August 2025

COLLECTIONS... from page 14.

mination by requesting Alternative Dispute Resolution. Residents shall be allowed to rectify their standing up until five business days prior to the election date, unless the association allows for more time.” (See N.J.A.C. § 5:26-8.9(l)). Similarly, N.J.A.C. § 5:26-8.9(k) states that an association with less than 50 units must notify res idents who are not in good standing at least 14 days prior to the election. This notice must state “the reason the resident is not in good standing. The notice shall state that the resident has the right to contest the board’s deter mination by requesting Alternative Dispute Resolution.” (See N.J.A.C. § 5:26-8.9(k)). Though the notices and timeframes are slightly different, the spirit of the law remains consistent in that all residents should be given an opportunity to correct their standing

“If the above-stated notice is not sent, those members who are not in good standing...may be eligible to vote at the election.”

8.9(k) also sets forth that good stand ing is the only requirement an owner must meet in order to be a valid nominee in an election. Under all circumstances, any owner is permitted to nominate themselves or another owner during the nomination period, but the only disqualifying factor is the good standing status of the owner. The second implication occurs during the voting process. According to N.J.A.C. § 5:26-8.9(l), an association with 50 or more units must notify resi dents who are not in good standing at least 30 days prior to the election. This notice must state “the reason why the resident is not in good standing. The notice shall state that residents have the right to contest the board’s deter

status before being discounted from the voting process. If the above-stated notice is not sent, those members who are not in good standing, with a few noted excep tions, may be eligible to vote at the election. This requirement is also inter preted to be the actual good-standing cut-off date, not a shorter time period typically referenced in the bylaws. For example, if a member is delin quent 25 days before the election date but did not receive the delin quency notice referenced above, that member is eligible to vote. Boards should be cognizant of the notice deadlines when creating their election timelines to ensure that any one who is not in good standing, and was provided the requisite notice, is properly barred from voting in the election. If the proper notice does not go out to those who are not in good standing, then the member would be able to participate in the election. n END NOTE: 1 Note, in 2024 the DCA agreed to amend this requirement for associations with more than 50 units to reflect that if a member has already been offered ADR or has a judgment against them is not required to be offered ADR again for voting purposes. To date, no such amendment has been proposed.

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AUGUST 2025