Owner Meeting Petitions  Continued From Page 27


If a board receives a petition demanding a special meeting, the request should be taken seriously.


Processing Meeting Petitions


Upon receiving a petition for a special meeting, consider reviewing the petition for three key categories of information. First, check what percentage of members, votes or allocated interests are required to petition for a meeting. You need to know the threshold in order to confirm if it was met. Problems can arise if spouses or co-owners of the same unit or lot have each signed the petition, or if tenants have signed instead of the owner. Depending on the association’s position regarding these issues, the petition may not satisfy the minimum signature requirements.


Problems can arise if co-owners of the same unit have signed the petition, or if tenants have signed.


Second, are the petitioners demanding a meeting for a certain date, time, or place? Often, such demands ignore the required governing document or statutory notice time periods, meaning, if the board were to simply call the meeting for the date requested, the meeting might not be valid. The location demanded by the petition may be unsuitable for a meeting, or the suggested electronic forum may lack the required log-in info or virtual attendance capacity. While a board should do its best to accommodate a validly requested meeting, it may be impossible to call a legitimate association meeting by complying with all of the petitioners’ demands.


Communicating with the owners‘ designated point person can help overcome logistical conflicts.


In such a case, communicating with the owners or their designated point person can help overcome logistical conflicts ensuring the meeting is scheduled for a suitable


28 Community Associations Journal | November–December 2022


date and place. Ultimately, if a meeting must be called, it should be properly called; typically the board has the final say on the time, date and location and controls the meeting notice process.


Required Notifications


Many governing documents require that the notice of a special meeting contain any items on the agenda proposed for a vote by the owners. The Condominium Act and the HOA Act specifically require items for vote to be listed in the notice. WUCIOA requires the notice to contain an agenda with certain items disclosed (RCW 64.90.445(1)(c)). If the requested meeting also demands a vote on an issue, a board or manager should consider the vote requested before preparing the notices. This is the third category of essential information to consider: What issue or topic is the meeting called to address? If the meeting is demanded for owners to discuss an issue, calling such a meeting should be straightforward. However, if the petition demands a vote on a particular matter, additional analysis is required.


Limitations to the Ownership Vote A commonly held misconception is that any issue can


be placed in front of the ownership for vote. However, many association issues are simply not within the purview of the ownership to decide. Examples might include (1) a demand for a special meeting to vote on terminating a construction or other association contract; (2) a demand for a vote to force the board to lower assessments or cancel a ratified special assessment; or (3) a demand for a vote to impose a rule restricting rentals.


A commonly held misconception is that any issue can be placed in front of the ownership for vote.


Examples Explained In example (1), generally the power to contract is


reserved as a power to be exercised by the board, which means owners typically have no authority to force a vote on this type of matter. If a simple majority of a quorum could force a vote to terminate an association contract, not only could the association be subject to damages for breach under that contract, but service providers might be wary of entering a contract with an association in the first place. In example (2), assessments are set by a budget ratified by following the required statutory procedures, so it would


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