Articles Posted in Meetings and Elections

The year-end holiday season is also the season in which most community associations celebrate their annual meetings and elections. But no matter when your community association celebrates its annual meeting and election, it is important to begin the planning and organizing process well in advance in order to help ensure the best possible outcome.

The work should begin with a thorough review of the roster of current owners for each of the residences. Ideally, it is best to organize the roster in numerical order by the unit numbers or addresses in order to facilitate the registration and ballot verification process.

While a title search of the county public records deed database is the most accurate means to verify ownership of the residences, a more economical approach would be to turn to the county’s property appraiser’s office to verify ownership. Once obtained, the records should be organized in a binder, together with copies of the deeds in the same order as the roster or sign-in sheet. Using dividers to separate each floor/street is also advisable, as it may help to facilitate the verification of ownership on the day of the meeting or election. For those communities that require voting certificates to be submitted on behalf of units owned by corporations, partnerships, other entities or by more than one individual (including for units owned by a married couple), it is important for the board or management to ensure that binders are well-organized with copies of the voting certificates that have been submitted to the association in the past – as such forms are typically valid until revoked, modified or rescinded and the votes for those units cannot be counted unless the association is in possession of the forms.

Proxies that are received prior to the meeting should be verified in order to help ensure that they are dated and signed by the owner or other qualified voting member. Verified proxies should be logged in on the sign-in sheet for the meeting, and a note should be included on the sheet indicating those who have been designated as the proxies for corresponding units in order to help ensure that the designated proxies sign-in on behalf of the appropriate residences. Proxies that are found to be questionable or incomplete during the validation process should be set aside for the association attorney to review, and the valid proxies should be organized in a folder in the same order as the sign-in sheet for reference at the time of the meeting.

For those associations that suspend the voting rights of owners delinquent in the payment of monetary obligations, well-documented records should be maintained to confirm that the voting rights were properly suspended and the association’s accounting records should be updated to ensure accurate records of the amounts owed by such owners.

In addition to closely adhering to all of the statutory notice requirements for the meeting, associations would be well advised to go beyond those minimum requirements in order to help maximize attendance and participation in the election. Telephone calls, emails, and door-to-door visits by the management staff are encouraged, as these efforts will help to ensure that all of the owners are made aware of the date and the importance of their making every effort to participate by voting in the election.

While applicable statutes may provide for the posting of the meeting notice at one designated location, some communities opt to post notices in a fairly prolific manner in order to broaden the opportunities for all of the owners to view it. For those communities, in addition to posting notices in the clubhouse and recreation rooms, communities should also consider posting them in the mail room, elevators, fitness center and any other appropriate spots through which the residents typically pass.

Another important strategy to maximize the attendance and participation of the membership is to include information on the importance of the annual meeting and election for the financial and administrative wellbeing of the association in all of the notices and communications.

My colleague Michael Chapnick with our firm’s West Palm Beach office recently posted a brief video in the “Community Chatter” page of our website about some of the best practices for associations to maximize the attendance and participation of their members. Click here to watch Michael’s video.

By starting the planning early and working closely with qualified community association legal counsel in order to follow all of the prescribed protocols, associations can help to ensure that their annual meeting and election are a resounding success and in full compliance with Florida law.

As the season for annual meetings and elections at South Florida community associations comes to a close, our firm’s other community association attorneys and I are reminded of the significance of following all of the necessary protocols to ensure that association meetings and elections run as smoothly as possible. This topic further serves as a priority to many of our community association clients, causing many of them to inquire about safeguarding their election procedures and other issues such as perceived discrepancies between statutory election guidelines and the related provisions of their associations’ governing documents.

Below is a recap of recommended best practices related to annual meeting and election procedures, many of which have been discussed in previous articles in this blog.

First, in an effort to promote participation and ensure voting by the qualified individuals, it is advisable that association management take the steps to verify that the association’s roster of owners is current and includes a description of all the individuals on title to the home or unit. The roster should further be organized in numerical order by unit numbers or addresses to facilitate the registration and ballot verification process. While a search of the county public records deed database is the most accurate source to verify ownership of units or homes, a more economical approach is to verify the ownership from the county’s property appraiser’s office. Once obtained, these records should be placed in a binder, together with copies of the deeds organized in the same order as the roster or sign-in sheet. Consider organizing the binder with dividers separating each floor/street, as this step may further facilitate the verification of ownership on the day of the meeting or election.

Proxies received prior to the meeting should be verified so as to ensure that they are dated and signed by the owner or other qualified voting member. Once the proxies have been verified, they should be logged in on the sign-in sheet. A note should be included on the sheet indicating the person who has been designated as the proxy for the corresponding unit, in order to ensure that the designated proxy signs-in at the meeting on behalf of the appropriate unit or home. If a proxy has a deficiency or is found to be questionable during the validation process, it should be set aside for the association attorney to review.

Additionally, the period between the proxy verification process and the time of the meeting may be used to enable the unit owner to cure any defects or resolve problems that may have been identified with regard to the proxy form. The valid proxies should be organized in a folder in the same order as the sign-in sheet for reference at the time of the meeting.

Ballots received in advance of the election should be organized in the order of the roster. The board should further consider appointing an independent committee to validate that the outer ballot envelopes have been properly executed and signed by the qualified voter(s) prior to the scheduled time of the election. This process will serve to further streamline the ballot validation process, which would otherwise have to be performed at the time of the meeting. Bear in mind that outer ballot envelopes may not be opened prior to the meeting.

It is important to remember that unlike proxies, voting certificates do not expire unless they are rescinded or replaced by another voting certificate. As such, a voting certificate binder should be organized in numerical order by unit or lot number or by street address of the unit or lot. As the voting certificates tend to remain valid until rescinded or as otherwise specified above, those received for the scheduled meeting or election should be included in the binder as replacements for any voting certificates previously provided for corresponding units or lots. Voting certificates are typically required for all units owned by multiple individuals or by a corporation or other legal entity. However, we caution that many community association documents require that voting certificates be submitted for units owned by husband and wife as well.

The executed Proof of Notice Affidavit for the annual meeting should also be available at the meeting. In addition, be sure to have plenty of blank ballots, envelopes (inner and outer ballot envelopes) and voting certificates on hand at the election for use by any owner who has lost or misplaced their ballot or voting certificate and would like to cast a ballot in person at the election.

By adhering to these suggested best practices, working with qualified community association legal counsel and following all of the other prescribed protocols for the annual meeting and election, associations can help to ensure that their elections are in compliance with Florida law.