January 11, 2022

Written by: George Greatrex, Jr.

Governor Murphy just signed into law a bill that directly affects the rights, obligations and operations of common interest communities in New Jersey. We are pleased to report on this new law as it will benefit all our common interest community clients going forward, and in that regard we commend the CAI Legislative Action Committee-NJ for their efforts to support and advance this bill into law.

Public Law 2021 c.362 (A5549/S4112) amends the NJ Nonprofit Corporation Act to authorize such entities (including community associations and condominium associations) to permit their members to attend membership meetings remotely by video conference or conference telephone call. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic a bill was signed into law that permitted such remote attendance at membership meetings, but only during a declared State of Emergency (Public Law 2020, c.20). This law extends that authorization to attend membership meetings remotely even in the absence of a declared State of Emergency. It is important to note that this new law does not automatically authorize an association to permit its members to attend membership meetings remotely. Rather, each association board must authorize and adopt guidelines and procedures governing how its members may attend their meetings remotely.

If you have questions about how this new law (or any other laws) affect your community association, we invite you to contact any of the lawyers in the Community Associations Practice Group of Hill Wallack LLP.

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