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I believe our condo board may have illegally amended our bylaws.

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aacstar

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

The Florida Condo Act (F.S. 718.112 Bylaws. - (h) Amendment of bylaws) states: "If the bylaws fail to provide a method of amendment, the bylaws may be amended if the amendment is approved by the owners of not less than two-thirds of the voting interests.”

Our condo Bylaws - Article VI - Amendment to the Bylaws states: "Unless otherwise provided in the Condominium Act, the Declaration, or the Articles, these Bylaws may be amended by resolution adopted by a majority of the board of directors or by a majority of the voting members of the Association."

Our current board’s viewpoint is: Since our bylaws provides an amendment procedure, the requirement for a 2/3rds approval vote of the owners mentioned in the Condo Act is not applicable.

I disagree. It seems to me our bylaws’ sequence of procedure starts first with checking if a method of amendment is contained in the Condo Act (which it does; 2/3rds approval of membership); if none given, then one sees if any method is noted in our documents, in descending order. Then, and only then, if no such guidance, could the board consider amendment on its own.

I believe our Association is ignoring the first part of our bylaws amendment procedure: "Unless otherwise provided in the Condominium Act ..." and simply jumping to the last section stating that the board may itself amend our bylaws.

Do I have a valid point? If so, what, if any, are my resources as a unit owner?
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

The Florida Condo Act (F.S. 718.112 Bylaws. - (h) Amendment of bylaws) states: "If the bylaws fail to provide a method of amendment, the bylaws may be amended if the amendment is approved by the owners of not less than two-thirds of the voting interests.”

Our condo Bylaws - Article VI - Amendment to the Bylaws states: "Unless otherwise provided in the Condominium Act, the Declaration, or the Articles, these Bylaws may be amended by resolution adopted by a majority of the board of directors or by a majority of the voting members of the Association."

Our current board’s viewpoint is: Since our bylaws provides an amendment procedure, the requirement for a 2/3rds approval vote of the owners mentioned in the Condo Act is not applicable.

I disagree. It seems to me our bylaws’ sequence of procedure starts first with checking if a method of amendment is contained in the Condo Act (which it does; 2/3rds approval of membership); if none given, then one sees if any method is noted in our documents, in descending order. Then, and only then, if no such guidance, could the board consider amendment on its own.

I believe our Association is ignoring the first part of our bylaws amendment procedure: "Unless otherwise provided in the Condominium Act ..." and simply jumping to the last section stating that the board may itself amend our bylaws.

Do I have a valid point? If so, what, if any, are my resources as a unit owner?

**A: you may have a valid point but I did not review the applicable condo law. Check with the state condo specialist or a private attorney.
 

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