Spouse Signs Petition

Started by GaryR6 • 9 replies • 1920 views

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GaryR6 (Connecticut)
Posts: 33

Posted:

I live in a HOA in Connecticut. We recently had a petition signed in the community to vote on the removal of certian board members. Several of the unit owners were not home at the time the petition was circulated. Several of the unit owners spouses signed the petition. In Chapter 828 of the Connecticut state stutate, it states that representatives can sign petitions. It does not state that a proxy has to be signed for this action.

The opposing board is stating that we had to have proxies signed to allow the spouses to sign. Well, in the last several years, several of these
spouses / children of the deeded unit owners have voted and served on the board with NO proxies. Now that these board members have been voted off they are using this arguement. Can anyone give some advice.

Thanks
Gary

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,046

Posted:

Unfortunately the argument is sound.

Many boards in the middle of a recall want to make it difficult and will insist on the rules being followed to the letter (even if they weren't in the past)

Therefore, If the spouse is on the deed, then they would be considered a member.
However, if the spouse is not on the deed, then the only way for the Association to know that they are the duly appointed representative for that lot would be by a proxy or letter designating them as the representative in this issue.

Did your recall committee request and receive a copy of the membership list prior to getting the petitions signed? If you did and the list shows both names - then an argument can be made that the board has recognized them as members. If you didn't, mark it up to a lesson learned and go back for with a proxy form in hand (or better yet, have the actual owner sign the petition).

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

Gary - what does the petition say? 'The following members . . ."?

I am assuming that the petition was only to force the call of a meeting for an actual vote to remove, right?

BonnieG1 (Nebraska)
Posts: 1,186

Posted:

Our documents read that members can be spouses of owners. We had a President at one time who was not on the deed, but his wife was. Since he was a spouse of an owner he was also considered a member.

BruceF1 (Connecticut)
Posts: 2,535

Posted:

Chapter 828 - Connecticut Common Interest Ownership Act (CCIOA)

"Sec. 47-261d. Removal of officers and directors. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of the declaration or bylaws to the contrary, unit owners present in person or by proxy at any meeting of the unit owners at which a quorum is present, or voting by ballot pursuant to subsection (d) of section 47-252, may remove any member of the executive board or any officer elected by the unit owners, with or without cause, if the number of votes cast in favor of removal exceeds the number of votes cast in opposition to removal, except that: (1) A member appointed by the declarant may not be removed by a vote of the unit owners during the period of declarant control; (2) a member appointed under subsection (g) of section 47-245 may be removed only by the person that appointed that member; and (3) the unit owners may not consider whether to remove a member of the executive board or an officer elected by the unit owners at a meeting of the unit owners unless that subject was listed in the notice of the meeting or in the notice of the vote by ballot."

To remove directors, a meeting of the unit owners is required at which a quorum is present and a vote is required, either by a unit owner in person or by a proxy. No mention of a "representative."

"Sec. 47-250. Meetings. Rules. (a) The following requirements apply to unit owner meetings:"

"(2) An association shall hold a special meeting of unit owners if its president, a majority of the executive board, or unit owners having at least twenty per cent, or any lower percentage specified in the bylaws, of the votes in the association request that the secretary call the meeting. If the association does not notify unit owners of a special meeting within fifteen days after the requisite number or percentage of unit owners request the secretary to do so, the requesting members may directly notify the unit owners of the meeting. Only matters described in the meeting notice required by subdivision (3) of this subsection may be considered at a special meeting;"

Twenty percent (or less, if specified in the bylaws) of the unit owners may request (petition) the secretary to call a special meeting (as for the removal of directors). No mention of a "proxy" or "representative."

"Sec. 47-252. Voting. Proxies. Ballots. (a) Unless prohibited or limited by the declaration or bylaws, unit owners may vote at a meeting in person, by a proxy pursuant to subsection (c) of this section or, when a vote is conducted without a meeting, by electronic or paper ballot pursuant to subsection (d) of this section."

"(b) At a meeting of unit owners the following requirements apply:"

"(1) If only one of several owners of a unit is present at a meeting of the association, that owner is entitled to cast all the votes allocated to that unit. If more than one of the owners are present, the votes allocated to that unit may be cast only in accordance with the agreement of a majority in interest of the owners, unless the declaration expressly provides otherwise. There is majority agreement if any one of the owners casts the votes allocated to the unit without protest being made promptly to the person presiding over the meeting by any of the other owners of the unit."

Thus, if both spouses are listed on the deed, both are owners and either may sign the petition; otherwise, no.

BruceF1 (Connecticut)
Posts: 2,535

Posted:

My guess is that it is likely more common to find both spouses names on the deed than to find only one spouse's name on the deed as this avoids problems in the event of the death of one of the spouses. If both names are on the deed, then both are owners and either can sign the petition.

Suggestions:

1. When collecting signatures, ask if the spouse who is signing is listed on the deed. If yes, he or she can sign. If no, return later when the other spouse is available.

2. Since Chapter 828 requires only 20% of the votes in the association (usually one vote per unit) to call a meeting, then collect more than 20% as "insurance" in the event some of the signatures may be invalid.

BruceF1 (Connecticut)
Posts: 2,535

Posted:

Gary,

By the way, in Connecticut it should be easy to verify the signatures and unit ownership. Simply go to your town or city hall and check the tax records. Also, for most CT cities and towns you can probably do this on-line. All you need is either one of the names or the street address.

GaryR6 (Connecticut)
Posts: 33

Posted:

Thanks Bruce:

Several problems have been addressed during the reviewing of these petitions

1) One of the owners had put the unit in her sons name, the son has passed and the original unit owner(mother) is the administrator of the estate, in which she pay's all taxes, condo fees, and mortgage. The association was still billing the unit in her name, they never changed it to her sons.

2) Another unit owner testified under aoth that she allowed her husband to vote for her, with his signature and her permission.

3) The third questionable signature was a couple in a divorce, the husband had put the deed in his wife's name---meanwhile the wife signed puchased another unit and left the husband in the 1st unit---he paid all taxes, mortgage, and associaiton bill--common charges, bills etc. all still in his name--the divorce decree returned the unit deed back into the husband name.

this is our dilemma---the spouses testified under oath to these actions.

The board we voted off --who in the past--- entitled these spouses to vote in person for their units is fighting these testimonies

any feedback

this board --- really only controlled by a few of the nine board group is refusing to step down.

thanks
Gary

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,046

Posted:

Gary,

This is a situation where the Board has the final say unless you (or someone) wants to challenge it in a court of law. It is possible that a simple letter from an attorney may have them back off or may cause them to fight harder.

I would suggest having the vote and if people were not allowed to vote that should have, to challenge the results.

BruceF1 (Connecticut)
Posts: 2,535

Posted:

Gary,

Well, this really makes things complicated. It's possible the only way this might be settled is in a court of law, and it's probably anybody's guess how that will turn out.

A few observations and questions, though:

1. Has the vote already been held? Your statement, "the board we voted off" makes it appear so. Signing the petition alone is not sufficient to "vote the board off." The secretary has to first call a meeting for the purpose of recall. If the secretary is refusing to call the meeting on the grounds there are not enough valid signatures on the petition, then I would suggest circulating the petition again, making sure you have more than enough signatures to account for some of them being declared invalid. If, under those circumstances the secretary still refuses to call the meeting, according to CT law, the owners who signed the petition have the right to call the meeting themselves.

2. Your board, at nine members, sounds huge. Most CT towns and cities don't have town or city councils that large. Why does an HOA need one?

3. You say your 9-member board is controlled by only the few members who are being recalled. What is meant by "a few." If it is a minority (4 members or less) of the board, how do they manage to have control of the board? I guess I don't understand this. If it is truly only a minority of the board who refuse to step down, the solution is simple. a.) If any of those board members are officers, the remaining (majority) board members removes them from office. b.) Refuse to acknowledge them as board members during board meetings. c.) They lose their right to debate and to vote at board meetings.

4. If proper procedures were followed and the petition, and vote, is valid, the HOA attorney should honor the recall. Otherwise, he could be subject to sanctions up to an including being disbarred.

5. Once you have a petition to call a special meeting that you can prove it has enough valid signatures, you can call a special meeting to hold a recall vote if the secretary refuses to do so. Then, assuming that there are sufficient homeowners who vote for recall, you should have a winnable case.

6. If the secretary called a meeting based on your petition and if the vote was sufficient to recall certain members of the board, it may be too late for the recalled board members to challenge the petition since the recall vote has already taken place.

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