Rews

I'm less concerned about the meeting date being revised to Oct 5 from Sep and that date not being in the stated month in the bylaws. My greater issues are; 1) the board probably didn't call itself a meeting to revise the date or make a motion, someone probably just said "we need to change it because no one can make it" and it may have just been a the secretary and president doing so, and 2) revising the date of the original within 6 days of it ignores the spirit of the 10-day notification. If a board can do that, then what's wrong with cancelling or revising the date 5 min before the meeting? I know that to answer my questions (thanks to all for your helpful information) it would certainly be helpful for all to have the bylaws, but this is as much about the spirit of the bylaws and Roberts, and a board or its leadership using the bylaws as the rules of the road and then not following any of them. Thanks

While everything in the upcoming Oct 5 meeting will be null and void and I cannot attend to discuss at that time (I had the Sep 20 in my schedule), I plan on letting the board make its mistake and then make them aware of the error after the fact, so they can sort it out. As I told the Secretary and President in an email, I wouldn't make such a big deal out this if the biggest issue the board and membership faced was whether to serve leaded or unleaded eggnog at the annual holiday party, but it the board has authorities that can have serious legal and financial consequences, so following the rules is important. I've not had a response to anything I've sent other than, Sorry we had to change the meeting date... Thanks to all for the quick and informative responses!

Thank you for the response.

Gentlemen (Merritt & Lages), Thank you for your quick, thoughtful, and informative replies. I have chaired boards and governance committees, yet have never encountered a board that is so lax in its governance processes, yet uses the threat of fines, sanctions, and liens on properties, all available in the bylaws, to "police" the HOA members. This is my first HOA and maybe this casual or uniformed approach is the norm, but it seems risky for the board to not pay attention to their own and Roberts rules (the bylaws expressly state Roberts governing). I was shocked to receive the revised date and so close to the original that my gut told me the original Sep 20 meeting should have been held, called to order, attendance taken, and if a quorum wasn't present then adjourn after setting the new time, even if that falls outside of September. The bylaws have procedures for lacking a quorum. To not have held the meeting and notified of the new date only 6 days before that original date felt like a breach of Roberts and the bylaws. Furthermore, it is unclear to me if the meeting called for on new date, Oct 5 was probably not properly authorized by a board vote, and thus may make it or anything voted on during it, invalid. My limited or new experience with this board and certainly the annual meeting is treated more like a party with invitations and RSVP's than a requirement of the governance of the HOA. Thank you again for your informative responses, Robert

My HOA requires an annual meeting of the members to be held in September each year. The notification of the meeting date, place, time are required to be provided to the members not less than 10 before the meeting date and no further out than 60 days before; a 50-day window to notify of the meeting that's not less than or within 10 before. This year the Secretary sent out the notification on August 16 for a September 20 meeting. In her email notification she requests members respond with their anticipated attendance, much like an RSVP. On September 14 (6 days before the scheduled meeting) the Secretary sent out a notification that because it appeared insufficient attendance to achieve a quorum would occur and because 2 of the 25 HOA members were moving that day, the meeting was being "moved" to October 5. 1) Is it possible [for the board] to "move" i.e., change the date of an annual meeting where the members have already been notified? And do so within less than 10 days before original meeting schedule date? Wouldn't the original meeting need to be held, attendance taken, and if it is determined a quorum is not achieved then the procedures outlined in the bylaws followed? 2) To have made the notification of the meeting, would the board have been required to approve a resolution or motion to have the specifics of the Sep 20 meeting with this occurring in one of its properly called to order board meetings, and if it does have the authority to to change the date would it have been required to call and hold a special meeting of the board to address this issue? 3) Can the annual meeting be held in a month not expressly stated in the bylaws (September) Thanks for any input.