Bi-Law Rental Restriction Change - Correct Process?

[Nandrew]

I just received a notice for a special meeting to vote on an ammendment to the bi-laws which change the conditions of the rental terms in our HOA.  There has been no formal discussion in previous meetings around this topic or any documentation from previous meetings.  The ammendment change and announcement for the special meeting was just sent to the HOA with the standard yes/no or proxy option.  95% of our community will be forced to submit a yes or no vote on the ammendment since our HOA consists of winter residents only and most have moved back home.  

It is my understanding while the BOD and President followed proper procedure since they must have proposed the ammendment and submitted the change.  Members will not have an opportunity to discuss, make a change, or even create a motion to form a committee to do due diligence.

Am I correct in stating that they are following proper procedure and there is nothing we can do as homeowners to at least create a forum for discussion?  It feels this is being pushed through for personal reasons versus what the community may want.  It appears they will be able to obtain a 2/3 majority vote on the bi-law change although everyone seems very disappointed on how this transpired.

Any advice I could give our community to make the process more inclusive moving forward would be appreciated!  It's always been my understanding that RONR should create a forum for fair discussion versus a few pushing their agenda through.  

 

 

[Atul Kapur]

What do your bylaws say about how such decisions can be made. RONR is based on a physical meeting of a deliberative assembly, but the bylaws are superior and may set up any sort of decision-making system.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 4/16/2023 at 4:27 PM, Nandrew said:

Any advice I could give our community to make the process more inclusive moving forward would be appreciated! 

The advice I would give is that if they desire to be included in the process, and have the opportunity to discuss, amend, or refer the question to a committee, they should vote No on the current proposal and make their views known on any new one.

To paraphrase Frederick Douglass, if you discover the limit of what people will put up with, you then know the limit of what they will have to put  up with.

[Josh Martin]

On 4/16/2023 at 3:27 PM, Nandrew said:

Am I correct in stating that they are following proper procedure and there is nothing we can do as homeowners to at least create a forum for discussion?

I don't know. What do your procedures say on this matter?

RONR does not permit voting by proxy, but since this is an HOA, I strongly suspect that applicable law permits (and even requires) the HOA to permit proxy voting.

To the extent proper procedures are being followed, I think it is correct that it will at least be very difficult for homeowners to "create a forum for discussion," for both procedural and practical reasons, due to the fact that the vast majority of the residents will not be in attendance at the meeting.

On 4/16/2023 at 3:27 PM, Nandrew said:

Any advice I could give our community to make the process more inclusive moving forward would be appreciated!

Two ideas which occur to me would be:

• Limit the times at which certain matters could be proposed (so that more residents are likely to be available)
• Require some "forum for discussion" outside of a formal meeting prior to the vote - a Zoom meeting, an online discussion forum, or whatever

Certainly, this is not an exhaustive list. Ultimately, such matters are up to the organization to decide for itself. Since HOAs tend to be heavily regulated by applicable law, however, I'd also advise double-checking that these rules (particularly the first one) would not conflict with such laws.

[puzzling]

I would suggest to go to the site of the home owners protection bureau www.hopb.co gives lots of legal information and links on his laws and legal support