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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.
Vermont generally folds planned communities and condominiums created on or after January 1, 1999 into a single statute, the Vermont Common Interest Ownership Act (Title 27A V.S.A.). Under it, a declaration may usually be amended only by owners holding at least 67% of the association's votes, unless your recorded declaration sets a different percentage (27A V.S.A. § 2-117). Smaller planned communities — for example, those with fewer than 12 units, or planned communities that qualify for the statutory small-project or limited-expense exception — may fall outside parts of the Act, so the declaration carries even more weight (27A V.S.A. §§ 1-201, 1-203).
Condominiums (Condominium Ownership Act)
Condominiums created before January 1, 1999 are generally governed by the older Vermont Condominium Ownership Act (Title 27, Chapter 15 — 27 V.S.A. §§ 1301–1365), and amendments for those projects typically follow the percentage and procedure written into the original recorded declaration and bylaws. Even for these older condominiums, a handful of Title 27A provisions can apply to events occurring after 1998 (27A V.S.A. § 1-204). Because the recorded declaration controls, the first step is reading it closely to confirm the required vote.
How the vote can run
For communities under Title 27A, owners may generally vote in person, by proxy, by absentee ballot, or by electronic or paper ballot when a vote is held without a meeting (27A V.S.A. § 3-110). The Act focuses on verifying that each ballot is cast by the owner entitled to cast it, and it caps any one person's undirected proxies at 15% of the association's votes. An online vote can usually be designed to fit these rules, with the exact notice, deadline, and quorum details tracking your declaration and bylaws.
Before we quote
Vermont 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 Vermont vote has to answer.
Communities created on or after January 1, 1999 are generally governed by the Vermont Common Interest Ownership Act (Title 27A V.S.A.); condominiums created earlier usually fall under the older Condominium Ownership Act (27 V.S.A. ch. 15).
The default amendment threshold under Title 27A is owners holding at least 67% of the association's votes, unless the recorded declaration sets a different (often higher) percentage (27A V.S.A. § 2-117).
Amendments that would prohibit or materially restrict the permitted uses of, or behavior in, a unit generally need at least 80% approval under Title 27A, unless the declaration requires more (27A V.S.A. § 2-117).
Some changes generally need unanimous owner consent — for example, changing a unit's boundaries or allocated interests, the uses to which a unit is restricted, increasing the number of units, or creating/increasing special declarant rights (27A V.S.A. § 2-117).
An amendment generally takes effect only when it is recorded in the land records of every Vermont town where any part of the community sits; there is typically no separate state-agency filing (27A V.S.A. § 2-117).
Title 27A authorizes voting in person, by proxy, by absentee ballot, and by electronic or paper ballot for votes conducted without a meeting (27A V.S.A. § 3-110).
Undirected proxies are capped at 15% of association votes per person, and a proxy is generally valid only for the meeting (and any recess) at which it is cast (27A V.S.A. § 3-110).
Challenges to an association-adopted amendment generally must be brought within one year of recording, and your declaration or lender (secondary-market) guidelines may separately require mortgagee consent for material changes (27A V.S.A. § 2-117).
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