Overview

SF 3348 amends Chapter 515B, the Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act, which governs the operation of condominium associations and other common interest communities. The bill provides new procedures for obtaining approval or consent for amendments to governing documents for common interest communities.

Summary

Sec. 1. Applicability. Provides that the new provisions in section 2 and an existing statutory process for obtaining deemed consent of a secured party holding a security interest in a unit apply to all common interest communities.

Sec. 2. Amendment of declaration. Provides that unit owners are deemed to have consented or voted in the affirmative for approval of amendments to governing documents if the association sends a notice to the unit owner by certified mail and: (1) if there is a vote, the unit owner does not vote against the amendment; or (2) if consent is requested, the association does not receive the unit owner’s refusal to consent within 60 days after the notice is mailed.

Authorizes the association to petition the court for an order reducing the percentage of affirmative votes or consents necessary to at least 67% for an amendment to declarations, bylaws, and articles of incorporation. The petition must describe: the reason for the amendment; the approval requirements in governing documents; the efforts made to solicit approval of association members; and the number of affirmative and negative votes actually received. Requires service of the petition and notice of the hearing date upon all members of the association consistent with the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure. Requires the court to make certain findings prior to granting approval of the amendment and exempts certain amendments from the court approval process.