Real Estate & Property Law

DO YOUR PART IN HELPING WITH QUORUM REQUIREMENTS FOR HOAs

APATHY in HOAs and Condos is a very big problem. If you want to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem, now is a good time to contact your legislator if you live in an HOA or Condo and are experiencing any problem at all getting a quorum for board elections. Many associations do have this problem. A California group called the Community Associations Institute - California Legislative Action Committee (CAI-CLAC) has sponsored a bill that would allow HOAs and Condo Associations to take advantage of a lower quorum requirement for a board election if the Association board makes a good first attempt to get a quorum of owners to respond in an election. The bill has met some unexpected opposition and a critical hearing date has been moved back to allow Californians to weigh in on the bill.

Here is some pertinent information to assist. Note the immediacy please!

FROM CAI-CLAC:

"These Senators NEED to Hear From YOU NOW Regarding AB 1726:

The bill allows Associations to conduct their annual board elections with a lower quorum (33 1/3%) requirement on the second election attempt if their first attempt fails to obtain a quorum of 50% (plus 1) as required by law. (This bill applies to HOAs that have no alternate quorum in their governing docs and won?t affect those HOAs that do have a reduced quorum provision in their governing docs.)

The bill?s hearing has been postponed one week? allowing Condo and HOA owners and board members to weigh in by asking the following senators to vote YES.

FAX YOUR COMMUNICATION TO COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

Ashburn, Roy 916 322 3304
DeSaulnier, Mark 916 445-2527
Harman, Tom 916 445 9263
Huff, Robert (Vice Chair) 916 324 0922
Kehoe, Christine 916 327 2188
Lowenthal, Alan (Chair) 916 327 9113
Oropeza, Jenny 916 323 6056
Pavley, Fran 916 324-4823
Simitian, Joe 916 323 4529"

Tell the Senators who hold the fate of this bill in their hands that your association has had serious problems getting a quorum for board elections, that meeting quorum requirements is difficult or impossible due to association member/voter apathy, and that the failure to achieve quorum threatens the ability to have a valid board election every year. And it is also fair to tell these legislators that without this bill, the law allows an outgoing board to simply APPOINT whomever it wants to fill vacancies when quorum cannot be achieved. This adversely affects the members? right to elect their chosen candidates. And one more thing, when a board has to hold a new election because of lack of a quorum, and does not have the right to use the "adjourned meeting/new quorum" option, it is costly to the members.

Tell the legislator (lest they miss the message) that you are asking you to vote YES on AB 1726 (Swanson) in the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee on June 29.

Do it, RIGHT NOW! The communications must be received by June 28. The hearing is on June 29.

Let me know if you helped!

Full post as published by California Condo & HOA Law on June 24, 2010 (boomark / email).