We manage a number of associations and that means we have to read and understand a number of different association governing documents. Over the years we have seen the good, the bad and some just plain ugly governing documents.
Some of these documents have been around since the early days of the Condominium. They include out dated provisions that prohibit children, owners of certain religions and many more ugly provisions that are no longer enforceable from a time that is long since passed. These documents were often constructed by developers, to create special rights for themselves or to make it easier to sell units and make a profit.
These old documents are often hard to understand and require interpretation of legal counsel over simple matters like who has to replace the windows or doors to meet building code requirement. Worse yet many times when you ask two attorneys about something in the documents you get three opinions none of which answer the important question of who is responsible or what should the board do to deal with the problem.
So how do we fix this, get the old offending language out of the documents and get clean language that everyone can understand in its place. It’s not an easy process to fix and update your documents but in the end it is well worth the effort.
Start by having a meeting and reviewing the current documents. Be sure they meeting is conducted by a properly set-up committee and the meeting is properly noticed and open to all owners. Not only are open meetings required by law, but if you want this to work you need to get all owners to buy into the process. If the board decides to tackle this important task make sure those meeting are also properly noticed. Invite owner comments and participation and remember to respect everyone’s input.
You need to decide what you should keep as it stands from the existing documents, what needs some small changes to make it clearer, and what needs major revisions. Then take it one step at a time discussing what you want to accomplish in each section and how you can make it clear. The object here is not to get the legal language it’s to get the basics that you can then turn over to your legal counsel for review and revision.
It’s a long process that requires work and patience on everyone’s part. It also requires open communication with owners; this means not only telling them what you are doing but also listening to them and incorporating their ideas and wishes when they make sense. Even more important is explaining why their ideas won’t work when they don’t make sense without making it personal.
It may be helpful to work with your manager, former board members and to invite your legal counsel to join in once you have developed a frame work on the things that need to be changed and updated. Don’t let it get personal and talk about past violations or problems, make it all about making things better for everyone.
Once a draft of the revised documents is complete, provide everyone with a copy and allow plenty of time for comments. Hold a number of meetings to get additional comments and to find any objections. Remember a vote of the owners is required to approve the updated documents before they take effect and the number one reason that association can’t get the votes to make the important and necessary changes is that many owners just don’t understand what all the fuss is about, why change is necessary or what it is you are asking them to vote for. Owner education is important and to be successful you will have to speak to every owner and answer every question and help everyone to understand what they are being asked to approve and why. Those that don’t know or don’t understand just won’t ask and they won’t vote and you need every vote to make this work.
