Voting Percentage

Started by ChristinaR • 7 replies • 1449 views

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ChristinaR (Maryland)
Posts: 99

Posted:

I have a few questions about voting practices.

HOA community with 102 lots
6 lots with suspended voting rights
2 lots in foreclosure and owned by the bank.

If we need a majority vote of the Members to recall a board member, that is normally 53 votes. Our documents do NOT specify under 'removal of a director' whether it is a majority vote of the Members in good standing, it just says a majority vote of the Members. So am I correct that we would still need 53 votes? Or what about the foreclosures? Do they count as Members?

Our Amendments Section says that it must be signed by 90% of the Owners. So if 102 homes, some with joint ownership, actually have 150 Owners. Would we need 90% of 150? or 90% of 102?

At our annual meeting we can vote directors into office. Can we, with a majority vote of the members, vote a director out at the annual meeting without calling a special meeting before hand?

Thanks for any input or feedback.

GlenL (Ohio)
Posts: 5,491

Posted:

If your documents or State law allows you to suspend the voting rights of members not in good standing then your simple majority would be 49. (102 - 6 = 96 ÷ 2 = 48 + 1 = 49) The two homes owned by the banks would get a vote as long as they were in good standing.

90% of 102

I’m assuming the one you want gone is not up for re-election then IMO you would have to call a special meeting to recall them.

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

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Christina, a majority vote of the Members would be 53 units when allowing one vote per unit. You listed no exceptions for such things as in foreclosure, not in good standing, etc. For amending the CC&Rs, an Owner of a Unit may be defined as more than one person. If there is a requirement for the approval of 90% of every owner of each unit this could vary from a low of 92 upwards to 276 (92 x 3) with 3 equal to 2 owners per unit and 1 mortgage company/unit.

This is another example of poor wording or of a poster who did not quote the exact requirements.

MicheleD (Kentucky)
Posts: 4,491

Posted:

Christina:

A few more clarifications, please.

First, what specifically do your by-laws or other controlling documents say about voting at all, for any reason, regardless of whether it's for recall or not.

For example:

one vote per lot (not one vote per OWNER, meaning lots with co-owners receive more than one vote, probably not likely)

members eligible to vote must be members in good standing

Etc, etc.

That is all you need for the recall voting requirements.

By the way, if the bank has taken title in a foreclosure, then the bank is the owner and a "member" of the association eligible to vote for the lot/unit owned.

In our HOA, the majority vote is the majority of those eligible to vote.

So if you have 102 units and 6 have suspended voting rights, it would then be a majority vote of 96 (the 2 lots owned by the bank are counted in those eligible to vote unless they are delinquent in assessments, too).

ChristinaR (Maryland)
Posts: 99

Posted:

Our documents (CCRs) say the following about voting:

"Member"Members" means all persons or entities who hold membership in the Association as provided in this Declaration.

"Owner" or "Owners" shall mean and refer to the record owner, whether one or more persons or entities, of a fee simple title to any Lot which is a part of the Property, including contract sellers, but excluding those having such interest merely as security for the performance of an obligation.

Article IV, Section 2. Voting. The Association shall have (2) classes of voting membership.
(a) Class A. Class A Members shall be all of the Owners with the exception of the Declarant and shall be entitled to one (1) vote for each Lot owned. When more than one person holds an interest in any Lot, all such persons shall be Members. The vote for such a Lot shall be excerised as the Owners among themselves determine, but in no event shall more than one vote be cast in respect to any Lot.

(I am not listing Class B because we no longer have Class B voters.)

Our By Laws say:

Article VII Powers and Duties of the Board of Directors

Section 1. Powers. The Board of Directors shall have the power to: (b) Suspend the voting rights and the right to use of any recreational facilities of a Member during any period in which the Mamber shall be in default in the payment of any assessment levied by the Association. Such rights may also be suspended after notice and hearing, for a period not to exceed sixty (60) days for infractions of published rules and regulations;

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

Christina,

Your docs specifically state there is only one vote per lot no matter how many people legally own the lot. THerefore, if there are 100 lots, there can only be 100 votes. Whether members not in good standing shall be allowed to vote will be dependent upon the wording. For example, if it says ". . .a majority vote of all members entitled to vote" that would mean only those members in good standing as members not in good standing are not entitled to vote. If a property is in foreclosure but the owner is current on paying the hoa assessments then that member would be considered to be in good standing and eligible to vote. On the other hand, if it says ". . .a majority vote of the members of the assn" that means all members whether they are in good standing or not make up the majority. And, if it says, ". . .a majority vote of all members in attendance" then the majority is computed based only upon the members attending the meeting, usually in person or by proxy if proxy voting is allowed.

ChristinaR (Maryland)
Posts: 99

Posted:

Mary,

So this means, and forgive me because sadly with out BOD, this is possible...

That if we have 50% or more of the community in arrears, we can never reach a majority vote?

If our documents allow an amendment to the By-Laws with a majority vote of the Members present at a Meeting of the Members, would this be worth amending?

Thanks

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

Christina,

If that is the exact wording: ". . .a majority vote of the members present at the meeting", that means that even those members not in good standing are eligible to vote. If it said ". . .a majority vote of those members eligible to vote and present at the meeting" then that would mean those not in good standing could not vote. And, if only 20% of the members are present at the meeting the vote requirement would be a majority of those 20%. With this type of a requirement it is much easier to pass an amendment because the majority is only based upon the number of members present at the meeting.

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