Changing the protective convenants

Started by KennethW4 • 11 replies • 1593 views

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KennethW4 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2

Posted:

I am the president of a small Landowners Association in North Carolina. We need to change our protective covenants.
We have sent out to each member a letter discussing the changes and ask them to vote yes or no on the changes. We also put in the letter if the owners does not respond at all to the request by a certain date then they would be counted as a yes vote. We have sent the letter by regular U.S. mail and also again by email with a requested return that the person received the email. My question is Does anybody know if that is legal to count the "no response" votes as a yes if we posted it in the letter to the owners?

GlenL (Ohio)
Posts: 5,491

Posted:

IMO no it is not and it would be quickly challenged in a court of law by someone who doesn't like the changes. You must follow the section in your CC&R's about amendments including notification and filing.

Studies show that 5 out of 4 people have problems with fractions

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Kenneth, Covenats require a certain percentage of all owners voting to approve an amendment. A vote not to approve and a no response absolutely may NOT count towards approval. We are currently conducting a ballot vote for an HOA and will file the signed and dated ballots as part of the amended and restated Covenants if sufficient approvals are obtained.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,062

Posted:

Kenneth,

Counting a non-vote as a yea vote is election fraud and will only cost the Association $$$ in legal battles that they would lose. That would be like counting everyone who was registered to vote and chose not to vote as a yea vote for one candidate or another. A non-vote is just that, a non-vote. They abstained.

Check your current covenants to see the percentage of votes required to amend. Also note what the percentage is of:

The entire membership or
The membership who are entitled to vote (might not be everyone) or
The number of votes cast

Tim

RobertR1 (South Carolina)
Posts: 5,164

Posted:

Kenneth, Check out the search feature on this page, plug in covenant changes or something like that. Also, as a primer, look at left side this screen highlighted in yellow, your will see a sponsor site CAN. Check this out, go to Library section, look for state laws (for one), also root around for some good advice about covenant changes in HOA's.

JackieB (California)
Posts: 198

Posted:

How are you getting apathetic HO's to vote/send in their ballot?

RobertR1 (South Carolina)
Posts: 5,164

Posted:

JackieB,
You are going to have to give up some info to get a specific reply to this question. The only blanket statement I would make is : it is all a learning process, for you and your community. It will take time dedication, innovation and conversation. Little by little you can move the mountain. If you need votes now........do door to door. Web sites, newsletters, cook-outs, etc. It has to be community involvement. You will not get everyone to step up but you can get enough folks to contact the others and urge them to vote. But, as I said, tell us the story, but, on another thread.

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JackieB on 05/12/2010 10:50 AM
How are you getting apathetic HO's to vote/send in their ballot?

Send a one page cover letter with the ballot which is carefully crafted to explain the benefits of approving the amendments. Include a self addressed stamped envelop. And finally when necessary knock on doors

We have been sucessful despite apathy for 100% of all HOAs we manage

Remember it requires xx% of EVERY homeowner - not just xx% of those who vote.

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JackieB on 05/12/2010 10:50 AM
How are you getting apathetic HO's to vote/send in their ballot?

We have been sucessful despite apathy for 100% of all HOAs we manage

Remember it requires xx% of EVERY homeowner - not just xx% of those who vote.

KennethW4 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2

Posted:

Jackie B.,
Yes these members are people who never show up for a meeting.
We have sent a letter out to all of the Landowners in our Association.Most of the owners live out of State.In the letter we explain the changes that the board approved with the reasons why. We ask each member to either vote by email or mail and to have in their vote in by a certain date. There is a statement in the letter that states:
"By not responding to the voting by either one of the two methods listed, it will be considered that you agree with the unanimous recommendations by the board in favor of changing the covenants."
We have 16 out of 40 owners that have not responded. I have also sent these 16 owners a certified letter with the same information.
I got my language concerning the statement,"a no response is a yes vote', from a vote conducted by an electrical Co-op which I am a member of and of course I can not attend their meeting. Must work for them.

Kenneth

RobertR1 (South Carolina)
Posts: 5,164

Posted:

Roger,

Your last post says:"Kenneth, Covenats require a certain percentage of all owners voting to approve an amendment."

Todays post :"Remember it requires xx% of EVERY homeowner - not just xx% of those who vote."

?????????????????

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Robert, The first post was poorly worded. What I meant was "Covenats require a certain percentage of all owners to approve an amendment." That is because the Covenants run with the land and therefore every owner is involved - even those owners who are not in good standing. Some Covenants state 75% - 90% so Colorado passed a statute which requires 2/3rds of all owners unless the Covenants state less. It can be difficult to obtain even 2/3rds approval. Therefore, there is an exception in Colorado through judicial action - approval through Court can reduce this requirement to less I think it might be as low as 1/3 with Court approval under certain conditions.

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