CAI-NJ Sep.2016

RUNNING MEETINGS AND ELECTIONS – New Bills Dealing with Old Issues

By Thomas C. Martin, Esq., Partner Price, Meese, Shulman & D’Arminio, P.C.

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T wo recently introduced pieces of legislation (one in the New Jersey State Assembly (A-2027) and one in the New Jersey State Senate (S-1586)) are likely to have a substantial impact on how we all address meetings and document review for our upcoming meetings. Both bills seem to have been introduced to serve a fairly localized but repetitive issue that appears to keep coming up related to meeting organization, voting and records at one large common interest ownership association. Although ostensibly designed to address one association, these bills in the Assembly and Senate warrant a certain level of scrutiny and attention because they will both have a real and concrete impact on common interest ownership associations across the State of New Jersey. Setting Forth Uniformity of Powers. Primarily, these two bills seek to address meeting gover- nance, certain aspects of voting and record keeping. For example, the stated intent of these Bills is to provide for “uniform powers, standards of operation and protec-

tions” for unit owners with a goal of increasing “fairness” and “transparency.”

The “Fiduciary Duty” of Volunteer Board Members. To that end, these pending Bills make all board members “liable as fiduciaries to the owners for their acts or omis-

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Thomas C. Martin, Esq. is a Partner in the law firm Price, Meese, Shulman & D’Arminio, P.C., Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. Mr. Martin has been an active Member of the New Jersey chapter of the Community Association’s Institute for over a decade and during that time has been serving on the Legislative Action Committee. He also served as the Chair of the Legislative Action Committee from 2011-2012. Mr. Martin’s practice is devoted

Courtesy CAI-NJ.

primarily to community association law addressing all manner of issues affecting common interest ownership associations including formation, transition, general corporate counseling, contracts, enforcement of governing documents, maintenance fee issues and defense of personal injury/property damage claims.

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