The Rule of Law in Penn Estates: Your Choice!
By: Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo
For a property owners association to be effective, it has to base itself on a set of good rules. It is always better to rely on the law rather than on individual personalities. While some persons can make false promises or become self-seeking once in power, laws are printed in black and white. You know what you are getting and nobody can put themselves above the rule of law. Every property owner will soon have the chance to vote on new By-Laws to improve the Penn Estates Property Owners Association and make the rule of law supreme.
These By-Laws have been studied for more than three years by lawyers and experts. The idea was to bring them up to date with new legislation that governs all Property Owners Associations in the State of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, however you want to look at it) changing By-Laws is a difficult process that has many legal steps that must be observed. Last year's effort to install new By-Laws was supported by 69% of the voting property owners! However, the laws still in place require 75% approval. This is a very high bar to jump over. In effect, 25%-plus-one can prevent any improvement in the way Penn Estates Property Owners Association is governed. We need to change that and give power back to the majority.
This May, the By-Laws will again be presented for approval. Some of the suggestions made last year have been added to this new version, so the community will be asked to approve By-Laws that have been drafted in response to the comments of a few homeowners last year. To avoid control by a tiny minority, the lawyers have suggested we adopt a 66% approval quota. This is still high, but two-thirds is now the standard for amendments in most legal matters. Other changes include: 1) limiting the power of the President of Penn Estates Property Owners Association; 2) preserving the right of individuals to run for the board by seeking 50 signatures; 3) requiring new accounting procedures to prevent the commingling of funds; 4) insisting that any new president have a record of at least one year on the board before taking office; and 5) introducing protections of confidentiality for residents of Penn Estates.
As required by state law and our current By-Laws, each homeowner will receive a copy of the proposed version very soon. You can vote for this at the annual meeting in on Saturday, May 3rd or request an absentee ballot. The Documents Committee has also produced a fact-sheet of FAQs to guide you through the many sections with technical legal language. It will be sent to you along with the new version. Approval of these By-Laws will protect your investment and defend your rights by adding the provisions of new state laws to safeguard your interests. You owe it to yourself and your family to vote in favor of the new By-Laws.