Voting Procedural Question - Pets

I am a new (less than 6 months) volunteer Board Member/Secretary for a 14 building condo. I have a situation and would like some advice on how to handle it.

I live in a Pet-Friendly 4-unit building and have two "indoor spayed cats" that were approved by the two person board when I bought my unit in 2011. I would like to adopt a rescue kitten and my building neigbors are ok with me getting another cat. Should I have my neighbors (one of them is also a board member) sign something that that are ok with me having 3 cats and bring this to the Board Meeting?

Regarding the next meeting, the President told me the exception request needs to be voted on by the board. We have a 5 member board. Do I abstain from voting? If I don't vote, it will most likely be a tie. Doesn't a tie mean "no"? Or how in the Condo world are ties broken? I want to adopt another cat but as a responsible pet owner and responsibile Board Member, I want to do this right. Unfortunately, our Condo President and her VP are two peas in a pod who will vote no just because they can.

Any assistance with this question would be appreciated.

Thanks
Cathleen

It's always good to bring statements from neighbors and anyone else that may be affected by the issue. This minimizes second guessing by the Board that neighbors will have problems if you do this.


In my opinion, yes, as there is a clear conflict of interest.


A tie means that the motion fails to pass.
Depending on the wording of the motion a tie may mean yes or no.


You could request that the issue is taken to the membership.
You lobby and bring the issue up again once you have support.

NOTE: If the limitation on number of pets is in the CC&Rs, then the Board would have zero authority to grant a waiver unless the CC&Rs gives them that authority.

Cathleen, Tim is correct to state that a tie means the motion fails. This is the rules in all kinds of organizations, not just HOAs. If the motion is to permit Cathleen XX in Unit xx to have 3 cats and the vote is a tie, it doesn't pass. Often this rule about ties isn't in our own HOA documents, but you can find it in Robert's Rules of Order.

You don't get to vote on this matter unless the board permits your vote because you have a "conflict of interest." You would benefit differently than anyone else in your HOA so it would be very difficult for you to vote to prohibit another cat.

You talk about your rules and your bylaws limiting pets, is it actually your "rules," or your declaration (CC&Rs). As a board member, you should learn about what your governing documents say--it's important. If your CC&Rs say no more than one pet, the Board has no authority to permit 2 or 3.

No document should conflict with another. If there is a conflict then the document that has control (must be complied with) is based on the following precedence:

Federal Laws
Federal Regulations
State Laws
State Regulations
County Codes
City Ordinances
Declaration of Covenants Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs)
Articles of Incorporation
Bylaws
Resolutions (which include additional rules and regs adopted by the Board)

You must read each applicable section completely as often, especially in the case of Corporate laws, the higher precedent document may defer to a lower precedent document.

On our board, the president only votes if there is a tie. It is my understanding that is in Roberts' Rules of Order. That would solve your issue.

I do think that you need to be very familiar with your community's rules and make sure that another pet is allowed. And, if so, it would definitely help to have the blessing of the other homeowners.