Changing CC&Rs

In the process of changing the CC&R's. Seven members on Board, four of the board members (making the majority) wants to change eligibility to run for the board that you must be a full-time resident. Two-thirds of the homeowners are half time. How many of the Associations have a clause like this in CC&R. Is it legal to to eliminte more than half of the homeowners from running for the Board.

Carol:

Do all your current Board members live full-time on the property?

Do your documents require the unit owners vote on these changes? Most do.

Do those 4 Board members believe the unit owners that are now prevented from serving on the Board will support these changes?

On our property we have had several former and present Board members who do not reside on the property. Why would your current Board members wish to exclude these fellow owners?

My questions would be:

Will this attempt pass with unit owner approval?

Is it in fact legal to prevent a property owner from serving on a Board? My opinion no.

Is such an action ethical? no.

Good luck.

Thanks for your reply. We do have teleconference meetings. But the four members say that is not good enough. Members on the board should live full-time in the condo association. The CC&Rs and bylaws are being changed. Thanks for your suggestions,

Carol,

Well, the BOD has stated the attorney made that remark, but that doesn't mean he did! This happens far too often. The board puts the blame on the attorney when in fact it's they who are making the decision. In this case, although it may not be illegal (I'm not an attorney so I don't really know), it smacks of being unethical to strip away a member's right to run for a position on the board just because he doesn't live on-site. That, in itself, is not a violation of the gov docs, like being inviolation of the CCRs or delinquent in assessments, which may be other reasons for not being able to run for a board position. Living off-site doesn't mean living in another state and being unable to attend meetings either.

Roger mentioned a rule which automatically removes a board member who misses a certain amount of meetings. Usually that rule only applies to "unapproved" absences.

Just because some members don't like to teleconference doesn't mean this rule should be adopted. Board members come and go; rules should be made for the benefit of the assn, not to address the whims of a few board members.

While I'm sure an amendment to the CCRs requires a vote of the members (usually a very high % too!), do your bylaws also require a member vote to amend? Many assn bylaws can be amended by a vote of the BOD only. IMO, this particular proposed amendment would be found in the bylaws, not the CCRs.

You are right about board members in the Bylaws. We are changing the bylaws and CC&Rs. Thank you for your input. Here's the problem:
1. Lawyer working on these doc told the Board they could be anything they wanted in the bylaws and CC&R's. Can't beleive an attorney would give this give of advice.
2. These documents will be mailed out for approval. If they are not accepted, we will have to go back correct the doc and mail again. Expensive.
3. This Board wants to run the Association as they have been doing for a long. Some homeowners joined together to change things. We can only get one new member on each year. We have two so far but they still have the majority. Thanks again for your input.