Pennsylvania HOAs and Condo Associations Are Going Virtual Thanks to Act 115

New Year’s Day may have come and gone, but leaders of homeowners associations and condominium associations in Pennsylvania should resolve to get up to speed on a relatively new state law that authorizes virtual meetings, electronic voting and electronic notifications.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly enacted Act 115, which amends Title 68 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes and impacts the governance of homeowners associations (also known as planned communities), condominium associations and cooperatives in the Commonwealth.

The amendments are to the Uniform Planned Community Act, 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 5101, et seq., which governs homeowners associations; to the Uniform Condominium Act, 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3101, et seq., which applies to condominium associations; and to the Real Estate Cooperative Act, 68 Pa. C.S. §§ 4101, et seq., which governs cooperatives.

Act 115, which took effect in May 2023, is primarily intended to facilitate the use of virtual meetings and online communications in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, associations found themselves unable to hold meetings or abide by other terms of their governing documents that required in-person actions.

Among other changes, the law also allows executive boards to record meetings, gives unit owners an opportunity to meet candidates in “pre-election sessions” prior to elections, and requires an “independent reviewer” for associations with at least 500 units.

Act 115 provides for the following:

• the option to have individuals “participate in a meeting of the executive board or association by means of a conference telephone or other remote electronic technology, including the Internet,” and to have such remote participation count as in-person attendance;
• that unit owners can vote in-person or by proxy at an association meeting, by absentee or electronic ballot online, or “by another method of voting expressly provided for in the association’s declaration or bylaws”;
• the option to provide notices of annual and special meetings of associations by electronic means “if the unit owner has agreed in writing to accept the notice by electronic means or where the bylaws permit electronic notices”;
• the requirement that an “independent reviewer” selected by the executive board tally and certify election results in associations with at least five hundred (500) units, or in associations with less than 500 units that opt in;
• the option for executive boards to record association meetings “via audio or video technology,” provided they inform the attendees at the outset that the meetings are being recorded;
• the requirement to hold a special session at least seven days before any election so that unit owners may meet the candidates for an election, provided that there are more candidates than there are open positions;
• that an uncontested election can be called without the need to tabulate votes; and
• that bylaws can only be amended by a vote or agreement of unit owners of units to which at least 51 percent “of the votes in the association are allocated” or “any larger majority as specified in the bylaws . . .”

Associations are required to amend their bylaws to incorporate some of these changes reflected in Act 115. Other provisions of the law indicate that they apply “except as otherwise provided in the bylaws.”

For more information about how Act 115 may impact your homeowners association or condominium association, call us at 412-209-3200 or contact us to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.