New Jersey HOA Board Elections
Section 1: Overview — How board elections are governed in New Jersey
New Jersey does not leave board elections to each community's bylaws. It writes the rules into statute and regulation, and it builds the framework in three layers. The New Jersey Condominium Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8B-1 et seq., governs how a condominium comes into being and how it operates, the association and its board included.1 The Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act — PREDFDA, N.J.S.A. 45:22A-21 et seq. — reaches developer-offered planned developments and carries the prescriptive governance rules.2 And the New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation Act, N.J.S.A. 15A:1-1 et seq., fills the corporate gaps. The election procedures themselves trace to the 2017 Radburn amendments to PREDFDA (P.L. 2017, c. 106), which guarantee open nomination rights and election by secret, anonymous ballot,3 and to the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) regulations adopted to carry them out at N.J.A.C. 5:26-8.9.4 The DCA runs PREDFDA registration and these governance rules; it does not license community association managers. New Jersey has not adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, so UCIOA section numbers and features do not apply here. All of this places New Jersey among the prescriptive-procedure states — with California, Florida, and Nevada — where statute and regulation, not the bylaws, set the election machinery. The sections that follow lay out the framework, the order of precedence among these sources, and how a New Jersey board election actually runs.
Section 2: The election framework
2A. The Condominium Act and the PREDFDA framework
The New Jersey Condominium Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8B-1 et seq., governs how a condominium is created and how it runs, including the association and its governing board.1 Two provisions matter for elections. Section 46:8B-13 requires the bylaws, recorded with the master deed, to set the form of administration and to spell out "the powers, duties and manner of selection, removal and compensation, if any, of officers and board members."5 Section 46:8B-12.1 governs the developer-controlled board and the initial transition election: the association must call an owners' meeting to elect board members within 30 days after owners become entitled to elect them, on no less than 20 and no more than 30 days' notice.6 What the Condominium Act does not supply is the open-nomination and anonymous-ballot machinery. That comes from PREDFDA.
PREDFDA, N.J.S.A. 45:22A-21 et seq., is the developer-disclosure and association-governance statute.2 Its governance provisions reach planned real estate developments a developer offers under a common promotional plan — a definition that expressly takes in property subject to the Condominium Act, homeowners' associations, and housing cooperatives.2 The DCA administers PREDFDA, from developer registration to the association-governance rules in N.J.A.C. Title 5.4 This framework — the Condominium Act plus PREDFDA — is not UCIOA, which New Jersey has never enacted; a New Jersey election analysis should not borrow UCIOA section numbers or default rules.
2B. The Radburn amendments and prescribed board-election procedures
Governor Chris Christie signed P.L. 2017, c. 106 — the Radburn law — on July 13, 2017, amending PREDFDA to overhaul association board elections; most provisions took effect on signing, and the new notice and ballot rules followed on October 1, 2017.3 The DCA then adopted implementing regulations, the Radburn Regulations, effective in 2020, at N.J.A.C. 5:26-8.9.4 The operative statutory section is N.J.S.A. 45:22A-45.2.7 It guarantees that an owner in good standing may nominate themselves or any other owner in good standing for any board seat, declares that "[g]ood standing shall be the sole criterion for the eligibility of a nominee," and keeps nominations open until ballots are mailed, with the rule that "[t]he period for submitting nominations shall not be less than 14 days from the mailing of the request for nominations."7 Proxies must carry notice that their use is voluntary and revocable, and "[a]n association may not use proxies for an executive board member election without also making absentee ballots available."7 The DCA rules go further: "[a]ll ballot tallying shall occur publicly, and the ballots shall be open to inspection by any member of the association for a period of ninety days from the date of the election…all ballots shall be cast in an anonymous manner."4
N.J.S.A. 45:22A-47 fixes the period of developer control and the handoff to owner-elected boards: owners elect at least 25 percent of the board within 60 days after 25 percent of the units are conveyed, at least 40 percent after 50 percent are conveyed, and the entire board after 75 percent are conveyed — though the developer may keep the selection of one board member while it still holds units for sale.8 These procedures are statutory and regulatory, not merely bylaw-set. A community's bylaws cannot lawfully narrow the open-nomination right, add eligibility tests beyond good standing, or strip the absentee-ballot and anonymity protections; where the bylaws conflict with the prescribed minimums, the statute and regulations win.7
2C. Corporate law, the bylaws, and order of precedence
Most New Jersey associations incorporate under the New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation Act, N.J.S.A. 15A:1-1 et seq., which supplies director gap-fillers wherever PREDFDA, the Condominium Act, and the bylaws stay silent. It requires at least three trustees (N.J.S.A. 15A:6-2), permits classified terms of one to six years (N.J.S.A. 15A:6-4), lets a majority of the remaining trustees fill vacancies (N.J.S.A. 15A:6-5), and allows members to remove trustees for cause by a majority of votes cast, or without cause only where the certificate or bylaws say so (N.J.S.A. 15A:6-6).9 PREDFDA itself directs associations to follow the Nonprofit Corporation Act when they count ballots.7
The order of precedence runs in a clear line: the mandatory provisions of PREDFDA, its regulations, and the Condominium Act come first; then the master deed, declaration, and bylaws, to the extent the statutes allow variation; then the Nonprofit Corporation Act gap-fillers; then board rules. For a manager, the operational takeaway is simple — apply the PREDFDA and Radburn requirements first and read the bylaws against them, rather than treating the bylaws as the controlling source. A bylaw that predates Radburn and conflicts with the prescribed election procedures is unenforceable to the extent of that conflict.
Section 3: Election mechanics
Quick-Reference Election Mechanics Table
| # | Mechanic | Rule (state for each applicable community type) | Governing source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Source of board-election rules | Covered planned developments (condominiums, cooperatives, qualifying PUDs): PREDFDA N.J.S.A. 45:22A-45.2 plus DCA rules N.J.A.C. 5:26-8.9. Condominiums also: Condominium Act N.J.S.A. 46:8B-12.1 and 46:8B-13 for creation, bylaws, and the initial board. Incorporated associations: Nonprofit Corporation Act gap-fillers. | 4,5,6,7,9 |
| 2 | Board size (statutory range or default) | Not addressed by PREDFDA; set by the declaration and bylaws. Incorporated associations have a floor of three trustees. | 9 |
| 3 | Director term length | Covered developments with 50 or more units: no term longer than 4 years. Smaller developments and condominiums: set by the declaration and bylaws (Nonprofit Corporation Act classes run 1 to 6 years for incorporated associations). | 7,9 |
| 4 | Term limits | Not addressed by statute; set by the declaration and bylaws (a bylaw term limit risks conflict with PREDFDA's open-nomination guarantee). | 7 |
| 5 | Staggered or classified terms | Permitted; set by the declaration and bylaws (Nonprofit Corporation Act authorizes classification for incorporated associations). | 9 |
| 6 | Director eligibility (membership, good standing, residency) | Both community types: good standing is the sole criterion for nominee eligibility; no more than one owner or representative from a single unit may serve simultaneously. Residency not required by statute. | 4,7 |
| 7 | Declarant-control termination (when owners first elect the board) | Both community types: owners elect at least 25% of the board at 25% conveyance, at least 40% at 50% conveyance, and the full board at 75% conveyance (developer may retain one seat while holding units for sale). | 6,8 |
| 8 | Annual meeting requirement and election timing | Both community types: elections at the interval in the governing documents; if silent, every 2 years. Condominium initial transition election: owners' meeting within 30 days of entitlement. | 6,7 |
| 9 | Notice period for the election meeting | Covered developments: written election-meeting notice no less than 14 nor more than 60 days before; for 50-or-more-unit developments, a separate call-for-nominations notice at least 30 days before the election notice. Condominium initial election: 20 to 30 days. | 4,6,7 |
| 10 | Candidate nomination method | Both community types: any member in good standing may self-nominate or nominate another member in good standing; minimum 14-day nomination window; good standing is the sole criterion. Write-in candidates: set by the bylaws, but ballots in 50-or-more-unit developments must include write-in space. | 4,7 |
| 11 | Permitted voting methods (in person, proxy, absentee or mail ballot, electronic, cumulative) | Both community types: in person; proxy (voluntary and revocable, and only if absentee ballots are also offered); absentee ballot unless the bylaws prohibit; electronic voting where the board authorizes it and the member consents. One vote per unit by default. Cumulative voting not addressed by statute; set by the bylaws. | 4,7 |
| 12 | Quorum required to hold the election | Not addressed by PREDFDA; set by the declaration and bylaws. A petition to compel an overdue election requires at least 25% of members in good standing. | 7 |
| 13 | Vote threshold to elect (plurality or majority) | Not addressed by statute; set by the declaration and bylaws (commonly plurality). | 7 |
| 14 | Removal or recall of directors (threshold and procedure) | Both community types: an elected member may be removed by a vote open to all members in accordance with the bylaws. Incorporated associations: members may remove trustees for cause by a majority of votes cast, and without cause only if the certificate or bylaws permit. | 7,9 |
| 15 | Filling mid-term board vacancies | Both community types: the board may fill a vacancy caused by resignation, death, loss of qualification, or removal; appointment to a seat is otherwise barred for 50-or-more-unit developments. Incorporated associations: a majority of remaining trustees may fill the vacancy. | 7,9 |
A. Eligibility and nominations
For developments covered by PREDFDA — condominiums, cooperatives, and qualifying planned developments — good standing is the sole criterion for nominee eligibility, and any member in good standing may nominate themselves or any other member in good standing. This is mandatory, and the bylaws may not narrow it.7 Good standing turns on staying current on assessments and lawfully assessed charges, with protections for members who are keeping to a payment plan or are in active dispute resolution.3 The bylaws may allocate seats among unit types or geographic areas, but no more than one owner or representative from a single unit may serve at once.7 Write-in candidacy is a bylaw question, though ballots in developments of 50 or more units must leave room for write-ins.4
B. Notice, annual meeting, and quorum
For covered developments, written notice of the election meeting must go out no less than 14 and no more than 60 days before it, and in developments of 50 or more units a separate notice calling for nominations must go out at least 30 days before the election-meeting notice; PREDFDA and the DCA rules make both mandatory.4,7 Elections happen at the interval the governing documents set, or every two years if the documents say nothing.7 Quorum to hold the election is not a PREDFDA matter; the declaration and bylaws govern it.7 For condominiums, the Condominium Act controls the initial transition election instead, requiring the meeting within 30 days of owners' entitlement on 20 to 30 days' notice.6
C. Voting methods, proxies, and ballots
For covered developments, owners may vote in person, by proxy, by absentee ballot, or electronically where the board authorizes it and the member consents.7 Proxies must be voluntary and revocable, and an association may not use proxies in a board election unless it also offers absentee ballots.7 The DCA rules require anonymous ballots, public tallying, and 90-day inspection access — regulatory commands, not bylaw options.4 The default is one vote per unit, unless the governing documents weight votes by size or value.7 The threshold to elect — plurality or majority — is a bylaw question the statute does not answer.7
D. Terms, vacancies, removal, and recall
For covered developments of 50 or more units, no board term may run longer than four years — a hard ceiling; in smaller developments and in condominiums, the bylaws set term length.7 Term limits and staggered terms are not PREDFDA matters and rest with the declaration and bylaws.7 A community may remove an elected board member only by a vote open to all members, run in accordance with the bylaws; for incorporated associations, the Nonprofit Corporation Act lets members remove trustees for cause by a majority of votes cast, and without cause only if the certificate or bylaws allow.9 The board may fill a vacancy left by resignation, death, loss of qualification, or removal, but otherwise may not appoint to a seat in developments of 50 or more units; where it applies, the Nonprofit Corporation Act lets a majority of the remaining trustees fill the vacancy.7,9
Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity
A. Recent bills
Two bills frame the recent legislative picture in New Jersey: one introduced for the 2026 session and still live, and one from the prior session that stalled.
A1138 · 222nd Legislature (2026)
A1138 would amend PREDFDA to require elections every two years, run by an independent election committee; cap board terms at two years; set default board sizes (three members for communities under 11 units, five otherwise); extend the full election rules to associations with fewer than 50 units; require two election notices; and add a member-recall procedure — removal with or without cause by a majority at a special meeting that a 10 percent member petition triggers. It is the reintroduction of earlier bills A476 (2024-2025) and A5239 (2022-2023), neither of which became law.[10]
| Property managers | If it passes, an independent committee would run election administration and notices would double, so build the two-notice timeline and committee selection into your election calendars now. |
| HOA board members | Terms would cap at two years and recall would get easier, so plan for faster turnover and shorter incumbency. |
| Community association attorneys | The bill would override many bylaw provisions on board size, terms, and removal; track its committee progress before you advise on bylaw amendments. |
| Homeowners | Owners would gain a clearer recall right and an independent body to run and police elections. |
A1367 · 221st Legislature (2024-2025)
A1367 would amend the Condominium Act (N.J.S.A. 46:8B-12.1) and PREDFDA so that owner control transfers 60 days after 75 percent of the units within a single structure are conveyed, or two years after substantial completion of a single condominium structure, whichever comes first — a direct answer to developers who slow construction to hold on to control. It was introduced, referred to the Assembly Housing Committee, and did not advance.[11]
| Property managers | A time-based trigger would force transition planning even when a developer stalls sales, so prepare turnover document packages earlier. |
| HOA board members | Owners could reach control sooner in stalled projects, moving up the timeline for taking on fiduciary responsibility. |
| Community association attorneys | The "single structure" and "substantial completion" tests would open new transition-timing arguments in developer disputes. |
| Homeowners | Owners in slow-selling developments would gain a firmer date for taking control from the developer. |
B. Recent appellate rulings
One appellate decision now controls which of the Radburn Regulations survive.
In re Challenge of the Community Associations Institute – New Jersey Chapter, Inc., to Amendments to N.J.A.C. 5:26
The Appellate Division upheld most of the Radburn Regulations governing association elections — public ballot tallying and the 30-day notice to members not in good standing among them — but reversed three. It struck the reserved board seat for affordable-housing owners (N.J.A.C. 5:26-8.10(a)(2)); the ban on binding votes in closed session (N.J.A.C. 5:26-8.12(e)2), holding that the "statute does not forbid binding votes from being taken at all closed meetings, as the regulation does"; and the requirement that both a proxy and an absentee ballot accompany a bylaw-amendment notice (N.J.A.C. 5:26-8.13(f)4).[12]
| Property managers | Keep running anonymous ballots and public tallies, but do not reserve an affordable-housing seat or pair a proxy with an absentee ballot for bylaw votes on the strength of the reversed rules. |
| HOA board members | Boards may again take binding votes in properly closed sessions, within the statute's four exceptions. |
| Community association attorneys | This decision is the controlling appellate authority on the validity of the DCA election rules; cite it when you advise on which Radburn Regulations survive. |
| Homeowners | The core election-transparency protections — anonymity, public tallying, good-standing notice — remain in force. |
C. Active legislative debates
A1138, reintroduced each session, remains the principal active proposal to amend PREDFDA's governance provisions. The Appellate Division has also directed the DCA to clarify several Radburn Regulations, which leaves the precise contours of the election rules open to further rulemaking.
Section 5: National positioning and related coverage
New Jersey belongs to the prescriptive-procedure group of states — alongside California, Florida, and Nevada — where statute and regulation, not the governing documents, fix the board-election machinery, in contrast to the CC&R-primary and bylaw-centric states where the declaration and bylaws supply most of the rules. What sets New Jersey apart on this topic is the Radburn amendments to PREDFDA, paired with the Department of Community Affairs regulations: together they prescribe open nominations, anonymous secret-ballot elections, public tallying, and detailed notice timing that apply no matter what older bylaws say. For a multi-state operator, the practical lesson is direct — in New Jersey, apply the PREDFDA and Radburn requirements first, because the bylaws cannot override the prescribed minimums, and a noncompliant nomination, ballot, or notice step can void an election.
Federal frameworks reach New Jersey associations no matter what the state framework says — the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and the FCC's OTARD rule among them.
- New Jersey Condominium Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8B-1 et seq. (N.J. Department of Community Affairs compiled text) ↩
- Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act, N.J.S.A. 45:22A-21 et seq. (N.J. Department of Community Affairs compiled text) ↩
- P.L. 2017, c. 106 (the Radburn law), New Jersey Legislature ↩
- N.J.A.C. 5:26-8.9, Executive board elections (N.J. Department of Community Affairs regulations) ↩
- N.J.S.A. 46:8B-13, Bylaws (N.J. Department of Community Affairs compiled Condominium Act text) ↩
- N.J.S.A. 46:8B-12.1, Members of governing board; elections; control by board (N.J. Department of Community Affairs compiled Condominium Act text) ↩
- N.J.S.A. 45:22A-45.2, Executive board elections (N.J. Department of Community Affairs compiled PREDFDA text) ↩
- N.J.S.A. 45:22A-47, Surrender of control to owners (N.J. Department of Community Affairs compiled PREDFDA text) ↩
- New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation Act, N.J.S.A. 15A:6-2, 15A:6-4, 15A:6-5, and 15A:6-6 (New Jersey Legislature statutes database) ↩
- Assembly Bill No. 1138, 222nd Legislature (2026), New Jersey Legislature ↩
- Assembly Bill No. 1367, 221st Legislature (2024-2025), New Jersey Legislature ↩
- In re Challenge of the CAI-NJ to Amendments to N.J.A.C. 5:26, Docket No. A-2241-21 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Feb. 23, 2024) ↩