HOA not having annual meeting
Hello,
Great site, by the way. My HOA is having issues achieving quorum for the annual meeting, and lately they’ve just given up having the annual meeting.
My HOA bylaws state the HOA is required to have a annual meeting, and the quorum is 50%. The bylaws do not say anything about the HOA having to retry if the quorum isn’t met. Also the bylaws do not state if the meeting is rescheduled because of a quorum issue that the quorum is lowered.
For the past 10 years quorum has not been achieved in the annual meeting. The current board has been in power for 10 years, because we can’t have a board election. The reason why it’s difficult to hit quorum is because 50% of the houses in my area are being rented out. It seems landlords dont vote for HOA elections. The highest I have seen quorum hit was 30%. It seems to hit 50% quorum literally every homeowner would have to vote, which is not going to happen.
Recently things have gotten worse. For this year the HOA made no attempt at all to have a annual meeting. They didn’t send out any notification. They didn’t send out the meeting agenda. No zoom meeting like was provided (its remote only). When they canceled the meeting they didn’t tell anyone, or try to reschedule (to be fair the bylaws dont say they have to reschedule, but is there a Arizona law that does?). When I asked the HOA why they didn’t have the meeting they just said “couldn’t meet quorum”.
It seems if I can’t reduce the quorum to something more reasonable, such as 20-25%, there will never be a board election ever again. If I sued the HOA could they force the HOA to reduce the quorum? Would the ADRE force the HOA to reduce quroum?
Lastly, if the HOA makes no attempt at all to have a annual meeting, can they be fined, or what would the punishment be? My HOA is not following Arizona law or it’s own rules, but it seems unless I sue them there is no punishment, and as long as quorum can’t be achieved they know they cant be voted out.
Thanks
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Sunny,
Unfortunately, this happens in far too many communities. This is the fact. State law requires a meeting of the members to be held annually. it does not say that a meeting must be called annually but rather it must be held. If a quorum is not achieved the meeting is not held and must be reconvened until it is held. Everyone uses the excuse of the unreasonable quorum requirements and the hardship, but no-one remembers that for the most part the board alone can change the quorum requirements in the bylaws to whatever is reasonable for their community. It’s time for board to get off their backsides and amend their governing documents to facilitate the election and annual meeting process. The problem is that boards don’t want to change the quorum requirement to allow elections to take place because this simply extends their power over the community indefinitely. There are many communities in this state that have never held an election and those board members have protected themselves from any accountability to the members of the community.
I will no-longer wait for boards to do the right thing for their communities and will work to mandate free and legitimate elections in these communities. My top priority legislation for next session will clarify these laws and limit quorums to 25% or any lower number specified in the governing documents, standardize the voter eligibility requirements and the board candidate requirements and standardize the voting and election process in these communities under state law including all votes to be by secret ballot.
This madness has to end, the only true power the members have is the power to vote and elect or recall their board. We cannot allow these communities to continue to suppress that power by their incompetence.
Dennis
Thanks for the reply Dennis. Hopefully you can get something passed, because with a lot of people renting houses these days trying to get 50% quorum is impossible.
Thank you for including the clause about “all votes to be by secret ballot”.