Bill Text: NJ S2516 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes presumption of grandfathering of certain governing documents of homeowners' associations upon conflict with new statutory or regulatory provisions unless majority of members vote to amend.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-12-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee [S2516 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-S2516-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes presumption of grandfathering of certain governing documents of homeowners' associations upon conflict with new statutory or regulatory provisions unless majority of members vote to amend.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning governing documents of associations managing common interest communities and supplementing P.L.1993, c.30 (C.45:22A-43 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Whenever a State statutory or regulatory provision is enacted or adopted, as appropriate, on or after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), there shall be a presumption that such law or regulation shall not override any properly-adopted bylaw provision of a homeowners' association, or create a legal requirement to amend a bylaw provision or a master deed or declaration. Nothing in this section shall prevent a majority of the members of a homeowners' association to vote to amend a master deed or bylaw provision in order to make it conform to any statute or regulation enacted or adopted on or after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
b. For the purposes of this section, "homeowners' association" means an association having the legal obligation to manage the common elements and facilities of a community, as required pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1993, c.30 (C.45:22A-43), or any association formed for such purpose, including a condominium association, regardless of the date of formation.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that properly adopted bylaws of a homeowners' association, as well as any other governing documents, such as the master deed or declaration, are grandfathered from compliance with any statutory or regulatory provision adopted on or after the effective date of the bill, unless a majority of the members of the homeowners' association vote to amend the governing documents to conform with the change in the law, thereby opting to submit to the change in the law. The term, "homeowners' association" includes associations managing condominiums, private communities with common elements, cooperatives, and age-restricted communities, as those associations are regulated under "The Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act," P.L.1977, c.419 (C.45:22A-21 et seq.).
Both Article IV, Section VII, paragraph 3 of the New Jersey Constitution and the United States Constitution forbid the enforcement of any law impairing the obligation of contracts. The governing documents of a homeowners' association, along with the real estate sales contract and the public offering statement of the developer, form the basis of the "contract" which is binding upon purchasers in common interest communities. The bill creates a presumption that a legally binding contract, concerning a homeowners' association, which exists prior to the effective date of any change to the law, is grandfathered from any of those changes unless a majority of the members of the association vote to change the contract.
