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NO QUORUM NEEDED AT HOA ELECTION
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
December 18, 2015
When CCFJ succeeded in pushing H7119 through the Florida
Legislature in 2013 it closed one serious loophole in the
HOA election provisions.
This important sentence was added to FS 720.306(9)(a) ….
provided, however, that if the election
process allows candidates to be nominated in advance of the
meeting, the association is not required to allow nominations at
the meeting. An election is not required unless more candidates
are nominated than vacancies exist.
In former times sitting board members just stayed in power by
default – just because there was no quorum of 30% of the voting
interest (or less if allowed by the community’s governing
docs) at the meeting – in person or by proxy.
This new provision allows nominations in advance of the meeting
– and no quorum is needed to seat the candidates on the board if
there are no more candidates than open seats.
And even if there was no election the prior year due to lack of
quorum, the candidates have to file again for the next election.
See: Romano, Rosenman v.
Emerald Preserve-Sumerlin Homeowners Association, Inc.
So-called hold-over candidates don’t get automatically a 2-year
term.
Just look at the case of
TURNER vs. BUTLER FARMS
HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., (+
CLARIFICATION) combined with the
ROMANO,
ROSENMAN v. EMERALD PRESERVE-SUMERLIN HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION,
INC. ruling and you know why one candidate won the
whole election and has the right to appoint the complete board.
It normally ends bad if association attorney and community
association manager ignore existing laws.
Admittedly, HOA election provisions are difficult to understand,
but we are working hard in Tallahassee to improve the nonsense
initially created.
FAIR ELECTIONS ARE THE BASIS OF DEMOCRACY.
How much longer do we have to say: If entering a community
association you are leaving the AMERICAN ZONE.
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Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community
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associations. He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
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