Board Members – Owners

BOARD MEMBERS LIMITED TO OWNERS
MANDATES THAT THE ASSOCIATION’S
BOARD OF DIRECTORS BE HOMEOWNERS

Name not on Title?
No Vote.

Some association documents permit persons others than owners to be a member of the association’s Board of Directors. Where a person is not an owner, it is doubtful that this person would have the right to vote even if the person were a board member.

When considering and voting on issues that impact the value and enjoyment of property, “owners” often perceive matters much differently than “nonowners”, especially when the concerns have monetary ramifications, therefore only owners should be a member of the Board of Directors. Moreover, unit owners may be more inclined to plan for the future, while nonowners may only be concerned with immediate issues.

In order to remedy this situation, it may be necessary to amend your document(s). Check your Articles of Incorporation, CC&Rs, Bylaws. In the event your documents are silent on the issue, you may want to include a section in your Rules & Regulations that addresses this subject. Preferably, it is recommended that your CC&Rs or Bylaws be amended, but this is not always easy. Therefore, in order to represent the intent of the association, a motion in the minutes and a section in the Rules & Regulations indicating that Members of the Board of Directors Shall be an owner of record, may solve this problem.

Another consideration is that voting rights are only offered to persons on the title of the property. Therefore, if a person is not an owner, it is doubtful that this person would have the right to vote even if the person were a board member.