Matthew Winton's Condo & HOA Blog

Winton Law collections memo

At the recent Neighborhood Alliance HOA Legal Issues workshop, a request was made for the Winton Law assessment collections memo. You may Download Winton Law Collections Memorandum 2016 by clicking on the link. You may contact the office to discuss the particulars of your association's collections issues.

I also want to thank Mutual of Omaha for sponsoring the Legal Issues workshop. Check the Neighborhood Alliance webpage for upcoming Legal Issues workshops - we put on approximately four sets per year, the first being a basics course and then a companion advanced course.

Matthew L. Winton

Oklahoma condominium and homeowner association lawyer

Book on Oklahoma Homeowner Associations and Condominium Associations

For those interested in purchasing a unique resource on Oklahoma condominium associations and homeowner associations, the Oklahoma Community Association Handbook is available in its 2nd edition. The book contains over 400 pages of law, commentary, forms and checklists dealing solely with Oklahoma associations.

More information is available on the Vaughn, Winton & Clark website.

Matthew L. Winton, Oklahoma condominium associaton and homeowner association lawyer

Residential Disclosure Forms

Over lunch on Wednesday, March 12, 2008, I spoke to a group of Oklahoma Realtors, and we discussed common interest communities. I mentioned Texas' residential disclosure forms and their "resale certificates," which provide a significant amount of information for Texas home buyers.

Those forms that I mentioned may be found here: Download 364_hoa_certificate.pdf and here: Download 372_hoa_certificate.pdf.

For comparative purposes, the Oklahoma residential disclosure form may be found here: Download oklahoma_disclosure_form.pdf

Matthew L. Winton, Oklahoma condominium and homeowner association lawyer.

Using proxies to meet quorum requirements; Sample Proxy Form

Often, community associations (whether they are mandatory homeowner associations or condominium associations, or voluntary neighborhood associations) will have difficulty in obtaining a quorum for member meetings. A quorum is a number of members who must be present at the meeting in order for the association to conduct business. Typically, the bylaws to the association will provide the quorum number, often expressed as a percentage or a fraction of the total number of members. One method of increasing the likelihood of achieving a quorum is by proxy use. A proxy is a piece of paper signed by a member and given to another person (the proxy holder) so that the proxy holder can attend the meeting in place of the member. The bylaws to the association may contain a provision regarding proxies, such as when and to whom they must be given. If the association has incorporated, Oklahoma law provides that a proxy may be given, and unless the proxy provides otherwise the proxy will be valid for no longer than three years from the date on the proxy.

For a sample form of a proxy that is combined with a written voting ballot Download sample_proxy.pdf .

Submitted by Matthew L. Winton, an Oklahoma community association lawyer.

Minutes and Resolution Samples

For Oklahoma homeowner associations, condominum associations, and community associations, a sample corporate resolution may be found by Download sample_corporate_resolution.pdf .

For Oklahoma homeowner associations, condominium associations, and community associations, a sample form of annual meeting minutes may be found by Download sample_annual_meeting_agenda_and_minutes.pdf .

Provided by Matthew L. Winton, an Oklahoma community association attorney.

Association elections; forms

Many homeowner associations, condominium associations, and community associations will be engaging in the election of directors for their board this fall. As many community associations gear up for fall elections, your association board might find the following information and forms useful.

In 2004, the legislature added subsection E to 18 O.S. 1060 to allow for the submission of electronic voting ballots. Without an abundance of provision, the legislature provided:

E. If authorized by the governing body, any requirement of a written ballot shall be satisfied by a ballot submitted by electronic transmission, provided that the electronic transmission shall either set forth or be submitted with information from which it can be determined that the electronic transmission was authorized by the member or proxy holder.

Each board would need to determine what would constitute "information" sufficient to determine the ballot was in fact cast by a member or proxy holder. While electronic voting does pose some unique problems, allowing members to vote via email, fax, or other electronic transmission could allow the association to garner more participation from members than the association would otherwise.

Another helpful tool for elections may be the use of candidate surveys. For a sample, you can Download form_bod_election_survey.pdf . A survey allows the members to know a little more about a candidate before voting. In larger associations, the members might not know the qualifications of a particular candidate. The survey provides the member with information on which to base an informed decision.

A final tip regards the inspection of elections. For incorporated associations, Oklahoma law requires elections to be administered with at least one inspector. To read the applicable statute, click here. One provision in 18 O.S. 1075.1 requires inspectors to execute an oath of inspection. For a sample, you can Download form_inspectors_oath.pdf.

Matthew L. Winton, Esq.

Budgets 101 - A FAQ

I recently received an email asking about associations and budgets. In Oklahoma, we have no community association-specific guidance from the legislature on budget requirements or how an association might formulate its budget.

If you are new to an association board or have questions about budgets as we enter into budget season, you might Download faq_budgets.pdf for some general tips and information.

Records and Requests

Often, the issue of document retention and inspection arises within a community association.  An association board might consider the question from a business practices standpoint as well as an opportunity to provide a service to members. A clear document retention and inspection policy will be one that communicates the recordkeeping practices of the association and provides a member a reasonable outline for making a records request.

For a short article on the topic and a sample recordkeeping and request resolution, see this Article and Sample Resolution: Download 1.pdf .

Association checklists

Within many written contracts, one finds the provision, "Time is of the essence." While this common contractual clause has a particular legal significance, we all might agree that time is a commodity.

My point in this is: there are many instances where you need not re-invent the wheel. To keep your invention at a minimum, you might take a look at the checklists at the Community Associations Network site. There are several helpful checklists, from association meeting matters to financial issues, for you to review, apply, and adopt as your own.

One particularly useful checklist is the one provided by Orten & Hindman, a Colorado law firm representing common interest communities. This checklist is one geared toward a pro-active association board seeking to educate new owners on living within a common interest community.