Reversing or Repealing and Rule or Regulation created by the Board of Directors
Hi Dennis,
I have reviewed the bylaws and declarations for our HOA. Short of overturning the Board, it appears there is no mechanism for a homeowner or group of homeowners to stop a rule before it takes effect, nor was I able to find any means by which members might reverse a recent rule change or other decisions of the Board.
There is a rule reversal process in California Civil Code 4365: “Members of an association owning five (5) percent or more of the separate interests may call a special vote of the members to reverse a rule change.
A special vote of the members may be called by delivering a written request to the association. Not less than 35 days nor more than 90 days after receipt of a proper request, the association shall hold a vote of the members on whether to reverse the rule change,…”
Are you aware of any AZ statute that would allow members to reverse or repeal new rules or regulations created by a Board?
If not, I assume this is a procedure that might be added to the individual HOA’s Bylaws (so hard though).
Any plans to introduce any rules outlining a process where homeowners might repeal rules or regulations recently adopted by a Board in the future as part of your HOA advocacy work?
About Post Author
1 Response
Leave a Reply to Dennis Legere Cancel Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Eva;
You are correct there is no specific statute addressing this issue in Arizona. Arizona and most CC&R’s do allow homeowners to call for a special meeting of the members to conduct any business of the members. There is nothing that stop a community from petitioning for a special meeting of the members to reverse a board decision or rule. if you first get the necessary petition signatures and they can make sure that a quorum responds in person any by absentee ballot and prevail on the vote then as a non attorney believe that you can reverse any decision of the board that the members elected and put in place. If you have accomplished this and the board ignores this, you have already demonstrated the capability to do everything that is required to remove the entire board and replace them with community members that actually listen to their community. The petition and quorum requirements are less restrictive on a vote to remove the board than are required for a special meeting called by the members.
While the board is empowered to act for the association it still has the fundamental duty to act in the best interest of the community and simply ignoring the expressed wishes of the community because of a God complex by board members simply begs for removal of that entire board. You have that power now utilize it.
We have several priorities for legislative action in the future but are always open for more suggestions and i’ll see how i can factor them into our plans and capabilities in the future. I need resale disclosure reform and i need open meeting and voting reform to allow homeowners complete transparency in the conduct of business in their communities and to protect the fundamental right for each homeowner to vote and to have his/her vote counted relative to community business. We also have to find legislation to protect the freedom of speech for all homeowners relative to community business like advertising for informal member meeting or expressing opposing position to board actions or even posting signs for or against board candidates. Most associations ban all these actions in an effort to suppress any opposition to their proposed actions or candidates. They control the information stream and the communication techniques that can be used by the community to promote their agenda.
To empower the community these are our highest priorities.
Dennis