November 2016
Condo directors and owners should take care in modifying bylaws to restrict condo board participation.
Two changes to a condo corporation’s governing documents that can have unintended consequences are term limits and owner-only board participation.
Term Limits
Term limits can prevent highly qualified directors from continuing to serve on a condo board. This becomes a problem when a condo corporation has no equally qualified individuals to replace those who are required to step down.
Support for term limits may come from condo owners or directors seeking to remove popular directors so that their preferred candidate can become a director.
Owners-Only Board
Requiring that directors be condo owners prohibits spouses from serving as directors. It can also prevent talented individuals, such as officers or directors of companies who reside in the building and consider it their home, from lending their talents to the condo corporation.
Condo boards work best when the best qualified individuals are prepared to volunteer their time to improve their community. It serves no purpose to exclude highly qualified and talented individuals from serving on the board or to place arbitrary restrictions on their participation.
When a condo corporation struggles to find qualified candidates from participating on the board, term limits and owner-only directors suggest an agenda unlikely to be in the best interest of the condo community.
