Is Your HOA Conducting Annual Membership Meetings?

State laws and the governing documents for homeowners associations typically mandate that the association hold annual membership meetings for various purposes which include the election of directors for the next year. The specifics for conducting the membership meetings are left to the association and are provided for in the association’s bylaws.

State laws also contain provisions to address what happens if an association fails or refuses to hold an annual membership meeting as required. Those laws allow for the association’s existing directors and/or members to seek a court order directing that the required membership meeting and election of directors be held.

The election of new directors at an annual membership meeting necessitates having a “quorum” of members at the membership meeting and the association’s governing documents will specify the number of members that must be present at a meeting for a quorum to exist. If a quorum of members is not achieved, association business, including the election of directors, cannot be continued and the meeting must be adjourned and continued to another date when a quorum of members is present. If the requisite quorum cannot be achieved at a future meeting, state laws allow for petitioning the court having jurisdiction over the association for an order reducing the number of members that is required to establish a quorum.