Annual Meeting

Our association has not held an annual meeting now for two years- last year and this year. The response that we get is due to the pandemic no meetings are held. I believe one board meeting was held via Zoom. Thus far, no response from the association as to when we will have a meeting. What recourse do members have in this situation? I live in MI.

Are you in condos or in an HOA? It may make a difference.

If Michigan's statutes allow for Zoom meetings, then with luck they'll allow online annual meetings. But... the free version of Zoom doesn't accommodate meetings longer than 45 minutes, which isn't long enough. So the association would have to pay for a license, as would homeowners who want to participate. The board also has to consider whether all of your homeowners have the tech and the knowledge to handle this, or if it would shut out some of them. What is Michigan currently saying about in-person gatherings? Last I heard your governor was begging Washington for other states' vaccine dosages to combat the rise in covid cases. Are gathering numbers still limited? Can you find a suitable meeting space that is accessible, sanitized and has enough ventilation? Does the association have to pay for this meeting space? Will the association risk getting sued if people get covid at the meeting? Will the association get sued or fined if they meet in person but have more in attendance than state health guidance currently allows? Do Michigan statutes allow mail-in voting for community association voting, or not?

Homeowners could insist on having a meeting, but that won't magic away any of these issues. And that's about the limit of homeowners' powers in cases like this. You could try to hold a recall election to replace the board that's not doing their jobs, but then you have to address all of the issues above, along with following all of the correct recall procedures to the letter *and* you have to have enough people willing to step up and serve on the board themselves. This last bit stops many recall efforts.

Sadly, covid isn't going away yet, and the longer people insist on behaving like fools, the longer it will be with us. Shady or incompetent boards can use it as an excuse. Unfortunately, solving the board problem will take more time and effort than many people are willing to give it, especially if doing so means risking their health on top of all the other things that usually stop them.

-- Is this a condo or non-condo?

-- In Michigan, chances are high that the only recourse you members have is to send a series of demand letters, elevating in tone until you threaten the HOA Board with a lawsuit.

We pretty much did our annual election the way Michael of MN did theirs. No problem; easy. You do not have to wait till the "pandemic is over!"

If you have a lot of owners on your side, you might try a letter signed by a lot of them to the Board to schedule the annul meeting. Do you have a property manager? What does s/he say about this topic?

We did not hold an Annual Meeting in 2020. We sent a packet of information to owners and not one owner bit our ankles. Our docs say Annual Meeting on or before 04/15. We have not had this years meeting yet but we are aiming to have one in November. No ankle biters yet.