How Often Should An Amendment Be Put Up For A Vote?

In the 15 years our HOA has been around, and with me being the president for the past 10 months, we had our first voting ballot to amend the CC&R's this past January. Not everyone was happy with the results but in all fairness, the majority of the home owners voted for the changes. Now, I have a handful of people asking that some of these amendments be put back on the next ballot later this year. Apparently, they were not happy with the results so they want us to give it another try. I am concerned about this. Just because a few people didn't like the results shouldn't mean that we have to have a re-vote on it again. Are they going to ask for one every year until they get their way?

Thoughts?

Gregg,

Your CC&R's should set forth the method for amending, which is usually either by voting or by executing an instrument - that is, by giving written consent.

If your CC&R's require or allow execution of an instrument then any signed consents to the amendment would remain valid unless the signer changes his mind. The proponents of the amendment need to seek out approvals from those who did not sign previously.

If yours is one of those CC&R's that are amended by a vote, there is normally no limit on the number of times a vote may be taken but the proponents should follow the process for calling for a meeting of the members. There may be some costs involved and I think it is wise to let the members formally ask for the vote rather than have the board call for another vote on its own initiative.

Such is democracy - sometimes the vote swings in your favor, sometimes not. As long as you did the vote according to your documents and everyone had enough time to consider the proposals and voted however they voted, I wouldn't bring it up again. Ultimately, time will show if it was an effective change or not - and if not, the process starts again to re-re-amend the documents. That's why governing documents aren't set in stone - as times and people change and the money changes, the documents need to be flexible enough to change with the times. You would think people would know this because this already happens in so many areas of our lives, but oh, well.

Given all the time and effort the board likely spent drafting, redrafting, presenting the proposals to the homeowners reading comments, having meetings to discuss them and whatever else you did, I personally wouldn't bring this up again - people change their minds about voting all the time. If these people really want the matter to be reconsidered, let them lobby among their fellow owners who voted in favor of the thing - if THAT group is persuaded to revisit the matter, then the board can take action. Then you'll see if they're serious about the change or if they're just cranky because they didn't get their way the first time