Our Annual Meeting Notice mailed late, OK?

Our annual meeting notice, which, according to FL 720 must be delivered 14 days prior to meeting, and contains our BOD election info, proxies, etc., was postmarked 13 days prior to meeting, and received 11 days prior. Is this a problem?

FL 720 says notice to membership must be 14 days prior to annual meeting. Notice was postmarked only 13 days prior to meeting, and received only 11 days prior to meeting, which is less than 14. Does this clarify? Thanks!

Dana,

If I remember correctly, your Board has had a couple of other issues with election proceedures. How much do you want to make a deal out of this? Has anyone noticed this besides you? YES, that is not in the allowence of notification by the Statutes but if everyone else is okay with it, then I would put the Board on notice that they must adhere to the mailing rules and get them out earlier. Your Annual meeting has a required date and to delay this again is also a No-No.

To be honest, I did not even notice this, a couple of residents did, and brought it to my attention. Yes, there is a lot of scuffle going on right now, but these residents seem to think we can not even hold our election. Thanks for the advice, we will move forward I guess.

DanaA - Well, if the cat's out of the bag amongst the membership it's best to settle it amicably by explaining that they were noticed, albeit late, they did receive notice, apologize and ask that everyone move forward as planned in the best interests of the community. Technically someone may have a case regarding failure to provide notice in an adequate manner, and they may even be able to claim the actions taken as invalid. Now if a quorum attend the meeting in person, depending on what the governing documents state, that may waive the requirement of the BOD to provide notice. Don't have the exact wording on that one but I know it's in my docs. (somewhere).

Oops, I meant the owners received it 3 days late. : )

DonnaS,
That's interesting that your FL HOA statutes say the notices must be "received" in 14 days. The FL Condo statutes (Chapter 718) say they must be mailed at least 14 days before etc...

"If there is no condominium property or association property upon which notices can be posted, notices of board meetings shall be mailed, delivered, or electronically transmitted at least 14 days before the meeting to the owner of each unit. "

Interesting, no?

Ann

Ann,

Below is the 720;306, Board meetings, notification. I guess the word "received" is not used" Good thing that I was not quoting it.

5) NOTICE OF MEETINGS.--The bylaws shall provide for giving notice to members of all member meetings, and if they do not do so shall be deemed to provide the following: The association shall give all parcel owners and members actual notice of all membership meetings, which shall be mailed, delivered, or electronically transmitted to the members not less than 14 days prior to the meeting. Evidence of compliance with this 14-day notice shall be made by an affidavit executed by the person providing the notice and filed upon execution among the official records of the association.

You all will notice in the 2nd sentence, the words "MEMBERS ACTUAL NOTICE OF ALL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS, WHICH SHALL BE MAILED--?---DELIVERED,---? OR ELECTRONICALLY TRANSMITTED---? to the members not less than 14 days prior.

Is there a difference between mailed, delivered or e-transfered? I think that there is. One means that it is in the mail box, the second one means that it is in my hands. (delivered or in my posession) No wonder Boards get confused.

DonnaS - 720 states mailed, delivered, or or e-transmitted not less than 14 days prior to the meeting. So it was postmarked (mailed) 1 day late late and not in accordance. It's impossible to prove they didn't mail it 13 days before when the postmark if 13 days before. Personally I don't think it's worth making a stink over. But if someone had an axe to grind with the BOD, he or she might call the election illegal just to prove a point and make them understand the importance of compliance.