Source: https://andysirkin.com/ccr-amendment-replacement/homeowners-associations-hoa-faqs-part-2/
Timestamp: 2017-05-30 12:53:59
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Homeowners Associations (HOA) FAQs (Part 2)
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By Andy Sirkin (Part 2 of 3)	Previous: Click here to read part 1 of this article…
Increasing regular assessments more than 20% except in emergency circumstances (defined as an extraordinary expense required by an order of a court, necessary to alleviate a threat to personal safety, or
necessary for a repair that could not have been reasonably foreseen by the board);
Questionable action should be reviewed by an attorney. If the action could have a significant impact on one or more owners, it is wise to get awrittenopinion of counsel before taking action upon which the board can rely in the event of a legal challenge. A legal opinion may protect the board from liability for an erroneous decision by allowing it to assert reasonable reliance on the advice of counsel as a defense. But remember that the failure of an association to follow the advice of counsel or its own internal decision-making procedures will make inappropriate action vulnerable to a legal challenge.
When a group of owners, acting independently from the board, wishes to convene a special meeting, they must send a written request to the board chairman (if any), president, vice president, or secretary, and that person isrequiredto notify all of the owners of the meeting within 35-90 days of the request. The date of the special meeting is set by the board.
Decisions made at an owner meeting held without proper notice are valid only if all of the following are true: (i) enough owners (a “quorum”) were present to allow decisions to be made at a properly noticed meeting, (ii) none of the owners at the meeting objected to the improper noticeat the beginning of the meeting, and (iii) every owner who did not attend the meeting signs a waiver of notice or an approval of the meeting minutes.
Generally, at a regular owner meeting, the ownerscanvote on matters not mentioned in the meeting notice. An exception applies when less than 1/3 of the voting power is present. At a special owner meeting, the ownerscannotvote on matters not mentioned in the meeting notice.
When interpreting voting requirements in governing documents or in the law, it is important to pay close attention to wording. When a matter requires the approval of a specified percentage, or the majority, “of all owners” or “of the total voting power of the association”, it means that the voting power cast for approval must be measured against the total voting power of all ownersincluding those who did not cast votes. When a matter requires the approval of a specified percentage, or a majority, “of the owners” (i.e. without using the word “all”), or “of the votes cast”, it means that the voting power cast for approval is only measured against the total voting power cast.
In an election of directors using cumulative voting, each owner is allowed to cast a total number of votes equal to the number of directors to be elected, and may combine or “cumulate” those votes in any way he/she wishes. Thus if there are five seats on the board to be filled at the election, each owner will be entitled to five votes, but will not be required to vote for five candidates. As an alternative to casting one of his/her votes for each of five candidates, an owner can cast five votes for one candidate, or three votes for one candidate and two votes for another, and so on. The purpose of cumulative voting is to give each owner a stronger likelihood of electing at least one or two directors who share his/her views. The law allows cumulative voting only if it is specifically authorized in the governing documents.
If the governing documents provide for cumulative voting, a director can be removed only if the total number of votes of the ownersopposingremoval, if cumulated and all cast in favor of the director, would be insufficient to elect him/her;
Owners are entitled to attend all board meetings except Emergency Board Meetings (as described above) and executive sessions. The board is permitted to hold an executive session only to discuss litigation, contracts with non-owners, the?formation of contracts with third parties, owner discipline, personnel matters, or to meet with an owner regarding the payment of assessments. If only part of the meeting will be an executive session, owners may attend the remainder. Any gathering (including a conference telephone call) where a majority of directors discuss any item of business scheduled to be heard by the board is considered a director meeting, and triggers owner notice and attendance rights.
Owners must be permitted to speak at all board meetings except executive sessions, but the board may establish a reasonable time limit for owner speeches.
Next: Click here to read part 3 of this article…