Voting in Georgia

Started by JohnS7 • 8 replies • 1827 views

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JohnS7 (Colorado)
Posts: 11

Posted:

We have 75 lots in our development with about 30 absentee owners.

Our HOA has taken to voting on issues without any notification whatsoever to all the lot owners. They will hold a quarterly meeting, raise issues and vote on them i.e. 20 to 10.

The last vote taken involved expenditures with a Landscaping Company involving some $30,000. They approved the contract and allow one board member to control the matter.

I asked for five bids and to re vote on the matter allowing all 75 owners to vote on the issue itself. It was denied and I was told the election with only 30 owners present would stand.

Is this legal?

JulieS (Georgia)
Posts: 412

Posted:

Check your covenants on the voting procedure and requirements set in place. I'm in GA and our documents do not require an association vote for anything except the annual meeting election, special meeting to remove directors, or a 2/3 majority vote to amend the documents.

We just completed a landscaping project at the entrance and someone asked why the community wasn't consulted in the decisions to remove the Leyland cypress. I gave the reasons for removing them...but ultimately, the board is elected to make decisions on behalf of the association.

JohnS7 (Colorado)
Posts: 11

Posted:

Does Georgia have any Laws that regulate HOA's. It seems to me these HOA,s are operating outside the Constitution.

JohnS7 (Colorado)
Posts: 11

Posted:

Posted By JohnS7 on 02/16/2007 7:36 PM

We have 75 lots in our development with about 30 absentee owners.

Our HOA has taken to voting on issues without any notification whatsoever to all the lot owners. They will hold a quarterly meeting, raise issues and vote on them i.e. 20 to 10.

The last vote taken involved expenditures with a Landscaping Company involving some $30,000. They approved the contract and allow one board member to control the matter.

I asked for five bids and to re vote on the matter allowing all 75 owners to vote on the issue itself. It was denied and I was told the results with only 30 owners present would stand.

Is this legal?

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

John, it depends on your By-laws. Most would make it legal if the Board approved it. Usually it would not require a vote of all owners.

JohnS7 (Colorado)
Posts: 11

Posted:

Posted By RogerB on 02/18/2007 4:24 PM

John, it depends on your By-laws. Most would make it legal if the Board approved it. Usually it would not require a vote of all owners.

Even if they raise it at a meeting and allow some 20 to 28 people to vote without any advance notice to the 75 owners. No one knew unless you attended the meeting.

7 months prior at a meeting the owners voted that everyone would cut their own grass along the right of way.

As for the by laws which are confusing to me. I was under the impression you needed a 2/3rds majority. Two thirds would be 50 votes. They only have 20.

If I knew what I know now I never would've become involved with this property. 3 months ago, a board member took out a warrant application for my arrest charging me with criminal harrassment. The Court after looking at my writings dismissed the complaint stating I had every right to ask the questions I was asking. Imagine that being hauled into Court for sending 8 e mails over a 6 month period of time and being charged with criminal harrasment.

I've read a lot of posts on this board, and find these HOA's are not in accordance with Constitutional Law. To be deprived of the right to vote and to be taken to Court with trumped up charges shows these people to be bullys who are operating outside the Law.

JulieS (Georgia)
Posts: 412

Posted:

Read the covenants, thoroughly...this is what the board needs to abide by. Whether the vote is legal or not depends on your by-laws and covenants. They are the first thing you look at and the place you find the answers to your questions. If you need additional information, check link on the right for Community Associations Network and look under GA.

We need a 2/3 majority vote to amend the by-laws & covenants. As for maintenance items and even the budget, we do not need a vote from the community. It is what we were elected to do.

As a member of the association, you have a right to see the books, the right to ask questions, etc. That is also in stated in the covenants/by-laws.

JohnS7 (Colorado)
Posts: 11

Posted:

As far as I can tell from reading these by-laws which are ambiguous, notification is required prior to the meeting about issues to be voted on, and we need a 2/3 majority. There are 75 lot votes.

How can there be a fair vote if no one is notified of the topic to be voted on. They held the election at this meeting for board members, and also voted 20 to 8 approving a landscape budget involving some $30,000. There was no notification of the vote taken, nor was anyone given the opportunity to submit an absentee ballot.

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

John, I suggest your reread your By-laws. The members do all need to be advised when there is a members meeting. And if there is to be a vote on a proposed amendment to the By-laws, election of new Board members, or approval of the annual budget the owners are allowed to vote. Many votes require a simple majority of those voting. Exceptions are amending the By-laws which usually requires 2/3 of the eligible members present at a duly called meeting. To amend the Covenants read your requirements in the Covenants. The Covenants usually state it takes approval of at least 2/3 (or more) of ALL OWNERS to admend.

The expenditure of funds usually only requires approval of a majority of the Board members present at a Board meeting. Usually the members do not vote on selecting contractors and expenditure of budgeted funds. The Board is controlled by the Covenants, the Articles of Incorporation, the By-laws, and by statutes. A member does not have authority to determine what the Board does.

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