Nebraska HOA Board Elections

Section 1 — Overview: How board elections are governed in Nebraska

Nebraska splits its condominium board-election rules by the calendar. The Nebraska Condominium Act governs condominiums created on or after January 1, 1984. The older Condominium Property Act still governs the ones created before that date. And for planned communities that are not condominiums, Nebraska writes no dedicated statute at all — it leaves those elections to the recorded declaration, the bylaws, and the Nebraska Nonprofit Corporation Act.^1,2

The Nebraska Condominium Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-825 et seq., controls. It supplies the executive-board and voting rules for every condominium created on or after January 1, 1984.^1,2 Its predecessor, the Condominium Property Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-801 et seq., still governs condominiums created before that date, except where the later Act expressly reaches back.^2,3 No dedicated Nebraska statute reaches board elections in non-condominium planned communities. Those elections run on the recorded declaration and the bylaws, and where an association is organized as a nonprofit corporation, the Nebraska Nonprofit Corporation Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-1901 et seq., supplies the corporate director defaults.⁴ Nebraska adopted the 1980 Uniform Condominium Act as its Condominium Act, and it has not adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act.⁵ That places Nebraska among the states that enacted a Uniform Condominium Act statute covering condominiums only, with no dedicated planned-community statute — a different posture from the states that adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act and from the prescriptive-procedure states. The sections below lay out the framework, the election mechanics by community type, the recent activity, and where Nebraska stands nationally.

Section 2 — The election framework

2A. The Nebraska Condominium Act and condominium board elections

The Nebraska Condominium Act, codified at Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-825 to § 76-894, came out of Laws 1983, LB 433, and draws from the 1980 Uniform Condominium Act; the statute itself directs courts to apply it so as to make the law uniform among the enacting states.^1,5 The Act governs every condominium created in Nebraska after January 1, 1984.² Its central election provision is § 76-861, which sets out the executive board, declarant control, the first owner election, removal, and vacancies.⁶

Section 76-861(d) lets the declaration provide for a period of declarant control, during which the declarant appoints and removes board members. But that period has to end. It terminates no later than the earlier of two dates: sixty days after the declarant conveys ninety percent of the units that may be created to owners other than a declarant, or two years after all declarants stop offering units for sale in the ordinary course of business.⁶ Section 76-861(e) goes further. Not later than sixty days after fifty percent of the units have gone to owners other than a declarant, the non-declarant owners must elect at least one board member and not less than twenty-five percent of the board.⁶ And not later than the end of declarant control, § 76-861(f) requires the unit owners to elect an executive board of at least three members, a majority of them unit owners; the board then picks the officers.⁶

This is a Uniform Condominium Act statute, not the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, so it carries none of that uniform act's planned-community machinery. It also carries none of California's Davis-Stirling features — no mandatory secret ballots, no independent inspectors of election, no fixed statutory nomination and ballot timelines. The Act leaves many election details to the bylaws under § 76-864, including term length, candidate qualifications beyond the unit-owner majority, and the manner of election.⁷

2B. Pre-1984 condominiums and planned communities

Condominiums created before January 1, 1984 may still answer to the Condominium Property Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-801 to § 76-823, enacted by Laws 1963, c. 429.³ Section 76-826 lists the specific Nebraska Condominium Act sections that reach back to pre-1984 condominiums for events after January 1, 1984 — and § 76-861, the executive-board and election section, is not on that list. So the later Act's board-election mechanics do not reach pre-1984 condominiums.² The Condominium Property Act instead vests administration in bylaws appended to and recorded with the master deed, refers to a board of administrators, and leaves the board-election mechanics to those instruments.⁸ Which statute governs turns on two things: the condominium's creation date, and whether a pre-1984 condominium has amended its instruments to adopt rights the later Act permits under § 76-826(b).²

Non-condominium planned communities have no dedicated Nebraska statute and no statutory board-election machinery. Their elections are creatures of the recorded declaration and the bylaws. Where an association incorporates as a nonprofit corporation — as most do — the Nebraska Nonprofit Corporation Act supplies the corporate director defaults for terms, removal, and vacancies. But it works as corporate scaffolding, not as an HOA election code.⁴

2C. Corporate law, the bylaws, and order of precedence

For a condominium, precedence runs in order: the applicable condominium statute first — the Nebraska Condominium Act for post-1984 condominiums, the Condominium Property Act for earlier ones — then the declaration, then the bylaws, then the nonprofit corporate gap-fillers, then the rules. When the declaration and the bylaws conflict, the Condominium Act says the declaration prevails, except where the declaration is inconsistent with the Act.⁹ For a planned community, the declaration and the bylaws control, and the Nonprofit Corporation Act fills the corporate gaps — supplying director defaults such as a one-year term where none is stated and a five-year cap on terms.¹⁰ The Condominium Act also pulls in the principles of law and equity, including the law of corporations and of real property, except where they are inconsistent with the Act.¹¹ The Nebraska Court of Appeals has held that the Condominium Act, as the specific statute, controls over the general Nonprofit Corporation Act for condominium associations.¹² The operational takeaway is plain: before you quote any Nebraska board-election rule, first decide whether the community is a condominium — and which condominium statute applies by creation date — or a planned community.

Section 3 — Election mechanics

A. Eligibility and nominations

For post-1984 condominiums, the statute imposes only one eligibility rule: a majority of the elected board must be unit owners. The bylaws set everything else under § 76-864.^6,7 For pre-1984 condominiums, no statute addresses eligibility; the master deed and the bylaws set it.⁸ For planned communities, eligibility is corporate — the Nonprofit Corporation Act governs it at § 21-1969, and the declaration and bylaws fill in the rest, not a dedicated HOA statute.¹⁵ No statute addresses candidate nomination for any community type; that, too, is contractual, set by the declaration and bylaws.⁷

B. Notice, annual meeting, and quorum

Post-1984 condominiums must hold at least one meeting each year, with notice not less than ten nor more than fifty days in advance, stating the agenda — including any proposal to remove a director or officer.¹⁶ The quorum to act is thirty-five percent of the votes that may be cast for board election, in person or by proxy, unless the bylaws set a different figure.²² For pre-1984 condominiums, no statute addresses meetings, notice, or quorum; the bylaws set them.⁸ For planned communities, the annual meeting, notice, and quorum are corporate matters under the Nonprofit Corporation Act at §§ 21-1951, 21-1955, and 21-1961, with specifics set by the bylaws.^17,23

C. Voting methods, proxies, and ballots

Post-1984 condominium owners may vote in person or by proxy under § 76-868; a proxy is void if it is undated or revocable without notice, and it terminates one year after its date unless it states a shorter term.¹⁹ Cumulative voting for the board is available only if the declaration provides for it under § 76-844(c).²⁰ The Condominium Act does not address mail, absentee, or electronic balloting; the bylaws set those. For pre-1984 condominiums, no statute addresses voting methods; the master deed and the bylaws set them.⁸ For planned communities, proxies, written ballots, and cumulative voting for directors are corporate matters under the Nonprofit Corporation Act at §§ 21-1958, 21-1963, and 21-1964, as set by the bylaws.²¹

D. Terms, vacancies, removal, and recall

For post-1984 condominiums, the Condominium Act does not fix the director term length — the bylaws set it under § 76-864; the board may fill a mid-term vacancy for the unexpired portion of any term under § 76-861(b); and the owners may remove a board member other than a declarant appointee, with or without cause, by a two-thirds vote at a meeting with a quorum under § 76-861(g).^6,7 For pre-1984 condominiums, no statute addresses terms, vacancies, or removal; the master deed and the bylaws set them.⁸ For planned communities, these run on corporate defaults under the Nonprofit Corporation Act at §§ 21-1972, 21-1975, 21-1977, and 21-1978, applied through the articles and bylaws — not imposed by a dedicated HOA statute.^10,25,26

Section 4 — Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

No bill in the past twenty-four months amended the board-election provisions of the Nebraska Condominium Act or the Condominium Property Act, and no measure to create a dedicated Nebraska planned-community or homeowner-association statute was introduced in 2024, 2025, or 2026. The only condominium-and-association measure in the recent window dealt with association liens, not director elections — and it did not pass.

B. Recent appellate rulings

No Nebraska Court of Appeals or Nebraska Supreme Court opinion in the past thirty-six months addressed condominium or planned-community board elections, contested elections, declarant-control transition, director removal, or a voting or proxy dispute. The controlling appellate authority on how the two relevant statutes relate remains Dunbar v. Twin Towers Condominium Association, Inc., 26 Neb. App. 354, 920 N.W.2d 1 (2018), in which the Nebraska Court of Appeals held that the Nebraska Condominium Act, as the specific statute, controls over the general Nonprofit Corporation Act for condominium associations. That decision concerns records inspection rather than elections, and it falls outside the thirty-six-month window.¹²

C. Active legislative debates

No active Legislative Bill would create a dedicated Nebraska planned-community statute or amend the board-election provisions of the Nebraska Condominium Act. The earlier Homeowner Association Act proposal, LB973 — introduced by Sen. Rick Kolowski (District 31) and read for the first time on January 13, 2020 in the 106th Legislature, Second Session — was not reintroduced in the 2024 through 2026 sessions.²⁸

Section 5 — National positioning and related coverage

Nebraska sits among the states that enacted a Uniform Condominium Act statute covering condominiums only, with no dedicated planned-community statute. That sets it apart from full-statute states such as California, Florida, and Texas, and from the states that adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act — Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Minnesota, Vermont, and Washington — whose statutes also govern planned communities.⁵ It also stands apart from the prescriptive-procedure states such as California, where the Davis-Stirling Act imposes secret ballots, independent inspectors of election, and fixed timelines. For a multi-state operator entering Nebraska, the practical move comes first: confirm whether a community is a condominium — and which condominium statute applies by creation date — or a planned community governed by its declaration and bylaws, before you rely on any statutory election rule.

HOA Weekly's Nebraska board-elections coverage updates quarterly as the unicameral Legislature and the courts act. Federal frameworks also reach Nebraska associations regardless of the state framework — among them the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and the FCC's Over-the-Air Reception Devices rule.

Footnotes

1. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-825 (Nebraska Condominium Act, how cited) ↩
2. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-826 (applicability; January 1, 1984; reach-back sections) ↩
3. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-801 (Condominium Property Act, how cited) ↩
4. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-1901 et seq. (Nebraska Nonprofit Corporation Act) ↩
5. Uniform Law Commission, Condominium Act (1980) ↩
6. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-861 (executive board; declarant control; election; removal; vacancies) ↩
7. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-864 (bylaws; contents) ↩
8. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-815 (Condominium Property Act bylaws; contents); see also § 76-814 ↩
9. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-840 (construction and validity of declaration and bylaws; declaration prevails) ↩
10. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-1972 (terms of directors; five-year maximum; one-year default) ↩
11. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-832 (supplemental general provisions of law applicable) ↩
12. Dunbar v. Twin Towers Condominium Association, Inc., 26 Neb. App. 354, 920 N.W.2d 1 (2018) ↩
13. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-1970 (number of directors) ↩
14. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-1973 (staggered terms for directors) ↩
15. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-1969 (qualifications of directors) ↩
16. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-866 (association; meetings; annual meeting; notice ten to fifty days) ↩
17. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-1951 (annual and regular meetings) ↩
18. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-1955 (notice of meeting) ↩
19. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-868 (voting; proxies; one-year proxy term) ↩
20. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-844 (allocation of votes; cumulative voting for the executive board) ↩
21. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-1963 (proxies); see also §§ 21-1958, 21-1964 ↩
22. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-867 (quorums; thirty-five percent for the association) ↩
23. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-1961 (quorum requirements) ↩
24. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-1962 (voting requirements) ↩
25. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-1975 (removal of directors elected by members or directors); see also § 21-1977 ↩
26. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-1978 (vacancy on board) ↩
27. LB1251 (2026), 109th Legislature, Second Session, official bill page ↩
28. LB973 (2020), 106th Legislature, Second Session, Homeowner Association Act, introduced copy ↩