Amending Covenants

Scott,

I see many issues (some actual some perceived some simply only possible) beyond your initial question.


I hope that those changes have been recorded with the County so they are attached to the deed.

Worst case, if amendments were made and not recorded it's the same as if the amendment was never made.


The process would be contained in your actual document or applicable State HOA/COA or Property laws.

Typically it consists of:

1) Amendment suggested at a meeting of the Board

2) Board may seek a legal opinion on the language of the amendment to ensure it's within compliance of applicable laws.

3) Board discusses, may make changes and finally approves a proposed amendment to be brought to the membership.

4) Proposed amendment is published to the membership in accordance with procedures outlined in your governing documents and/or applicable State statutes.

5) Membership votes to approve or disapprove proposed amendment in accordance with procedures outlined in your governing documents and/or applicable State statutes.

6) If adopted by the membership, Board records the amendment with the County (perhaps through an attorney) and publishes a copy of the recorded amendment to the membership.
If rejected by the membership, the results are announced.


This depends on the actual language in your governing documents and applicable State statutes.

The County Clerk may be able to assist you on what is required to record the documents. They can't give legal advice but they should be able to tell you what they require.

Here are links that may be of interest to you:

Washington Nonprofit Corporation Act applicable if your association is incorporated as a nonprofit (most are). Check to be sure.

Washington HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATIONS statutes applicable if your development is not a condominium.

Washington Condominium Act applicable if your development is a condominium

Washington HORIZONTAL PROPERTY REGIMES ACT (CONDOMINIUMS) that may or may not be applicable to your Association if the development is a condominium.


This raises the issue of having an adequate amount of money in the Reserves and if you have an adequate budget for operating funds.

To determine what amount is needed, you would need to do a Reserve Study. Has your Association ever done a study (either on your own or via professional contractor)?

To learn more about Reserve Studies, see the following thread in this forum:

http://www.hoatalk.com/Forum/tabid/55/forumid/1/postid/103517/view/topic/Default.aspx


This is a procedural issue (at least in my mind).

The Board should be following the Associations procedures for collecting assessments. If there are no procedures, the Board needs to adopt them. By adopting and following collection procedures, the Association can minimize the impact of those members who chose or are unable to pay. If there are a lot of delinquent accounts, you may need to adjust the budget to make up the differences (which means that those who do pay will be paying more then they would have to if everyone simply paid on time).

Here are some links to various threads on this forum where this issue was discussed (please do not reactivate those threads by replying to any post in them, simply make your comments on this thread or start a new one):

Subject: Dealing with Unpaid Dues/Assessments

Subject: Late Dues Policies

Subject: Collection Policy

I hope this helps,

Tim

Keep in mind that the CCRs are a contract, and just like any other contract disputes can end up being settled in court. One advantage to having a lawyer involved is that they can (hopefully) write the changes so that they have a greater chance of being legally binding and able to stand up when the opposing side has their lawyers trying to pick apart the language.