Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New Hampshire
Hello, I am the president of a small land owners association that consists of 150 homes. My question is about our by-laws. I want to know if we can change, add or update the by-laws on our own by just having a vote of paid members. Membership is voluntary as far as I know and the by-laws have not been updated since 1966. We have a piece of property with a beach and clubhouse that we pay taxes and insurance on every year. One of the items we would like to add to the by-laws is who would benefit if the property were to sell. We would like to put conditions in there that would state that a member would need to be in good standing for the previous Five years. We have 150 homes in the boundaries of the association but we only have an average of 40 paid members. I feel that with the economy the way it is we could lose more members which in turn would make it impossible to keep up with the bills therefor we would need to sell the property and at that time we would have 150 owners looking for their cut. My goal is not to screw anyone out of money but to make people realize that they have a vested interest in this association. I don't think it is fair that the same forty people keep paying the bills. We have no plans to sell anything but I think if people thought they had something to gain or lose depending on how you look at it they just might find it worth their while to pay their dues. Thank you for you advice in advance. Bob
2 Answers from Attorneys
The original declaration and by-laws govern what you can and cannot do as well as how you can change the by-laws. You must act within the proscribed terms of those documents and NH law.
The starting point is a careful review of the documents which created the organization and a search for the options available for amendment. Does the association own the land, or do the homeowners own rights to the land? There are several different methods under which these types of groups were formed in the 60's and 70's and each has tools which may be worth review by an attorney.
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