Changes to Bylaws, Declarations, Restrictions - Is it legal

Our documents say they are binding under Dec. 31, 2019. The hoa is having a meeting this week to amend all documents. They are posting that questions will be taken and voting of the new docs will happen at the meeting.

Can they have the vote at the meeting of only the people at the meeting if the Declarations of restrictions and homes association declarations say the following or do they need 2/3 of the entire lots?

* This Declaration may be terminated, and all of the land now or hereafter affected may be released from all of the terms and provisions thereof, by the owners of two-thirds (2/3) of the lots then subject thereto executing and acknowledging in appropriate agreementor agreements for that purpose and filing the same for records in the office of the Recorder of Deeds.

* Declaration of restrictions: Each of the restrictions as herein set forth shall continue and be binding upon the Developer, and upon its successors and assigns, until December 31, 2019, and shall automatically be continued thereafter for successive intervals of ten (10) years each, provided, however, that the owners of the fee simple title to more than two-thirds (2/3) of all of the lots hereby restricted may release all of the land which is hereby restricted from any one or more of the restrictions herein set forth at any time by executing and acknowledging an appropriate agreement or agreements in writing for such purpose and filing the same for record in the office of the Recorder of Deeds.

* I believe the The Bylaws can be changed at the meeting: These Bylaws may be altered, amended or repealed in any of the following ways (i) by a 2/3 vote of the total votes of the Class A and Class B of the association present at a meeting at which a quorum is present or (ii) by 2/3 vote of the Board of Directors both of which require the approval of the Class B memeber so long as Class B membership exists.

Thank you. Unfortunately, there is no association attorney, the wife of the president re-wrote the documents.
To clarify for example, there are approx. 265 homeowners in the association, if only 50 people show up to the meeting and there are not enough proxies does that mean the HOA can not pass the Declaration and Restrictions since it calls for 2/3s and there is around 265 people in the association?

Class A are the member of each lot and Class B is the developer.

Not involving an attorney in drafting the amendments is asking for a lawsuit. Besides being knowledgeable about state HOA law, they are often familiar with case law that affects HOAs and would be able to advise the board members on which of their pet ideas is likely to get shot down by a judge. And the wording of the amendments is important. It's very easy for a lay person to introduce ambiguities and unintended consequences that can make enforcement of your governing laws either difficult or impossible. The governing documents for an HOA are written in legalese, not plain English, for this reason. You can either pay the attorney up front for his advice and guidance, or you can pay him when you go to court to defend yourselves.

I agree with Cathy & Augustine. You really must have an HOA attorney guide the board. How many are on it?

And Pesty's right too. 2/3 of all homes most vote to approve.

Casey

You will need 2/3rds of all owners (2/3rds of 265 is 177) agreeing as in saying yes to make any changes.

Why do your docs need to be rewritten? Having a lawyer rewrite the docs would cost at least a few thousand dollars. We looked at having ours rewritten to eliminate reference to the Declarant and to simplify them. Once we saw the cost we said no way.

Having some lay person rewrite the docs is sheer lunacy.

There might be one other issue. I expect your docs call for an amount of owners to establish a Quorum in order for a meeting to be held.The owners can be there in person or via Proxy but a specific amount is required.

Basically I say your BOD cannot do what they want to do and on top of that. They are crazy for trying to do it.

Casey, your HOA is a hot mess and the board does NOT know what it's doing, or it does and hopes Owners will simply let the gt away with this nonsense.

(Say, wait, I'm now thinking this is spam as surely no rewrite would include anything about Prez Trump.)

To avoid confusion, it's important that everyone repeat "2/3 of all lots (or "homes") must approve." When folks wrote 2/3 of all Owners, it makes it sound as if two persons who own one lot together each have one vote.

If you're for real, Casey, yes, I think you and several others should band together and pay an HOA attorney for a couple of hours of their time. May total $500. Please r-read Cathy & Augustin's posts.

My HOA amended its CC&Rs in 2017 to clarify animal/pet restrictions and define what behavior of animals would be considered a nuisance. Attorney preparation wound up costing us $3,800. We had other amendments we wanted to pursue but after seeing the cost of the almost-trivial pet amendment we put on the brakes. We got a new attorney the following year but have been gun-shy about having him advise us on the other changes due to cost. Neither attorney was willing to even give us an estimate of what it would cost us and we were willing to settle for a rough number plus-or-minus $10,000. They refused to do it even though we said we wouldn't hold them to such an estimate.

We considered drawing up our own amendments, which seems to have been more common 30 years ago, but when you really get down to the nitty gritty you're asking for trouble if things go wrong.

Does a Florida HOA have to have an attorney do a simple "re-write" of Governing
Documents to make them more legible? No changes/additions/deletions to the Governing
Documents will me made. Is there a process by which the HOA can do this without
an attorney and Documents retain their "legal status?" If not, why not and, where
does it state this? Please, no opinions. I'm looking for something that states the
Association can do a "re-write" on their own without having to hire an attorney.
Again, a simple "re-write" for ease of reading...no changes to Governing Documents!

Yes, Ian, please do. While waiting for that I'll just add that you will only find opinions here.