Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Quorum

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

Useful information; thank you.

At our 32 unit urban coho, at any point in time, we find that some portion of 
the units are occupied by tenants, or that some owners are away in extended 
travel, or that the unit is vacant and on the market.  We chose the number 14 
units as minimum because it seemed like about half of all the units that might 
reasonably be expected to participate.

We are trying to escape proxies in order to encourage more face-to-face 
interaction, and to benefit from the flexibility of being able to amend 
proposals on the spot, rather than re-issue them to another meeting because of 
an amendment.  Our interpretation is that proxies are good only for the exact 
proposal as published prior to the meeting, and are void if the proposal is 
changed on the fly.

RPD

Sent from my iPad

On May 12, 2013, at 11:58 AM, David Clements and Evan Richardson <evdavwes [at] 
aol.com> wrote:

> 
> Our Quorum (at Westwood Cohousing) is a majority of households (owners).   We 
> have 24 owners, so 13 owners must be present in person or by proxy for 
> decisions to be made.  
> 
> 
> To amend the declaration (similar to your CC&R) requires 75% of the owners 
> present at a legitimate meeting.  So, 10 members voting yes (in person or by 
> proxy)  out of 13 present (in person or by proxy).
> 
> 
> To amend our bylaws we require consensus in a legitimate meeting (ie 13 
> members present in person or by proxy).  If consensus fails, 75% vote is the 
> alternative (ie, 10 members (in person or by proxy) out of 13 members present 
> (in person or by proxy).  
> 
> 
> I stress the proxy because that is the standard way Homeowners Associations 
> (HOA) make sure there are enough members at a meeting to make decisions.  
> Proxies are especially important if there are owners who do not live in the 
> community or who choose not to participate.  
> 
> 
> Proxies can be just for the purpose of establishing a quorum or for votes for 
> or against a measure.  In North Carolina's "standard" proxy, an owner will 
> give another person the authority to vote on their behalf, and is valid for 
> 11 months ( ref 
> http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter_55a.html
>  ).  The proxy can direct the other person to vote in a particular way, but 
> does not need to.   HOA's are free to establish other rules for proxies (such 
> rules would be found in the bylaws-- for example, not allowing proxies at 
> all, or allowing proxies only to establish a quorum, or requiring that the 
> Board "vote" all proxies).   Our HOA has established no rules for proxies, so 
> the NC law requires us to honor all proxies that conform to the "standard" 
> rules.  (I note that some of our members think that we shouldn't allow 
> proxies or should allow them only for quorum, not for voting.   However, this 
> has never been brought up or decided in our community
> )
> 
> 
> In North Carolina, the "standard" quorum for HOA member meetings is 10% of 
> members (ref 
> http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByChapter/Chapter_47f.html
>  ).  HOA's are free to  choose any other quorum (by specifying this in the 
> bylaws).    The "standard" is in no way a "best practice," but is the default 
> if nothing different is specified.  
> 
> 
> One suggestion for amending the bylaws in minor ways would be assemble a 
> collection of minor proposed changes and have a special meeting, for which 
> proxies are solicited.  Those who might otherwise hesitate to give someone 
> else the right to vote on their behalf might be willing to give a proxy for 
> this one item.  
> 
> 
> Disclaimer:  I am not a lawyer, but have researched what the rules are in NC. 
>  Other states may be different.  
> 
> 
> David Clements
> 
> 
>