Changing HOA covenants

Our HOA has covenants that require at least 60% of owners to agree before changes can be made. This dates back to the original board many years before. It has proven impossible to get and majority of owners to even respond. Is there any way to be able to implement changes without getting a majority of owners to attend a board meeting?

Hi William

If your documents allow you to use proxies, then the owners don't have to attend the meeting. Proxies can be collected from the people who can't or won't attend.

WilliamG9, it depends on the wording of those covenants with respect to amendments. People can vote at a meeting in person, by proxy (if allowed), by mail-in ballots (if allowed) and now, starting this year, electronically over the internet (if allowed). The 'if allowed' caveats apply because the Florida statutes allow those methods of voting as long as your documents themselves authorize them.

Sometimes the language will allow an amendment if some set percentage of owners signs an instrument "in writing". In that case neither a meeting nor the concurrnce of the board is needed to enact an amendment.

And then, you will probably have to show the current board made an effort to persuade the homeowners to sign off on the changes (e.g. calls for special meetings, letters and proxies sent, how long you've tried to do this, what were the results). You will also need to explain why it's so important these changes be made (e.g. get rid of all references to developer language, enable the board to take stronger action against delinquent homeowners) and document all that.

I don't know how much of your CCRs need to be changed (our community has the same problem and we need 75% to approve), but the Board might want to prioritize the changes it would like to make and why they're important and push that. Looking at a few changes instead of the entire document and hundreds of changes may be easier for people to deal with.

As part of those changes, you might want to suggest reducing the approval percentage to 51% instead of 60%. A 51% approval rate doesn't remove anyone's right to vote - if they feel strongly one way or another, they should vote. If a certain change is critical to running the Association effectively, it could be done quicker - and yes, the Board will need to explain why the change is needed so the homeowners can cast an informed vote.

William,

Even if it was changed, I would not recommend entering someones property (i.e. Trespassing) and performing any maintenance without a court order.

In a recent update to another thread, the local Sheriff's office even advised that Association that if they were called and there was no court order, the Sheriff would force them to stop.

Perhaps the membership is simply saying no to the amendment.

William, we've had that exact language in our CCRs since the HOA was started. Our attorneys did a document review for us a few years ago and that language was one of the things they felt very strongly about. They cautioned us to not attempt any self-help without consulting with them first. There are a lot of pitfalls and risks involved.

I'm surprised your covenants didn't allow for the HOA doing the work and charging the owner in the first place. I thought that was pretty standard (aside from the "entering upon their property" part).

From your description of legal fees and length of the case I would question the competence of your attorney. The homeowner had no money to maintain his property but had plenty for lawyers?