Q I am on the board of a condominium association. A majority of the board members desire for one director to step down. We have 12 units, and 11 of them were either willing to meet at a proposed date for a board meeting. The sole person who refused the proposed meeting date was the director that we would like to step down. The majority of the members of the board, together with the condo management company, requested that said director provide an alternate date for the special meeting of the board. The director in question refused to give a date and said that he would get back to us in two weeks. We're concerned that the director in question will continue to stall and in the meantime he is sending aggressive emails, pestering other board members, etc. What can we do?

—Anxious in Altamonte Springs

A “According to Jay Steven Levine, Esquire, founder of the Jay Steven Levine Law Group in Boca Raton, what is being described is a recall under F.S. 718.112(2)(j). The condominium statute provides that a director may be recalled and removed from office with or without cause by the vote or agreement in writing by a majority of all of the voting interests in the condominium. Under your situation, seven (7) voting interests must effect the recall. We typically prefer the method whereby owners execute a petition/agreement, rather than having the owners behind the recall actually notice and hold a special membership meeting. The form agreement may be obtained from the website of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Under this format, the owners behind the recall would provide the petition/agreement to the owners and request that the owners of each unit sign the recall petition/agreement. If the association utilizes voting certificates, whereby multiple or corporate owners choose the voting member for the unit, the recalling group must ensure that the proper voting member signs the recall petition/agreement.

“Once the recalling group obtains a sufficient number of signatures, the petition/agreement would be served upon the registered agent of the association by certified mail or by service by sheriff or process server. Once the board receives the petition/agreement, the board must notice and hold a meeting of the board within five (5) full business days after the receipt of the agreement in writing. At the meeting, the board could certify the recall, at which time the director is deemed removed. Thereafter, the recalled director must turn over to the board in five (5) full business days any and all records or property of the association in the director’s possession.

“As you can see from the foregoing, the director who is being sought for recall cannot prevent the recall so long as the majority of the voting interests agree to the recall.”