J.G. from outside of Connecticut writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
We drafted new CC&Rs and mailed ballots to owners late last year, but we’ve only received 51% of the ballots, which the management company can’t even open until we reach 67%, and even then, we don’t want to open them because once we do, we can’t count ballots that continue to arrive, plus because we need 67% in favor to pass, it’d have to be unanimous if we started counting. So, we really need more like 85% or greater ballots. We’ve sent out additional letters and ballots using different wording, short and long, but only coaxed one more ballot back. Our management company said some other HOAs try enticements to vote, like a free $15 certificate at a store or ice cream, etc. What enticements or wording have you seen work to get reluctant owners to vote?
Mister Condo replies:
J.G., how sad is it that we have to entice unit owners to avail themselves of their right to vote on something as important as an amendment to their CC&Rs? I am not familiar with your provision that once you start opening any ballots that you cannot continue to collect and open more. I have never heard of that before. Kindly check with your association attorney to make sure you fully understand the ballot process. Typically, you can review and keep track of where you are as you go along. That should help speed up the process significantly and let the Board know exactly how many more ballots they need to achieve the acceptable 67% quorum needed to ratify the CC&R change. That being said, there really aren’t any reasons you couldn’t encourage unit owners to submit their ballots. I am not a fan of gift cards but community get-togethers can be quite effective and offer all community members a chance to socialize. You could bring in a local politician or celebrity to encourage attendance. You could certainly offer food or entertainment at the event. As long as you aren’t in violation of your governance documents, the sky is the limit. The good news is that you shouldn’t have to do this again any time soon. CC&Rs aren’t rewritten very often. Hopefully, this is a “one and done” event for the Board. All the best!