President of an HOA for the last 3 years.. Board for 6 (until last week.. FINALLY resigned, and it's already going to crap)
While it is true that state law requires involvement of the members by default, there is no solid definition as to what that number is. I know of one HOA that can amend the By-Laws and CC&R's with a majority vote of a quorum of 10% (in person or in proxy). 250 homes, lets say 50 are in arrears, so they can't vote = 200 homes. A quorum outlined in the by-laws is 10%, so 20 people needed for quorum. All you need is 11 people to vote in favor of the change and you have it.. 11 people out of 200 that can make that change.
Also, common areas are usually not governed under the CC&R's, and the By-Laws are just about powers and rights The board can typically create a "rule" about use of the common areas. Dog's on a leash, no open containers, no GUNS, speed limit 8mph etc.
I agree, perform due diligence before making that choice. It looks like he already bought, so his DD period has expired. If he was not given a copy of the governing docs, then he has a legal case against the title company, not the HOA.
That's pretty much an impossibility under most Association Bylaws and State Law regulating HOA's/
Condo Associations.
I sat on a HOA board for a while and they aren't legally allowed to vary from the original HOA declaration and Bylaws without involvement of the members.
Board Members can sometimes be a-holes and annoy their membership but they usually get their "you know whats" whacked pretty hard by the others when they expose the Association to legal liability. Remember, ALL the members have to pay for any damages a court may award.
As a final note, it would pay for one to carefully read the CC'R's and Association Bylaws before buying in. It's too late to discover something you don't like and try and change it after the fact. In WA State, a copy of the CC'Rs and bylaws have to be provided a prospective purchaser in advance and with sufficient time to read, before a sale can be consummated.