CAI-NJ October 2020

New Regulations for Common Interest Communities Concerning Elections and Board Meetings By Tana Bucca, Esq., Becker

NEW REGULATIONS!

alexsl/Istock/Getty Images Plus

T he New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Division of Codes and Standards (DCA) published new regulations under the Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act (PREDFDA) on May 18, 2020. These new regulations are intended to serve as an update to the Radburn Election Law (P.L. 2017, Ch. 106) and will have a significant effect on communities through- out the State. Although there has been a discussion of a possible judicial challenge to the regulations, unless they are stayed by court order or otherwise overturned, they represent the law applying to association elections and boards and association managers must comply with them, otherwise risking a challenge to the results of the election. Below are some highlights from the new regulations: • All ballots cast in an election must be anonymous. • Tallying of ballots will be done publicly, presumably at the annual meeting, unless the counting is delayed to a date after the annual meeting, in which case the tallying must still be accomplished in a manner that is open to viewing by the members.

• Ballots must include space for as many write-in candi- dates as there are openings on the board. • All members of an association will have the right to inspect the ballots from an election within 90 days from the date of the election. • All election meeting notices must include a sample of the election ballot. • The fact that a candidate for election is an incumbent board member may not be stated on the ballot. • Board member terms are limited to four years following election, but shorter terms set forth in the bylaws will continue to prevail. This does not impose any limit on the number of terms that may be served. • Associations with less than 50 units must notify mem- bers/residents who are not in “good standing” a mini- mum of fourteen (14) days prior to the election of their status. - The notice must state the reason the member/resident is not in “good standing” and that the member/resi- dent has the right to contest their standing by request- ing Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

36

O C T O B E R , 2 0 2 0