Blog

BLOG / 11.10.21 /Kenneth R. Jacobs

Electronic Meeting Bill For Co-ops Signed Into Law

At long last, Co-ops are now officially allowed to conduct shareholder meetings electronically, permanently extending the current law that expires on December 31st. As before, the Board of Directors must provide a platform that provides shareholders a reasonable opportunity to participate in the proceedings, to verify that participants are shareholders of record, to vote, and to record votes.

Board members are also now permitted to give written consent electronically to Board actions without the necessity of a formal meeting. It appears that the intent of this new provision was to eliminate the requirement of unanimous consent of all members for a Board or committee action to be authorized without a formal meeting. (Otherwise this change seems superfluous.)

Note: For some reason, condominium association meetings were excluded from the amendment of the law, probably just an oversight. Bills have been introduced to correct this omission. However, Condo rights to have electronic meetings based on the COVID emergency remain in place until December 31, 2021.