Board Member request informal meeting with homeowners ?

TODAY I recieved an email from one of our board members. He is always against the majority for whatever reason. None the less, he is a bit nervous as we just paid a large sum of $$$ to our atty to rewrite and update our 20+ year old cc&r's most of which don't even agree with local civil codes anymore.. It's a liability both finanacially and legally according ot our atty. None the less this is in the works already.

The email today is asking for us to all meet with residents 30 minutes before our HOA meetings to discuss this with the HOA Homeowners. Our board member stated that we coud take meeting minutes etc for this. From our state laws, only our Agenda items are to be covered in a held meeting. This can not be done if we have an oped discussion regarding our huge cc&r revival. Our HOA meetings are always over 1.5 hours because this board member gets off track and is a chatter bug who likes to visit yester years events..every single meeting.

I do not think a town hall informal meeting is a bad idea, but honestly? I dont't think his if idea of an earlier meeting should be held due to the legal guidelines on what a HOA meeting is. It is clear we must stick to our agenda, and can not address anything off ofit other than saying " it's duly noted" and move on!
Feedbacik??

I meant that during the meeting, it is the time to discuss it....not at the 30-minute session beforehand. If some homeowners want to get together 30 minutes before a meeting to talk, then so be it. But I wouldn't have any board members there, to take minutes or anything else, if it wasn't a duly noticed meeting.

I hear you.. I thought it was a bizarre request. We are constantly having to educate this board member who has lived here 22 years. 10 of which have been serving the HOA. It's hard to look for guidance do to experience.. when he doesn't know the rules, civil codes or governing doc..

I hear you.. I thought it was a bizarre request. We are constantly having to educate this board member who has lived here 22 years. 10 of which have been serving the HOA. It's hard to look for guidance do to experience.. when he doesn't know the rules, civil codes or governing doc..

I dunno, maybe he just wants the homeowners to be aware that it is going on.

Do they know the attorney is doing this?

Besides the provisions that conflict with state laws, are there a lot of other outdated provisions which need to be amended? My impression is that your attorney sees this as an opportunity for him to reap a big retainer. Gov docs do NOT need to be changed each time a state law is enacted that over-rules a gov doc provision. The BOD needs to be aware of all state laws and of the fact that they prevail over the gov docs. A legal liability may occur if the BOD violates a state law, but there is no legal liability just because the gov docs do not comply with state law.

Having a meeting of the members to review the drafted amendment is a very good idea. I'm thinking perhaps this was what the board member had in mind when he asked that the h/o's meet 30 min b/4 the board meeting.

My guess is that the board member is trying to get some informal feedback about the changes before a draft is sent to the homeowners and a vote is undertaken. There is a substantial amount of time and money that goes into amending CC&Rs and he probably just wants to gauge if there are any serious objections that will result in the changes being voted down and/or the need for another draft to be sent to all the homeowners before the vote. Similarly, he may want to see if the homeowners want to propose any additional provisions not necessitated by applicable law changes.

While I agree that it is not necessary to update your governing documents every time there is a change in applicable law, it would be wise to update them approximately every 10 years anyway for the following reasons:

1. While applicable (e.g., state and federal) law trumps the CC&Rs, most boards are not attorneys and have limited time to spend on association business. Future board members and homeowners may assume the CC&R are accurate and current -- if they consult them at all.

2. There are multiple laws that need to be consulted beyond just the HOA Act. Federal laws, such as the Fair Housing Act, and other state laws, such as the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act, nonprofit corporation act, or building codes, can also affect the operation of the association. Most volunteer board members are unable to keep up to date on all these laws.

3. The association may be able to take advantage of some additional privileges or right by amending the CC&Rs, such as provisions limiting liability or additional methods of collecting assessments by updating the CC&Rs. For example, in Washington state, the recent reserve study legislation has a limitation of liability that likely only applies if the requirements in your declaration are not different from the enacted state law.

4. Especially in today's real estate market, changes may be necessary to keep the common interest property in compliance with current mortgage underwriting guidelines (i.e. FHA, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae).

Thanks, Larry.

By the way, you don't happen to be the attorney drafting these new docs, are you?

Just curious!