amending the way to amend documents

Started by BonnieG1 • 6 replies • 1487 views

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BonnieG1 (Nebraska)
Posts: 1,186

Posted:

Article 6 of our Master Deed (Governing Document) can only be amended by 100% yeah vote and the approval of all first morgagees.
Can we amend this down to requiring 90 or 90% of the vote with the approval of alll first mortgagees.
We are a 43 unit Condominium (established 1981) in Nebraska.
Thanks for any suggestions you may have.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Possibly. You should first check Nebraska Condo laws to see if there are any State laws governing the amount required. If there is no State requirement, then you could amend your documents providing you get the 100% yea votes to amend it.

Click on the Community Associations Network name in the left column (colored yellow) and follow the links to find your State statutes.

As for the first mortgages, I would just send letters to all of them vie certified mail requiring a response if they disagree with the amendment. Since most banks won't bother to respond, it would be considered an approval.

BonnieG1 (Nebraska)
Posts: 1,186

Posted:

thanks, but it is almost impossible to get 100% vote because some owners do not return their proxies.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Almost impossible does not mean it is impossible. It just means that it requires more leg work, like knocking on doors, making phone calls, etc..

If the issue is important enough then people will be willing to do the additional leg work. If no-one wants to do the leg work, perhaps time and energy should be spent on a different issue.

JeanneK3 (Maryland)
Posts: 562

Posted:

I find that people do not send in their proxies because they want the amendment to fail. There needs to be a lot of explaining and communication done up front before the proxies even go out.
Jeanne

PetunkaM (Florida)
Posts: 1,009

Posted:

Bonnie,

This restriction is truly tough. Usually, such amendments used to require consent of super-majority (75%) of all unit owners together with the consent of ‘one mortgagee with the highest aggregate mortgage indebtedness.’ I was told, the mortgagee restriction was there to protect the lenders when a Developer requested a loan to build a property. I have not seen it lately.
To deal with it may not be easy. I would probably start with your friendly bank mortgage department and ask them what can be done now. As to 100% votes? Well, since the amendment you are proposing is less restrictive and it could be beneficial to your community, you may be able to get everyone to sign?

We also had a ‘mortgagee’ restriction and got rid of it about 10 years ago. Our amendments now only require an approval of 75% of all unit owners and even that is not always easy to get.

LarryB13 (Arizona)
Posts: 4,099

Posted:

I found out that in Arizona it is easier to change the state constitution than it is to change our CC&R's. To change the constitution you only need a majority of those who actually cast a vote; to change our CC&R's we need 2/3 of all owners. This makes a non-response a "no" vote.

I would suggest that your proposed amendment require that future proposed amendments include a provision for voting for and voting against and that a failure to vote be considered as abstaining.

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