For Arizona newsrooms: an HOA board voted to hand one person control of all legal decisions

I am an Arizona homeowner offering newsrooms a documented, ongoing story: a real, current example of an HOA board voting to hand litigation and legal decision-making authority to a single officer, rather than the board as a body, in a way that does not appear to be supported by the association's own bylaws — following a three-year pattern in which the same HOA's management company already took unauthorized legal action once before, without the board's knowledge or a vote.

What happened

I am the authorized representative for my wife, the owner of a lot in the McClellan Meadows Community Association in Coolidge, Arizona. In 2023, our management company, AAM, LLC, and our then-Board President retained outside counsel and issued a legal position in the Association's name — asserting that Board member emails are not “business records” under Arizona law — without a vote of the full Board and without the rest of the Board's knowledge. I later obtained written confirmation directly from AAM's Vice President that this determination was made only by “the Board President and Management,” not the Board acting as a body, and our current community manager separately confirmed, after reviewing years of Board records, that no vote or written consent authorizing this action ever occurred.

At our August 13, 2026 open Board meeting, rather than correcting that history, the Board adopted a resolution granting the Board President standing, ongoing authority to act as sole liaison to the Association's attorney on all legal matters going forward — removing the rest of the Board from future legal decisions entirely. I objected live at the meeting, citing the specific Bylaws provisions at issue, and the resolution was adopted regardless. I have since completed a full, section-by-section review of the Association's governing documents and found no provision that supports this resolution being adopted by an ordinary Board vote.

Why this matters beyond one dispute

Arizona enacted two HOA transparency laws this year, both effective September 12, 2026: SB1290, which bars HOA boards from taking action during closed portions of meetings, and HB4011, which requires HOA boards to exercise their discretionary powers reasonably, neutrally, and without favoritism. I believe what happened in my community illustrates a real-world way the intent behind both laws can be circumvented — not through a closed-session vote, but through an open-session vote that permanently removes future legal decisions from public view entirely, and that was adopted in the specific context of an active, single-homeowner dispute.

I have reached out to the prime sponsors of both bills — Senator Janae Shamp, prime sponsor of SB1290, and Representative Beverly Pingerelli, prime sponsor of HB4011 — to ask for their assistance in bringing this documented example to public attention.

What I can provide

I have a complete documentary record, including:

• A full audio recording and transcript of the August 13, 2026 meeting;
• Written admissions from the management company regarding the 2023 unauthorized action, in the records archive;
• A section-by-section analysis of the Association's Bylaws — see the Board Watch briefing; and
• The full three-year correspondence history underlying this dispute.

I would welcome the opportunity to speak with any journalist and share this documentation.

This pitch reflects the independent review and opinion of a McClellan Meadows homeowner. It is not legal advice.