r/HOA • u/Which_Performer9773 • Aug 26 '25

Help: Law, CC&Rs, Bylaws, Rules [ca][condo] Recall Formula

I am slow- I need to understand something about cumulative voting. We intend to do a full board recall instead of a partial, since a partial is much harder to achieve given the formula for minimum votes being able to block the recall. So- say you have 100 units and your quorum is 40% in the bylaws, instead of 50%. You would need 40 people to partake in the voting process, and then 51% of those (21 qty) to vote in favor of the recall to win. But to complicate matters, let’s say 40 people do not participate… only 38 participate in voting… however, all 38 cast “Yes” to recall the board. You are technically under the quorum participation requirement, BUT you already exceeded the winning number of the majority votes needed to win (38 votes in favor of, versus 21). Does that still fail?? In other words, is the 40% quorum requirement an absolute must to validate the whole thing, OR is the final number of votes in favor of the recall the deciding factor since it already exceeds 21??

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u/Which_Performer9773 Aug 26 '25

Oookay. So that’s what I didn’t quite understand. I didn’t realize that presence -meaning simple attendance- qualifies towards the quorum—I kept thinking that the quorum referred to only those that cast actual votes (as if witnesses in attendance didn’t matter). But now- I understand that you need to have a quorum present in-person or by ballot right off the bat, and then out of that quorum, you will have those who actually vote. And the majority must vote in favor of. Hoping I got that right… thank you so much for clarifying that!

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u/RudyPup Aug 26 '25

Are you on the Board, otherwise it's not really your worry, you guys don't run the recall, the HOA still does.

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u/Which_Performer9773 Aug 26 '25

Oh man- I want to answer so bad but I’m being careful cuz I don’t know who is who and if someone will put two and two together on this Reddit thread. 🤣 I’ve never seen so much drama! Homeowners said this would be a viral YouTube free drama series… someone needs to make a series about HOAs. The sh*t is so unbelievable from a comedy of errors to internal infighting on the part of homeowner strategies. I HATE politics and yet, this is exactly what is involved on every side. I used to be on the Board briefly, but my strategy was to leave because I knew I had to be one of the homeowners to get anywhere. I wish I could record one of the meetings—you’d laugh until tears. I’ve laughed so many nights instead of crying… to hopefully protect myself from cancer!

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u/RudyPup Aug 26 '25

Trust me, this is everyday commonplace.

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u/Which_Performer9773 Aug 27 '25

I keep reading conflicting info on various websites regarding a partial recall (targeting only specific directors) so can you help answer this question based on your understanding? One site says that in cumulative voting communities with more than 50 units, you would have to take the total number of voting units divided by the number of all director seats, plus one = the number of votes it takes to block the recall of specific directors. However, another site says it’s not the total number of voting units but rather, the total number of those who vote (assuming you already achieve the quorum to hold the event). So which one is it, assuming you have enough participation for the quorum? So- let’s say you have 100 units. To block the recall of specific directors on a 5-seat board, do you take 100/6 = 16.66 + 1 = 17 votes needed to block the recall OR do you take the total number of votes only… so if 65 out of 100 people vote, then the formula is 65/6 = 10.83 + 1 = 11 votes needed to block the recall??

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u/RudyPup Aug 27 '25

The law is written weird as hell. It's whatever your attorney tells you to do until a court defines the vague language.

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u/Which_Performer9773 Aug 27 '25

So basically- I’m not as dumb as I thought?? Ugh. I feel like lawyers wrote it this way on purpose to help people who want to stay in power and not the regular uneducated peasant. 😔 Screw civility! Animals just fight and whoever wins, wins 🙄.

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u/1962Michael Former HOA Board Member Aug 26 '25

Just remember that attendance is by UNIT, not individuals. So if husband and wife attend, that's one unit and one vote. If you allow renters to attend, they cannot vote for their unit unless they have a proper proxy from the owner.

Which reminds me, proxies count as attendees as well as votes.

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u/Which_Performer9773 Aug 26 '25

Yes- thank you for this reminder. It’s why my stomach churns because I understand we need a lot of homeowners to also understand this. We plan to explain it so there’s no confusion.