CCR's Interpretation - Can a husband and wife be on the board of directors at the same time

This is in our CCR's:
Declaration: Article III, Section 2. Voting Rights. …Class A Members shall be entitled to one (1) vote for each Unit in which they hold the interest required for membership in Section 1. When more than one person holds such interest or interests in any Unit, all such persons shall be Class A Members, and the vote for each Unit shall be exercised as they, among themselves, determine; but in no event shall more than one (1) vote be cast with respect to any Unit.
Can someone interpret this from our CCR's? Can a husband and wife co-owners for a Townhouse community with units be on the board of directors at the same time? I live in Florida and the statue 720 is silent on the issue. "It states that the Bylaws would control. Most homeowners' association bylaws do not contain a prohibition against co-owners simultaneously serving on the board. Rather, what you will usually see is a provision that states that only property owners (and sometimes their spouses) can serve on the board. In such a case, a husband and wife could sit on the board at the same time." This is from the Florida Condo and HOA Law Blog. Please clarify.

It looks to me like there's one vote per unit, period. If the unit is owned by more than one person, they have to decide among themselves who casts the vote. Therefore, if you have a husband and wife who co-own the unit, only one of them get to serve (as co-owners, they can't cast half a vote to equal one).

Our Bylaws have similar language and we remind people of this when we send out proxies for our annual meeting. You could ask your association attorney to clarify - any time you want legal advice, this is what you should do. In this case, it would appear one of them will have to step down and the other serve (or vice versa - or they both step down and you get someone else.)

Donna

The qualification for a Board member would be found in the Bylaws, not the CCRs. Even though the CCRs say each unit get but one votes, unless the Bylaws specifically say differently, co-owners may serve on the Board at the same time. Currently, I represent a Board that both the husband and wife serve on the Board.

I don't agree with the policy as each unit may have a 1/100 vote in an association election, that same unit has a 40% voting share in the affairs of the association, sometimes as high as 67% if only a Board of three.

As another data point, our bylaws don't even require directors to be members. I assume that was put there by the developer to cover the case while he was still in control, but we've never changed it. I have a hard time seeing a non-owner getting elected anyway.

As others have said, unless prohibited by your governing docs or state law, co-owners can be on the board. It's up to the members at the election to decide if they actually want that.

Sorry about the addn'l posts, no edit function here.

I see from the OP you reference FS 720, are you sure you fall under than rather than 718? I'm not aware of any coowner restriction in 720.

I personally do not agree with two from one unit on BOD for reasons stated by Richard above ... it gives too much voting power to one unit and not really fair and equitable. I would recommend the HOA try to change bylaws to implement similar verbiage as what FL has for Condos as noted in this article:

"The Florida Condominium Act specifically provides that while any unit owner is eligible to serve on the board (subject to certain instances in which individuals are disqualified, such as financial delinquency), co-owners of a single unit may not serve as members of the board of directors at the same time. However, co-owners may serve at the same time if they own more than one unit.

As with most rules, there is an exception. Co-owners of a single condominium unit may also simultaneously serve on the board if there are not enough eligible candidates to fill all vacancies on the board at the time of the election to fill a vacancy."

http://www.floridacondohoalawblog.com/2016/01/articles/qa/can-husband-and-wife-serve-on-the-board-at-the-same-time/

Maybe at some point FL will change the HOA Statute to have similar language, but until then this would be an option.