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How can condo owners remove their president?

Q: What are we, as residents of a small condominium development, to do? Our new president is doctoring minutes of meetings, ignoring the board's decisions and threatening residents with lawsuits. That's just the short version of what's going on. Where can we go for counsel on how to remove him from office or make him follow the rules?

A: Situations like yours "unfortunately are more common than we'd like to admit," says attorney John A. Coe of The Coe Law Group. They sometimes develop, he says, when condos get an unfortunate management combination: a very strong leader and a very weak or apathetic board of directors. A president with dictatorial tendencies is then free to run amok, leaving the homeowners association in disarray.

Coe says associations and boards of directors invariably have very specific powers that are defined in your governing documents, or declarations. Additionally, condo bylaws usually list the officers' duties, as well as how they're elected or removed. "Every bylaws is different, and there's no great uniformity, but typically removal requires a meeting of the membership," Coe explains. The bylaws usually provide the president (or other officer) with the opportunity to answer any charges leveled.

If you go this route, it's very important to read and follow the rules precisely, Coe says, because it's possible "this person is going to fight it. So you want to do everything by the book, give all the notices, hold all the meetings necessary."

Before attempting removal, Coe suggests you make a sincere attempt to resolve the situation amicably. "I'd try to get a neighbor who maybe gets along with him to talk to him about modifying his behavior." Or it might be helpful to bring in a trained mediator; most counties offer such services, often for free. "Removal is certainly your last resort, because once he's out of office he's still your neighbor," Coe points out, and he may then decide to second-guess everything the association does.

Q: I'm intrigued by an e-mail I got from a homebuyer down-payment assistance program that says it offers "amazing same-day funding." It has a $99 fee. What do you know about this?

A: On the surface, this appears to be a program that relies on the seller providing the buyer's down payment. Such programs exist and are legit. It's hard to gauge whether this one is. The nonprofit Community Home Ownership Center (CHOC) is a clearinghouse for down-payment-assistance information. Carol Gipson, CHOC interim executive director, says she's never heard of the specific program you're referencing.

"I'd be very careful about anything where I'm being solicited," she says, adding that the $99 fee would be a red flag for her. Gipson says there are reputable local lenders "who are very familiar with down-payment programs and can explain the terms and guidelines in detail and in person." She suggests you begin with them. Call CHOC at 800-317-2918 or go to www.choc-wa.org for more information about what's available.

Steve Larsen, an attorney with the state attorney general's office and a specialist in high-tech fraud, says there's no comprehensive way to check out Internet spam offers. "What we tell consumers is do your homework." You can start by Googling the firm's name and its phone number. In your case, this turned up almost nothing on the company name. However, a Google search of the phone number turned up an entirely different company — one that when called admitted it was also doing business under another name. "Anytime there's opposing information, you probably want to stay away," Larsen counsels.

Q: Last Sunday, you had an article that mentioned that an entry-level house in Bellevue or Kirkland that was worth $200,000 in 1995 is worth $400,000 today. We live on the Eastside and, according to our real-estate tax statement, our home has been appreciating each year during the past decade, and we've updated it immensely. However, we do not believe it has doubled in value since 1995, and if not, why not?

A: The value the county assessor assigns to your home is for tax purposes only. Don't confuse it with the market value, which is the sales price a willing seller and a willing buyer agree upon. It's very common for the sales price to exceed the assessed value — particularly in the kind of hot market we have now.

Beyond that, real-estate pros say home prices are very location-sensitive and can reflect proximity to schools, shopping and transportation corridors as well as the general condition of the neighborhood. This explains why there's no way to say precisely what your house is worth and how much it's appreciated without knowing the particulars. For that, a real-estate agent can help you. For a ballpark look at how much your home may have appreciated, check out an online calculator The Times has created. You'll find it at seattletimes.nwsource.com/homes.