Any WA based HOAs that have re-written their governing docs regarding quorum of annual meeting?

The subject sort of says it all. I'm looking for other Washington State HOAs that have re-written their governing documents to removethe quorum requirement for annual meeting of the association. I recall a thread here that I read a few days back where this was mentioned in one of the responses as a generally good idea to think about. We suffer from the same lack of homeowner involvement that many others do. I am interested in hearing from any HOA in WA that has taken this route.

thanks!

Yep, I know which parts of what documents need to be revised. I'm mostly interested in talking with someone from WA who has actually done this, to see what pitfalls they encountered.

I know that WA State Law yields to governing documents, but if silent then stipulates quorum for any "meeting of the association" (not BOD meetings).

From our Bylaws, here is the section that deals with annual meetings, and is causing some churn. According to the letter of the law, we would be required to attempt over and over and over to actually hold a meeting that we may not be able to get enough people at to consider it valid.

2.7. Adjournment of Meetings
If any meeting of the Association cannot be held because a quorum is not present, a majority of the Members present at such meeting, either in person or by alternate, may adjourn the meeting to a time not less than Five (5) nor more than Thirty (30) days from the time the original meeting is called. At the reconvened meeting, if a quorum is present, any business which might have been transacted at the meeting originally called may be transacted. If a time and place for reconvening the meeting is not fixed by those in attendance at the original meeting, or if for any reason a new date is fixed for reconvening the meeting after adjournment, notice of the time and place for reconvening the meeting shall be given to Members in the manner prescribed for regular meetings.

Since there is nothing in our governing documents that lets of off the hook, it seems wise to go about changing the governing documents, if we continually have trouble getting enough homeowners to attend or send a proxy.

A 66% quorum is way too high. We started at 25% and than went to 50% ( with a bylaw change) and discovered that was too high and reverted to 33 1/3% and now find that too high and it is a struggle every annual meeting to achieve that quorum. We have different quorum requirements for members meeting ( 33 1/3% and directors meeting (50%) Members for the most part aaren't interested in the affairs of the community unless the Boaard is seeking to raise the dues or there is controversy over some issue. Otherwise they let the Board do it's thing and consequently need to be begged to come to the annual meeting. JI

What size associations is everyone talking about here with these 75%, 50%, even 33% quorum requirements? Ours is set at 10%, and has been since the HOA was incorporated in the mid-70s. But we have a 1500+ membership, and unless someone walks in with a fistful of proxies we seldom come within a hundred of achieving a quorum.

I didn't say there was anything "wrong" with it. I'm aware certain docs can be changed with a majority vote of a quorum. We've done it several times over the years. We do have varying thresholds, though. Some things require a certain percentage majority of the entire membership and not just a majority of a quorum of the members. In other words, we may need a 2/3 majority vote of the entire membership to effect certain changes.

What I'm asking is what size are the associations that have established 50% and 75% thresholds for a quorum. That would be 750 to 1100 people for us. We'd have to hold our meetings in the minor league baseball stadium down the road. It just seems unreasonably high from my perspective and I'm trying to get a feel for the size association that might set such a high bar.

Our HOA is 300 homes, and our "sister" HOA who we are considering merging with is almost the same size. Both have virtually the same governing docs, because we were planned as one big HOA until the developer got in financial trouble and sold off the 2nd half and created a seperate HOA with a "cost sharing agreement" between the two.

Anyway, apathy and all the usual cast of characters has plagued this association for years. We just had our annual meeting last night, and .. surprise surprise... failed to reach a quorum. We had about 10% there.

Our HOA bylaws allow the business of the annual meeting to take place EXCEPT if there is a motion or vote that does require a high threshold or quorum. So we can hear all the reports, pass benign motions and approve the financial report, all done with whomever is there. And, yes, we can hold the elections. So boards have been elected with as little as 30 people there (out of 250 possible votes)

If there is a change in the dues, which the amount is stated in our bylaws, then that vote could not be taken if there was a lack of quorum.

Seems crazy, but that's the only way we could get things done.