HOA Once Removed

I live in a HOA governed subdivision in the state of Tennessee. The issue is that the by laws were written when the original developer owned all of the property and people leased their property but owned their modular home. A second developer bought out the first and began building stick built homes and the houses and lot each house is built on is sold and now each lot is individually owned. What is the best approach for editing by laws and getting us out of a situation where we are bound by the original by laws? The original by laws say you can have nothing on your porch, and everything you do on your own property has to be approved by the board etc.

Nancy,

The best way is to involve the community by making a rewrite committee. Have the committee propose a draft to the Board. Have the Board amend the draft as needed and submit it to the entire membership for feedback (not a vote at this time). Have the Board then make changes based on the feedback from the membership and submit it to the Association attorney for a legal review and comment. The Board than makes final changes based on the legal advice and submits the entire package to the membership for a vote.

The method of voting (at a meeting, through the mail, etc.) and the number of votes required to adopt the new document would be based on your existing document and any applicable laws.

This is a long process.

BTW - amending the governing document won't give the initial owners the deed to the property their house is on. This would need to be done via applicable property laws and recorded deeds.