Condo Media - May 2021 - 25

Brawley says the condo
communities she's working with
are making liberal use of Zoom
meetings, including votes, despite
the insistence of some attorneys,
including Eriksen, that actions
taken at such meetings may be
subject to legal challenge. On this,

That, maintains Brawley, is easier
said than done. She says the main reason communities seldom review and
update their bylaws comes down to
the difficulty of turning out the vote
required to make changes. " Getting
a vote to approve that meets the
threshold of 51 percent is difficult -

" A lot of condominium documents in New England are
decades old; and that doesn't mean that they're broken,
but it means that there may be certain things worth
reviewing with management and maybe with legal counsel
to see what areas require some revision or some updating. "
Eriksen says, many state statutes
do not specifically allow boards
and unit owners to have electronic
meetings. However, he adds, the
governing documents determine
the association's level of flexibility.
" If you have a specific provision
in your association documents
that allows you to conduct your
meetings electronically, you're in
a much better position to move
forward right now without the risk
of a challenge. " He says associations
should consider amending their
governing documents to specifically permit meetings by electronic
format and, failing that, suggests
associations postpone or cancel
meetings or have informational
meetings only.
ABOUT MAKING
THOSE CHANGES
Eriksen says it makes sense to
consider regularly reviewing
condominium documents to make
updates. " A lot of condominium
documents in New England are
decades old; and that doesn't mean
that they're broken, but it means that
there may be certain things worth
reviewing with management and
maybe with legal counsel to see
what areas require some revision
or some updating. "

and sometimes it's 67 percent or 75
percent; in some cases, it requires the
approval of the mortgage company, too. "
The reasons the required percentage
is difficult to obtain, she explains,
usually comes down to why people

buy condominiums in the first place.
" Most people buy a condo so they don't
have to pay attention - so they don't
have to do anything, think of anything,
deal with any kind of issues; they want
everything taken care of for them. " Even
getting them to reply to the call for a
vote, she says, is a challenge, making it
difficult to get a quorum. Perhaps most
frustrating, she claims, is that the efforts
to modify the documents often fail
because many vote against it because
" they don't care, don't understand, or
are afraid to make a decision. "
All of which brings full circle the issue
of figuring out what to do without clear
guidelines or changing the documents.
On this, says Eriksen, " In general, there
should not be too many absolutes. "
n ELLEN R. MEYER, MBA,
IS A FREELANCE WRITER
AND EDITOR.

Practicing Condominium Association, Real Estate,
Litigation, Employment and Bankruptcy Law

Attorneys left to right, front row: Jess Molignano, Rhonda Duddy, Scott Eriksen, David Chenelle, and Kim Alley
Back row: Charlie Perkins, Jr. and Rob Anctil

Solving your problems today and strengthening
your association for tomorrow.
6 Lyberty Way, Suite 201 | Westford, MA 01886 | Ph. (978) 496-2000 | www.perkinslawpc.com | info@perkinslawpc.com

May 2021 CONDOMEDIA

http://www.perkinslawpc.com

Condo Media - May 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - May 2021