Most community association bylaws state a specific quorum requirement for owner or membership meetings. The purpose of a quorum is to avoid binding owners to decisions made by an unrepresentatively small number of individuals. Simply put, quorum is the minimum number of members or owners required to conduct business at a meeting. That minimum number may be a percentage of owners or a specific, fixed number of owners. If at the start of an owner meeting it appears the quorum requirement has not been met, the meeting cannot continue. The only action that may be taken is to set the time and place for another meeting. Any substantive action taken in the absence of a quorum is deemed invalid.
Some governing documents may not provide for a quorum requirement. In that case, there are statutory defaults. In Oregon, if the governing documents are silent then the quorum requirement is 20% of the owners (ORS 94.655). Washington has a slightly larger default quorum requirement:
Unless the governing documents specify a different percentage, a quorum is present throughout any meeting of the association if the owners to which thirty-four percent of the votes of the association are allocated are present in person or by proxy at the beginning of the meeting.(RCW 64.38.040)
Keep in mind that quorum can be achieved by owners attending a meeting in person or by proxy. It’s conceivable that quorum could be achieved by only a few owners attending a meeting in person, but each of those owners having multiple proxies from other owners.
If your homeowner or condominium association has difficulty meeting its quorum requirement, here are a few ideas to consider to increase membership attendance:
- Consider changing the location to a more convenient or comfortable place;
- Plan ahead and choose a meeting date that doesn’t conflict with vacation periods or holidays;
- Send notice of the meeting via mail, email, and any other means which owners are likely to receive;
- Consider serving food or refreshments;
- Give away door prizes.