Avoid Issuing Defective Annual Meeting Notices
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
If you are a Member of your board of directors, every year, you should be holding an annual meeting for your membership. The annual meeting is necessary for corporate governance and to elect board members each year in accordance with your bylaws or code of regulations.
However, if the notice of your annual meeting is defective in any way, this can open up the meeting to challenge by members who are aggrieved in some way and see fit to challenge the results of your annual meeting.
As such, it is necessary to follow these guidelines in order to have an effective notice and enforceable annual meeting in the state of Ohio for either a condominium association or a homeowners association:
1. Ensure that the meeting notice is sent to all owners of record. The notice should be sent to the last address of record that the association has for that particular owner.
2. Electronic notices are not permissible unless you have received prior authorization from that specific owner that they are opting into electronic notices.
3. The association’s bylaws will dictate when the notice must be sent to the members. Many bylaws state that the notice of the annual meeting must be sent between 7 and 60 days prior to the meeting date, but consult your specific documents for the exact timeframe.
4. Keep in mind that for notices that are mailed, the effective date of the mailing is the date that they are placed into the mailbox for dispatch.
5. Only items that are addressed on the agenda may be voted upon and discussed at the annual meeting. For example, the election of a board member would be an anticipated subject for vote at any annual meeting. However, the approval of a special assessment or the approval of a capital improvement project that requires a membership vote must be specifically dictated on the notice in order to be voted upon at the annual meeting.
6. The annual meeting cannot take place via electronic video communication unless your bylaws specifically permit meetings to be held by electronic communication.
It is important to ensure that you follow these guidelines and those set forth in your bylaws, as any challenge to the annual meeting where board members are elected could result in the overturning of decisions by those specific board members elected at that meeting if a court determines that the meeting itself was improperly noticed, therefore, null and void.
