Voting question

Our HOA in Orlando FL has 1002 units and we are passing an amendment to the By_laws which requires 50% of the membership to approve. We have 50 units which are 90 days delinquent or more and we have suspended their voting rights. FL 720 says the voting members suspended do not count towards any number needed for quorum, elections, etc. Does that mean we now just need 50% of 952 units not 1002 units to pass our new bylaws?

You need to check with your county to make sure you're following your county laws for changing bylaws. In our county, we have to have 75% of legal homeowners votes to change Bylaws. Our last BOD changed the Bylaws; even paid for an attorney to "approve the changes", then recorded them, unknowing about county law. However, our county has a law that says that it is illegal to change the Bylaws of an HOA without 75% of the voting membership approval of the new changes. I would check your county's rules to see if they don't have similar laws or rules.

I believe Leo is correct in his initial assessment.

The suspension of a voting right prevents that interest from being considered for ANY purpose, including a quorum, an election, or the votes required to approve an action.

i.e. Lots who have had their voting interest suspended essentially 'no longer exist' during the suspension period.

Thus they are not included in determining the amount of votes (%) need to cause any action.

Here's the actual statute verbage:
"A voting interest or consent right allocated to a parcel or member which has been suspended by the association may not be counted towards the total number of voting interests for any purpose, including, but not limited to, the number of voting interests necessary to constitute a quorum, the number of voting interests required to conduct an election, or the number of voting interests required to approve an action under this chapter or pursuant to the governing documents."

Peter,

Based on your interpretation, a rouge board could suspend the voting rights of most of the membership and then amend the CC&Rs. Example:

100 lots, board suspends voting privileges of 80 lots.
CC&Rs require 2/3 to amend.

2/3 of 20 = 14 vote needed to amend the CC&Rs.

I don't think that this was the intent of that passage. I interpret it to also be dependent on the language used for required passage:

x% of membership = the entire membership irregardless of voting rights
x% of members entitled to vote = only those who have voting rights
x% of voting interest = only those who have voting rights
x% of votes cast = only the number of valid ballots received
x% of members present at meeting = only those who have voting rights (based on statute)

Peter,

Obviously I was taking an extreme to make a point.

To respond to your question, Not having read all of FL laws, if voting privileges can be suspended only for nonpayment of assessments, then it would be difficult. If voting privileges can be suspended for covenant violations, it could be possible to minimize those who may vote against a proposal.

However, my point is adopting an amendment is also dependent on the language used for required passage and, depending on that language, that section of the statute might not fully apply. Yes the voting rights could be suspended and those lots would not count toward a quorum but if the language calls for x% of the membership vs. x% of the voting interest (etc. see last post) then you would still need x% of the entire membership for the amendment to be adopted.

Granted, it's likely if someone is behind in assessments that they won't challenge the vote. That wouldn't prevent another or a future owner from challenging it. Therefore, the Association needs to understand and comply with the language within it's documents as well as the language within the statutes.

Prove me wrong.