It was my pleasure to review the new Trimble Creek HOA website at our Members meeting on Monday night (3/31/2025). Thank you for your attention during my presentation.
Cori and Glen talked about and encouraged us to understand a lot of documents last night: Rules, CC&Rs, Bylaws, etc. For many of us, understanding how all of these document interrelate is a bit confusing. I want to help clarify how these documents relate to one another.
According to the Community Association Institute, of which Trimble Creek is a member, this is how HOAs are governed. We all need to understand, at least at a high-level, how this works. I’ve created the following graphics to help us understand the hierarchy of authority as it relates to our HOA.
*CC&Rs stands for Code, Covenants and Restrictions.
The following graphic shows who is responsible for changing these regulations, as the need arises.
- The trustees can change the Rules, Regulations and Resolutions by a simple majority vote, after appropriate notifications are made.
- The By-Laws and Code, Covenants and Restrictions (CC&Rs) require a majority vote by all member of the HOA. This requires an in-person meeting.
- Typically, the Articles of Incoporation are not changed, but could be, if needed, by the vote of the members.
For future reference, I’ve included this information on the Documents page of our website.
I hope this helps.
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Nice follow-up.
Unless things have changed, I believe changes to the Bylaws and CC&Rs also require approval by all lenders who have loans within the project including FHA etc since that is part of their underwriting package. If a lender does not like the changes they may demand payment in full.
Don,
You may be correct. I don’t know the full extent of the vote. From what I’ve heard, the HOA can send a letter to the mortgage holders, and they usually give the consent. But, yes, changing the CC&Rs and Bylaws take more work.
Rule changes, on the other hand, are a simple vote of the trustees, after proper notification and open meeting discussion, including homeowner feedback.
Bruce
Hello Don and anyone else that’s interested.
Here are the sections of the CC&Rs. that refer to amendments:
Article XIII: Section 8. First Mortgagees Written Notice of Amendments and Damage. Upon written request, all First Mortgagees shall be given (i) thirty (30) days written notice prior to the effective date of any proposed material amendment to the Declaration,…
Article XIII: Section 14. Amendment to Article. Neither this Article XIII nor Section 6 of Article VII of this Declaration shall be amended without the approval of one hundred percent (100%) of the First Mortgagees.
Article XV: Section 4. Amendments. The declaration may be amended only by the affirmative vote or written consent of the Owners holding not less than fifty-one percent (51%) of the voting power of the Members, except with respect to matters dealt with herein which require a higher percentage for approval thereof; provided, however, that the prior written approval of at least one hundred percent (100%) of all First Mortgagees must be obtained as provided in Section 12 of Article XIII above.
State Law also regulates modifying CC&Rs. Section 57-8a is the Community Association Act.
If we were to modify these documents, it would be best to consult an attorney. This is not something the HOA should do on our own.
Bruce