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Community Association Boards Can Make Bylaw Amendments Without Unit Owner Voting
April 29, 2019 Posted in Community Association Law Share
In New Jersey, and elsewhere, community associations often find themselves at odds with unit owners when attempting to amend their bylaws so as to improve the effectiveness of the community association. Fortunately, New Jersey law has recognized the challenges facing community association boards and has provided an opportunity to move forward without a majority of unit owners voting in favor of the amendment. These rules empower community association boards to act, ensuring that they can operate more dynamically to serve the interests of the people in their community.
Requirements for Amending Bylaws
Default Bylaw Rules
Community association bylaws include provisions pertaining to the process to pass a By-Laws amendments. The rules can vary quite a bit, but generally speaking, most community association bylaws require that a majority of the unit owners (i.e., 1/2, 2/3, or more) vote in favor of amendment. If the requisite majority is not reached, then the amendment will not pass.
Changed Rules
Since the introduction of the Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act in New Jersey in 2017, however, the bylaw amendment rules may be overridden (in certain limited circumstances) so that a majority unit owner vote is not required.
How do the new rules work?
First, any amendments necessary for ensuring legal compliance will not require a unit owner vote. Board members may amend the bylaws immediately without having to consult unit owners.
With regard to other bylaw amendments, however, the community association board must send out a ballot to unit owners so that they can vote on the amendment. In the past, board members would have to wait until the requisite majority of unit owners responded (and favorably, too) before an amendment could be executed. Now, the board only has to wait for a month after sending out the voting ballot. However, The Radburn Act provides that if 10% or more of the membership votes to reject the amendment are within the 30 day time-frame, then the Amendment is rejected.
Schedule a Consultation With an Attorney Experienced in New Jersey Community Association Law
Here at Griffin Alexander, P.C., our attorneys boast decades of combined experience representing community association boards and their members in various legal matters (from transactional concerns to disputes with unit owners).
We are committed to the provision of truly client-oriented service. We form a close partnership with our clients, which gives us a significant informational advantage that we can leverage over the course of the dispute process. This level of engagement and transparency also ensures that clients have an opportunity to ask questions and get answers relating to their litigation concerns.
Ready to speak to an attorney who has experienced handling New Jersey community association law? Call 973-366-1188 or request an appointment through our website to speak to one of our attorneys today.
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The information in this Client Alert is provided solely for information purposes. It should not be construed as legal advice on any specific matter and is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship. The information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based upon particular circumstances. Each legal matter is unique, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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