Condo Association Management Blog

Your answer should be in your by laws and in your styate's condominium act

Yes, they do lose their voting rights.

I can speak to the State of Florida and say that the Statute does support suspending voting rights for units that are more than 90 days delinquent. There is however a process that must be followed to make the suspension legitimate and correct. In Florida one benefit of this is that our law changed in July of this year to be specific in the fact that not only were they not allowed to vote, but they are also no longer counted towards the quorum requirement. Prior to this change in July we could suspend their voting but we had to depend on the individual Declaration to determine whether or not the quorum was affected by this action. The clarification to the law was a welcomed change!  
 
 
 
Dixie L. Carlotti, LCAM 
 
Director of Association Services 
 

Check your bylaws and CC&Rs. Most likely they lose their voting rights, but that doesn't mean that they vote NO. They simply can't vote.

I live in WA State. Our Declaration does not remove voting rights from delinquent owners, but is does allow the bank to claim the right to vote for the delinquent units that it holds a mortgage on. We could amend our governing documents to suspend voting rights of delinquent units, but we have too many vacant units in foreclosure for that to have passed when it was brought up for a vote.  
 
Read your governing documents and state law to find out what is so for your condo and for the state in which you live.  
 
Good luck!

If your state does not have a specific statute, your governing may have a provision for putting a member into "bad standing". Ususally, owners in bad standing do NOT have certain rights including the ability to vote. If they are unable to vote due to their bad standing, you should consult the association's attorney to determine if the total number of voting units alters the amount of votes you need. Thus by reducing tyhe total number of voting units to 145 (152-7), 75% becomes 109 etc.

If it is in your bylaws or master deed and supported by your state laws, only then can your Board suspend the voting privlages (and other use privlages if so provided for in your bylaws) of the delinquent owner.

If your gov docs state a member who is delinquent loses his right to vote, the article on voting would say: "members eligible to vote". But if the article on quorum requirements says: "a majority of all members" then those who are not eligible to vote must be counted for quorum purposes. Check the wording in your bylaws very carefully and also state law which would override what your bylaws say.

In NJ the answer is "YES"

As has been stated - read your docs and your State laws. However there is a difference between voting for board members or assessment issues vs counting for quorum on document amendment issues. 
 
In many states the Court of Special Appeals (or similar court may have issued a ruling that losing the right to vote in normal business issues is not the same as in document amendments. For purpose of quorum, in effect, the non-voting member is the same as casting a NO vote on the item being considered. In some cases, the "court" has ruled that in this specific area all members are entitled to vote on the issue.  
 
Your association needs to carefully follow the instructions of your legal counsel.  
 

Sounds like you may have 2 issues here: What do your bylaws and CCR's say about the Boards authority to make changes to the common areas? What are you trying to change? Do you even need the owners to vote on the changes?  
 
Also, check your State condo laws you may already have to authority to make the changes since State laws supercede your documents. 
 
Your bylaws and CCR's should also have a specific section to fully explain voting rights. Our section is so specific that it even details that all fees must be current at least 3 days before the annual meeting or special vote or the owner is not permitted to vote.

Here in NJ, our governing documents state that anyone who is not in "Good Standing" meaning they owe the Assn. fees or dues. cannot vote and may also lose their assigned parking space etc.