Quick and Easy Guide to Decoding Your Governing Documents
Spouses and Houses and Voting–Oh My!
Although general advice goes a long way toward decoding your governing
documents, specific questions still come up during the course of association
business. A common board member query is whether a one-vote-per-unit rule
prevents a husband and a wife from serving on a board together, especially in
communities where finding residents willing to fill board positions is difficult.
The way Associa Regional Vice President - Eastern Region, Nancy Hastings
responds to this illuminates a key point regarding association governance:
the answer is usually not black and white. This is where the expertise of your
community association manager and attorney can help you avoid liability.
"The vote-per-unit rule is generally applicable to membership interest and voting.
Each spouse would have one vote in their capacity as board members. Unless
your governing documents (or state laws) specifically state that you can only
have one person from a home serving on the board, contains language that
indicates member is singular, or other language that may prevent spouses from
serving, it is possible for a husband and wife to run for the board and cast their
votes individually as board members.
If a board is confronted with this matter, they should seek guidance from counsel.
Associations typically try to avoid this issue due to a perception of impropriety
and one household having larger influence over board decisions. We have seen
apathy drive this situation. There may be circumstances where a husband and
wife team remain independent and it works well."
— Nancy Hastings, CMCA®, AMS®, PCAM®
Regional Vice President - Eastern Region
