POLLING OVER THE TELEPHONE

Started by DanielL3 • 2 replies • 1003 views

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DanielL3 (Louisiana)
Posts: 65

Posted:

My Association's bylaws state under "EMERGENCY MEETINGS" that "Members of the Board may be polled over the telephone and a majority of affirmative votes which then shall be the action of the Board".
QUESTIONS: Is this legal? Should the subject matter and polling be recorded in minutes?

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

Daniel,

If there is no state law to the contrary, I would say "yes" it's legal. And, yes they should keep a record of all the board member's votes and should also read a statement into the minutes of the next regularly scheduled board meeting. I say "should", but if that isn't also specified in your docs they may not.

AZ has a state law which allows actions to be taken without a meeting (ARS 10-3821). There are no restrictions placed, such as only for emergency reasons when a quorum of the board cannot be obtained. There is a bill before the legislature now -- SB1019, which, if passed would only allow for this if a quorum cannot be obtained and an emergency arises. Also the action must be reported at the next board meeting.

As long as transparancy of board actions is maintained, IMO, there is nothing wrong with taking an action by this means in an emergency situation.

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

Is it "legal"? Well, your bylaws SAY it's the way your Board can conduct business. The motion needs to be ratified at the next regular meeting and included in the minutes.

The key is the word "Emergency" - that means if the roof falls in, a fire, a castrophy - NOT for regular business that can wait until a meeting or even a call for a special meeting.

Don't use this process casually.

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