Changing board term after a vote has occurred

Hello, We are currently voting ahead of our annual meeting for a new board. We are voting under our current term that board members get one year. The voting will end 5 days before the annual meeting. Our current board wants to amend the board term to 3 yrs at the meeting. My question is if we voted for the board under the one year term before this vote and the owners vote yes to 3 yrs wouldn’t that take affect at the next year meeting since the one year term was still in place prior to the change.

Thanks for replying. This is a newer subdivision . We have the 3 anti HOAboard members who went to a lawyer and wiped out all of our rules stating they could not be enforced. We knew nothing until a letter last week. I’ve lived in annHOA for 35 years and have never experienced anything like this. And only my husband has stepped up on the ballot to challenge them.

On our rules they wiped out all of it. Like We can’t stop owners from storing their boats and campers on their property, we can’t restrict fences on pond lots, basic rules. They spent thousands of our money doing this behind our backs. Them wanting us to approve giving them 3 years terms AFTER we already voted for new directors under the current one year term. Voting ended yesterday (Oct 31)for a new board and our annual meeting is not until Sunday. So they would get a one year term because we haven’t voted in the 3 yr change right?

Please answer, Dara: How many directors are there? How many vacancies on the Board are there and how many candidates? What size is your HOA? In the first place, I doubt the board can change term limits without more and better notice to Owners even IF they have the sole powers to change this, which I doubt.

As JohnC points out, Bylaws & rules are very different. Usually boards can make rules, e.g., dogs must be on leashes, front yards may not have fake flamingos, garages must be used for cars, no cars may be parked on the street, etc. What does "anti HOAboard" mean? Does it mean the current directors want more "freedom" for owners and fewer rules??

Bylaws, however, are about the structure & governance of your HOA. They say how many board members, what kinds of meeting there are, and requirements about directors and officers.

How long directors' terms are, Debra, is usually in the Bylaws (vs.the CC&Rs). Please quote exactly what the Bylaws say about directors' term lengths. Now, towards the end of the Bylaws, tell us what it says about "amending" them. Almost always (but not always,) owners must vote to amend/change the Bylaws. So, owners would have to vote to make directors' terms three years.

Make sure you see the difference between directors and "officers." We're NOT talking about officers in this thread.

To amend, if it says Owners must vote, and your Bylaws say terms are one year, the Board is NOT permitted to vote to change the term lengths to 3 years.

You're saying, Debra, that the Board wants to amend the Bylaws to say that director terms are to be 3 years at this meeting of the Owners. How do you know this? Is this possible action listed on the agenda that Owners have seen?

The thing is that if this is a meeting of the Owners and not a meeting of the Board (see your Bylaws) you owners can actually vote down the proposed term limits. But I don't see how you'd have enough time to alert owners that they have the power to vote down the Board's proposed change. Your or your husband would have to speak up AT the meeting. If you know a few others, get them involved right now!!

You're right--the terms should only be for one year per your ballot info & probably your bylaws. But the Board sounds like they'll just bully through their wishes. If you're in great luck, the HOA attorney will attend this meeting and will set the board straight. But....

I must br missing something, Cathy: Your Quote: "Amendments can be made to community regulations with a majority vote from the board of directors. Approval from homeowners is not required unless it is stated in community bylaws. Any changes to the Articles of Incorporation or the bylaws must be documented in the county in which the community is located."

This doesn't at all state how changes to the Bylaws can be made. It's about Ruels & Regs.Is there anything in this article about how bylaws are amended?

Here are our Bylaws pertaining to changing bylaws. I’ll restate my question. We were given our ballots last week to vote on a new board members. The voting ended on Halloween but our meeting is on Nov. 5. At the meeting we are voting amend the two things. To raise BOD terms from one year to three. And to lower our quorum vote from 51% to 33% (just to pass things through easier). I oppose both. So if we voted for BOD prior to the meeting are they on one year teams still if we haven’t voted for the three years?

ARTICLE VII.
AMENDMENT OF BY-LAWS
Section 1. Amendment Procedures. The power to amend or repeal these Association By-Laws, or to adopt new Association By-Laws, has been reserved exclusively to the members of the Association; provided, however, that until the initial meeting of members has been held, these By-Laws may be amended by the unanimous action of the directors appointed in the Articles of Incorporation or their successors. Amendments may be proposed by the Board of Directors or by petitions signed by at least twenty (20%) percent of the members, but shall not be effective until approved by a majority of the members voting at any regular or special meeting of members at which a quorum is present. A description of any proposed amendment shall accompany the notice of any regular or special meeting which proposed amendment is to be voted on.

Jeez, Debra. Is the correct? you have a ballot to elect new directors and it says for a one-year term. Is that right?

You also will vote at a meeting of the members (owners) to amend your Bylaws. One amendment would increase directors' terms from one to 3 years. You only are voting for this AT the meeting??

(Another would lower the quorum from 51 to 33%. This kind of decrease is very common, btw.)

What is still confusing is that you seem to be saying there are two ballots?? One that had to be turned in already, and another that you'll fill out in person AT the meeting??

From what I can see in your Bylaws, the latter would require the presence of a majority of your current quorum of 51% to pass the proposed Bylaw amendments.

Can you tell us if a quorum can only be comprised of voters attending in person? Or in person and by proxy? Or in person, by absentee ballots, and by proxy? This also is in you r Bylaws.

We have no State laws governing HOA in Michigan. The verbiage I posted is all it says on voting in our bylaws.

Ma'am, if your hoa is incorporated, this is not so. The Michigan Nonprofit Corporation Act (a statute) has a lot to say about electing directors outside the annual meeting.

Is your HOA incorporated?

For what it's worth, my community's board has 3 members who serve staggered 3-year terms. Quorum for homeowner meetings (annual and special) is 20%. This is pretty common.

Condos are often worse than HOAs as far as apathy goes - but a higher quorum can mean that nothing gets done, no elections are held at all, and the same group remains on the board regardless of the length of their terms (also pretty common).

With 1-year terms, you can have a steady procession of clueless newbies on the board. Even if the newbie has served on the board elsewhere and has a vague hint of a clue about how HOAs work, they'll probably have no institutional memory and will be making the same mistakes over and over because none of the current board remembers getting burned in the past by a particular bad decision. And all homeowners better be prepared to take their turn - none of this sitting around and griping about the small minority of owners who are willing to serve.

IMHO these proposed changes suggest that the current board does maybe actually know what they're doing.