HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - July 5, 2019
Published: Fri, 07/05/19
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Here's How to Finally Fix Your Condo/HOA's Quorum Problem
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We address the nagging challenge of achieving a quorum for your condo or HOA meetings in this week's tip.
The topic arises because a California community association lawyer recently suggested boards consider eliminating quorum requirements in their governing documents. That way, they can stop worrying about low turnout at elections.
Who knew that was possible in California condos and HOAs? Is it also possible in other states? And why not do it if you can?
In Colorado, there's "kind of a yes and no answer" as to whether boards could deploy this tactic, according to Elina Gilbert, a shareholder at Altitude Community Law in Lakewood, Colo., who's specialized in community association law for 19 years.
"We have to have a quorum present, as defined in the nonprofit act, to conduct a meeting," she says. "It doesn't say the quorum must be at least X. So hypothetically, you could have a set of bylaws that say that the quorum means whoever shows up. But we don't recommend that and think it's not a good idea."
A Colorado board couldn't adopt that provision on its own. That would need owner approval, says Gilbert. "Some communities have a hard time with this and perpetually fail to get a quorum," she says. "I'd say a ballpark is that 70-80 percent of my clients don't have problem with it. But it depends on the size of the community. If it's a 1,000-unit community, a 10 percent quorum is different from that same quorum in a 100-home community. So this depends on the community itself.
"The communities that have problems have about 30 percent quorum requirements and are on the larger side," she adds. "Usually the low end of quorum requirements for all of my clients is about 10 percent. That's pretty standard. But in a 1,000-home community, it may be better or easier to achieve if they have a 5 percent quorum requirement.
"So I think it's not a set standard but an evaluation of how many homes there are and what you traditionally see," states Gilbert.
"Not so fast, at least not in Florida, which is one of the more stringent states as it pertains to statutes," reports Zuly Maribona, LCAM, a vice president at KW Property Management who leads the company's Region 2 office headquartered in Bonita Springs, Fla.
Find out more in Can Your Condo/HOA Eliminate the Quorum Requirements in Your Documents?, our new article: https://www.hoaleader.com/members/3945.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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