Forcing an HOA meeting?

Question

Say there is a homeowners association that is required by its bylaws to hold an annual meeting and, at that meeting, an election for board members. The board has the power to select the date of the annual meeting.

Say that the current board of the association declines to do this for some reason. Perhaps they just don't feel like doing the work of the board anymore, perhaps they moved away and didn't tell anyone.

What can an individual association member do to cause a meeting to occur?

Could a member ever be allowed to select a meeting date themselves, on the theory that the board hasn't and the meeting is required to occur, and then themselves organize a valid board election? Would the member need to sue the board or the association itself to compel them to act in accordance with the bylaws and hold the meeting? Or can the HOA corporation just get stuck, and one would need to find and hold another kind of meeting authorized by its bylaws (possibly requiring the signatures of a significant fraction of the membership) in order to un-stick it?

Answer 1

british-columbia

Under the province's Strata Property Act, owners can apply for a court order to require the strata corporation to hold the required meeting. See s. 165

On application of an owner, tenant, mortgagee of a strata lot or interested person, the Supreme Court may do one or more of the following:

(a)order the strata corporation to perform a duty it is required to perform under this Act, the bylaws or the rules; ...

Answer 2

The exact remedy will come down to the nitty gritty of the governing documents and the law of the jurisdiction where the HOA is located. One or the other or both usually set forth in great detail the process for an HOA member called meeting. This is one area where extremely fussy attention to the exact details of both the governing documents of the HOA and of the jurisdiction in question matters.

Sometimes, if this was ignored, or if the results of an HOA member called meeting were not treated as legitimate by the incumbent HOA board, a court could issue an order directing that a meeting be held , or declaring that the results of the HOA member called meeting were valid.

Answer 3

Application to NCAT

s20 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 says:

(1) The Tribunal may, on application by an owners corporation or an owner or mortgagee of a lot in a strata scheme, order a person to convene and hold a meeting of the owners corporation within the time specified in the order if a meeting has not been convened and held in accordance with this Act.

The Tribunal is the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.