations of fiduciary duty and provides an opportunity for possible fraud. Changes to Virginia laws are necessary to protect its citizens. At a minimum, we petition the Virginia Legislature to improve protections for property owners by:
1- Providing rigorous requirements to assure that board elections are fair, honest, and transparent. Requiring independent election inspectors to handle every aspect of Board elections including determining eligible voters, determine the number of votes for each member, collect ballots, handle questions and resolve disputes related to elections, count ballots and report results in a public meeting. Requiring that voting rights of property owners cannot be removed for any reason other than no longer owning property. These requirements are consistent with the national bipartisan Uniform Community Interest Ownership Act and have been implemented in numerous other states.
2- Granting expanded authority to the Office of the Common Interest Community Ombudsman. Granting the Ombudsman the responsibility to arbitrate complaints of violation of Association's organizing documents and fiduciary duties by HOA/POA Boards and Developers. This would reduce expensive and lengthy court cases that cost everyone too much money.
​3- Setting standards for consistent, appropriately detailed, monthly financial reporting to members.
These changes will be a strong step forward towards protecting Virginia property owners and will reduce the appearance of impropriety and reduce potential and actual fraud.