[Janet]

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We have elected 4 new members of our 7-member BOD. There is an item on their agenda which ‘reverses’ a decision by the previous BOD. They
have been challenged by one of the BOD members who had been ‘appointed’ to the BOD last year, that they cannot ‘legally’ reverse something
already voted on. We are property owner’s association in the State of Florida, and there is also an issue as to if we should be following
Florida Statute 720 or 712. Anyway, I have never heard of doing something like this. It’s not as if the owners had voted on it. I just
can’t wrap my head around this issue. Looking for some advice from this group. Your opinions have always provided clarity.

[TheWarrant]

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First thing is to determine if the BOD was within its rights to make the decision without membership voting. If it was able to take action without a membership vote, the new BOD can certainly reverse the decision.

Second – if the BOD had the decision voted on by the membership and it was a legal vote, to reverse it, the new BOD needs membership approval and a new vote must be taken.

Lastly – If the old BOD made a decision without a required membership vote, then that was illegal to do so and the new BOD is ‘righting a wrong.’ Well within their purview.

Check your CC&R’s and your Articles of Incorporation Bylaws for the limits of the decision making of the BOD for the precise answer.

[Janet]

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Thank you for your response.

Technically, the BOD was within their rights to vote on the issue since it was regarding a ‘capital expense’ item, which according to our CC&Rs and Bylaws which states that a vote is only needed ‘if it requires a special assessment to pay for it. There is/was money in the budget without needing a special assessment. BUT, and yes there is a BUT, it was pay for a new ‘amenity’ to be built in a ‘common area’ which according to our documents, are for the ‘enjoyment of owners’. The underlying recommendation for the new amenity was to ‘improve summertime occupancy of rental guests. It should be noted, that there has been no formal survey, ROI business case, to justify the expense.

As stated in my post, no owner vote was taken yet is had been brought up at a previous Annual Owners meeting that a ‘vote of owners’ would be taken under consideration and at one point the BOD did agree to let the owners vote (as documented in Meeting Minutes BUT, at the next meeting, that decision was ‘rescinded’ due to the clause in our by-laws about only need a vote if a capital expense required a special assessment.

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