Connecticut's Common Interest Ownership Act and Sherwood Arms' own Declaration and Bylaws guarantee specific rights to every unit owner. These are not suggestions — they are legal requirements.
The Executive Board does not operate without accountability to unit owners. Connecticut law establishes minimum standards for how the Board must conduct Association business.
The Connecticut General Statutes require the Executive Board to meet at least two times per year at the common interest community or at a place convenient to the community. This is a statutory floor — not a guideline. Owner meetings such as the Annual Meeting and the Budget Meeting are legally distinct from Board meetings and do not satisfy this requirement. Connecticut law requires both.
If the Board acts without holding an open meeting, Connecticut law permits this only by the consent of not less than two-thirds of all Board members, documented in an authenticated record that notes the consent or nonconsent of each Board member by name (§47-250(b)(9)). The Secretary must then promptly notify all unit owners of any action so taken. Separately, the minutes of any Board meeting must record how each member voted on any final action (§47-250(b)(8)). Either way, owners are entitled to be informed — the Board may not make binding decisions in the dark.
The Bylaws of Sherwood Arms Association establish that Annual Meetings of Unit Owners shall be held on the first Friday in June. Directors are elected by ballot at this meeting. While scheduling factors have historically placed the meeting at various points during June, the Bylaws establish June as the required month and timely notice to all owners remains mandatory regardless of the specific date selected.
Special meetings of unit owners may be called by unit owners holding twenty percent (20%) of the votes in the Association. With 60 units — each carrying one equal vote — that means 12 unit owners can arrange a special meeting. The petition is delivered to the Association through its managing agent, Elite Property Management, which is then required to issue notice within 15 days. If notice is not issued within that period, unit owners may give notice of the meeting themselves.
Unit owners may remove any Director or officer of the Executive Board, with or without cause — no specific allegation of wrongdoing is required. A removal carries when the votes cast in favor exceed the votes cast against.† Removal must be listed in the meeting notice, and the targeted Director or officer must be given a reasonable opportunity to speak before the vote. Proxy votes count toward the total.
If the Executive Board votes to levy a Common Expense assessment not included in the current budget, and that assessment exceeds fifteen percent (15%) of the current annual operating budget, the Board is required to submit the assessment to unit owners for ratification — using the same notice and meeting process as a proposed budget. This separate process exists to ensure owners clearly understand they are being asked to ratify a significant expenditure beyond routine operating costs. It cannot be satisfied by embedding the special assessment inside a budget vote.
Owners who cannot attend a meeting may sign a proxy designating another owner to vote on their behalf. Proxies may be directed — instructing the holder how to vote on specific matters — or discretionary, authorizing the holder to vote in the holder’s judgment on matters before the meeting (a single holder’s discretionary proxies are subject to the limit set by CGS §47-252). Proxy votes count toward both the quorum and any removal vote.
Connecticut law gives unit owners the right to inspect and copy specified Association records, including financial records, meeting minutes other than executive sessions, governing documents, financial statements and tax returns for the past three years, current contracts to which the Association is a party, and a list of current Board members and officers. A written request identifying the specific records is required, and the Association must provide available examination dates within five business days.
The Executive Board shall permit any unit owner to inspect the minutes of Executive Board meetings during normal business hours. Minutes must be available within fifteen (15) days of any such meeting.
In the event of any conflict between the Association's governing documents and Connecticut state law, the statutes control. In any conflict between the Declaration and other documents, the Declaration controls. Where a statute uses the phrase "Notwithstanding any provision of the declaration or bylaws to the contrary," the statute trumps the documents entirely. These rights cannot be reduced or waived by Board action alone.
† Bylaws §2.6 and Declaration §8.9 state a two-thirds vote for removal, but Sherwood Arms is subject to the Common Interest Ownership Act, so state law applies. A section of that law, §47-261d, removes a board member or officer when the votes cast for removal exceed those cast against, and it applies “notwithstanding any provision of the declaration or bylaws to the contrary.” State law overrides the two-thirds figure in the Association’s documents. ↩