For the past 13 weeks, we’ve talked about how Boards can approach decisions by asking three fundamental questions:
Authority. Process. Impact.
Now let’s apply that framework to a real question I hear often:
“Should we amend our governing documents?”
Maybe a provision is outdated.
Maybe the Board is having difficulty dealing with a recurring issue.
Maybe owners are asking for something the documents don’t clearly address.
Or maybe the way the community operates today has changed.
The temptation can be to jump straight to an amendment.
But before doing that, start with the first question:
Authority.
What do our governing documents and the applicable law actually provide? What authority does the Board already have? And is an amendment really necessary to address the problem we are trying to solve?
Then move to process.
If an amendment is necessary, what does that process look like? Who needs to be involved? What approvals are required? What does the amendment actually need to accomplish?
And then consider impact.
How will the change affect the community? Will it solve the problem we are trying to solve? Will it create new issues? And will the language continue to make sense as the community changes?
Sometimes the answer is yes, the documents need to change.
Sometimes the better answer is that the authority is already there, and an amendment isn’t necessary.
The point is not to amend simply because something isn’t working the way we want it to.
The point is to understand the problem first, then determine whether changing the governing documents is actually the right tool.
That’s what applying the framework looks like.
Authority. Process. Impact.
Three questions that can help a Board slow down, think it through, and make a more thoughtful decision.