Associations are not legally required to amend their documents but-

Directors can be misled as to their duties and responsibilities by relying on outdated provisions

The legal documents may not accurately set forth the legal requirements for preparation and distribution of financial reports

The legal documents may provide certain limits for notices of meetings that may no longer be legally correct because of statutory changes.

Members may be misled into believing the documents accurately’ describe members’ rights, legal procedures, etc.

Documents may fail to take advantage of liberalized rules regarding meetings, participation by members, telephone meetings, etc.

Why should HOA documents be amended?

To eliminate obsolete provisions

To eliminate provisions no longer observed or enforced

To eliminate provisions that conflict with current laws

To eliminate provisions required by the Department of Real Estate in a start-up project that are no longer needed

To eliminate developer privileges no longer being used, such as two-class voting or exemption from use restrictions.

To improve poorly drafted documents by clarifying ambiguous provisions

To tailor documents to fit the living experience of owner/members

To provide for changes in technology (satellite dishes, home office use, etc.)

To make documents more “user friendly” - better organization, add a table of contents and descriptive paragraph headings, etc.

To eliminate or correct mistakes and errors.