During the past 12+ months, most of us have gotten comfortable with conducting HOA board and membership meetings over virtual platforms such as Zoom, GoToMeeting, and Microsoft Teams. The authorization for this method of conducting business came from a provision in one of the Governor’s early Covid-related Executive Orders, which has been extended multiple times and is currently set to expire on May 10. Though nothing is certain, I would expect the Governor to continue to renew this provision for the foreseeable future.
Current law already allows board meetings to be held virtually (by conference call or virtual platform, assuming everyone can hear and be heard simultaneously). However, there is currently no provision in the statutes that allow meetings of members to be held in this manner. Under the Governor’s Executive Orders, we have been conducting membership meetings over virtual platforms to convey information, but voting has to take place by written ballots that are filled out by members and mailed or e-mailed back to the HOA. Because of the delay associated with the transmission and collection of these ballots, election and other voting results were often delayed, sometimes for weeks.
On March 16, the North Carolina Legislature, working in conjunction with the North Carolina Chapter of the Community Association Institute ( www.cai-nc.org ) introduced House Bill 320, which will revise certain provisions of Chapter 55A of the North Carolina General Statutes (the Nonprofit Corporation Act).
The proposed revisions to 55A, if approved by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, will allow nonprofit corporations to conduct board and membership meetings over these virtual platforms (which we have been doing for a year now), and also allow voting to take place over these platforms. Of course, there are certain requirements and limitations, but this is undoubtedly good news.
We will post updates on this legislation as it works its way through the Legislature. The bill can be found here (click on the most recent edition shown in the first block of information): https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2021/H320