HOA Board unilaterally changed Bylaws...

Virginia-based HOA.
Previous bylaws stated that changes to Bylaws must be approved by the majority of members eligible to vote at a meeting. At a meeting where no members attended, Board moved into Exec session, came out, and approved a change to the Bylaws, now allowing the BOARD to make changes to Bylaws as it sees fit. Their explanation was that "Virgina law allowed it." What say ye?

Well, it's logically impossible: creating a modification that allows the creation of the modification. And assuming the existing bylaws don't allow this, it's a violation by definition. So I'd say "newp". Neat trick if you can make it work, though.... :-)

The only question is: does Virginia law override your community's bylaws? I didn't see anything that dealt with this in the Virginia Property Owners Association Act - so do we punt to corporate statutes next?

In addition to what John said, are we talking about Bylaws or a Board rule? Many HOA documents allow the Board to add additional rules to flesh out the bylaws and CCRs as long as they don't contradict them (or try to usurp local/state/federal law).

Read your bylaws and CCRs again to see what they say about that, and remember the Bylaws usually dictate how the community is to be run whereas the CCRs dictate how the common areas are to be used. Put another way, there could be a CCR requiring Board approval of exterior changes, a Bylaw giving the board the authority to establish an advisory committee, such as an exterior change review committee that would review requests and make recommendations to the board for final approval, and a Board rule that establishes design standards for fences regarding height, color, style, etc. The resolution is usually established via board resolution in an open meeting.

Donald,

What did you find out about Virginia statute?