Covenant Amendments

Our CCR's state that "this declaration may be amended by (i) the consent of the owners of 2/3 of all lots together with (ii) the approval of the majority of the board. The aforementioned consent of the Owners may be evidenced by a writing signed by the required number of owners at any regular or special meeting of the association called and held in accordance with the Bylaws and evidenced by a certificate of the Secretary of the corporation."

We want to make changes to the covenants yet can't get 2/3 of the owners (we have 749 owners) to attend a meeting. Does anyone think that the section that says "as evidenced by a writing signed by the required number of owners" could be interpreted to allow us to go door to door and get homeowners to read the documents and vote to amend the covenant or vote to retain the original covenant, and sign their names. The secretary could verify that the individual signing the document is indeed a valid member of the association and present the signed documents at a meeting. Any suggestions are appreciated, we are lucky to get 50 members in attendance at our meetings.

Thanks Jeff, we are allowed to use proxies for election of board members so we could probably use those for this issue as well. The wording for amendments was just very different---extremely vague. The board election wording states straight out--you may use a proxy to place your votes--

JeffP6..........where specifically in the Florida Statutes does it tell you the requirements to make an amendmant active?

Sharon,

If your bylaws specifically state proxies may be used only for board elections and do not state any other use then, IMO, they cannot be used for a vote to amend the bylaws. I suggest you read the article on proxies very carefully.

Since your CCRs say the consent "MAY" be "evidenced by a writing signed by the required number of owners", it does NOT have to be done this way. "May" means it can be done but does not have to be done that way. I would suggest the board send a ballot allowing the members to vote "yes" or "no" for each article being amended. The ballot would list each amendment separately with a "yes" and "no" block for each one. The ballot should be returned to the sec by a specific date. Enclose a self-addressed envelope for the member's convenience. Anyone who wishes to cast their vote at the meeting may do so. Then all the ballots are counted and the outcome announced accordingly.