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Important legal disclaimer.
HOA Ballot is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Nothing
on this page, and nothing HOA Ballot says, does, or generates, is legal
advice or may be relied on as legally valid or sufficient. Your
association and its legal counsel are solely responsible for verifying
the approval threshold, legal compliance, amendment language, filing
requirements, and legal sufficiency of the vote. Please independently
verify all information and consult a licensed attorney. Statute
references on this page are shown for transparency about what we review;
they are not legal advice — confirm every requirement with your
association's attorney.
What we look for before quoting
A practical review, not legal advice
Planned communities (no general Tennessee act)
Tennessee has not adopted a comprehensive planned-community or general HOA statute, so a non-condominium association's authority to amend generally comes from its own recorded declaration and CC&Rs, backed by the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act for voting mechanics (Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-51-101 et seq.). A narrow Homeowners' Association part of the code adds a few owner protections, such as a right to obtain the association's voting record on request (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-702) and a vested right to lease (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-703). Because there is no statutory default percentage, the amendment threshold and procedure are generally whatever your declaration specifies, which is the first thing we read.
Condominiums (Tennessee Condominium Act of 2008)
Condominiums created on or after January 1, 2009 are generally governed by the Tennessee Condominium Act of 2008 (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-201 et seq.), while older condominiums generally fall under the Tennessee Horizontal Property Act (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-101 et seq.). For 2008-Act condominiums, the declaration can generally be amended by owners holding at least 67% of the votes in the association, or any larger majority the declaration specifies (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-317). An amendment is generally effective only once it is recorded in each county where the condominium is located.
How the vote can run
Owner votes can generally be gathered at a members' meeting, by proxy, or by written ballot acted on without a meeting under the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act (Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-57-108), and many associations add electronic or online ballots where their bylaws allow it. Condominium meetings generally require advance written notice, commonly 10 to 60 days out (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-408), along with statutory quorum and proxy rules (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 66-27-409, 66-27-410). Tennessee does not impose a single statewide ballot-secrecy standard, so confidentiality and counting practices generally follow your governing documents.
Before we quote
Tennessee details that shape your vote
These are the things we check so your quote and timeline are realistic —
not legal advice, just the questions a careful Tennessee vote has to answer.
The recorded declaration / CC&Rs almost always control the exact amendment percentage and procedure, so we generally read it before quoting a process.
For 2008-Act condominiums, the statutory default to amend the declaration is generally at least 67% of the association's votes, or a higher figure the declaration sets (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-317).
A lower percentage is generally permitted only where every unit is restricted exclusively to nonresidential use (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-317).
Some changes need more than a percentage vote: amendments affecting a unit's boundaries, allocated interests, permitted uses, or the right to lease generally require the consent of the specific owners affected (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-317).
Tennessee has no general planned-community statute, so non-condominium HOAs generally rely on their declaration plus the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act for voting mechanics (Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-51-101 et seq.).
Written ballots acted on without a meeting are generally authorized (Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-57-108), and electronic or online voting is generally available where the bylaws permit it.
A condominium amendment is generally effective only once recorded with the county register of deeds in each county where the property lies, and challenges to it are generally barred one year after recording (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-317).
Tennessee-specific owner protections include the right to request the association's voting record (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-702) and a vested right to lease that can limit rental-ban amendments (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-703).
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