We had the opposite thing happen in our neighborhood. Our HOA threatened to build Section 8 in the middle of our neighborhood if we didn’t pay one of their buddies 3 times the market value of a piece of land that he had bought and turned out to be a bust in this soft economy.
Our smart neighbors were livid, but they got the votes they needed and about $600k for the property which we will now have to maintain as a park.
Does anyone know if this illegal?
You might also try looking through your states website. States have HOA Guidelines for the Covenants, Declarations, bylaws and rules & regulations for all HOA communities.
I can't tell you much more other than from time to time all HOA communities must review and update their HOA bylaws, rules and regulations, etc. to conform to the state HOA guidelines because over time some of the original agreements become no longer valid or are modified by the state officials.
Finally, your HOA usually has a Lawyer they use for HOA problems from time to time. As long as you pay your dues are paid up to date and you are in good standing... that Lawyer has to answer your questions regarding any legal matters of your subdivision including the possibility that the HOA is not acting in the accordance with their guidelines as elected representatives. Potentially, you could get those members ejected from the Board and replaced by a vote and use the lawyer being retained to help you achieve it. The lawyers is supposed to advise the membership's representatives but you also have access to them.