Candidate qualification
The rules that decide who is allowed to run, and when a board can't just make one up.
Candidate qualification rules, who can run and who can't, must be written into the association's adopted rules or governing documents before nominations open, not decided case by case. Common disqualifying conditions include unpaid assessments, term limits, and conflicts of interest, but which ones apply, and how, varies by state and by your own bylaws.
Qualification rules have to exist before anyone runs
A board cannot decide, three weeks before ballots go out, that it doesn't like a particular candidate and invent a new disqualifying reason on the spot. Where a state regulates this, the standard runs the other way: the association's own adopted rules have to spell out who qualifies to run, and those rules have to be in place before the nomination window opens, not written to fit a single race.
That same kind of rule also has to protect the basic right to run. California requires that any qualification procedure allow a member to put their own name forward.
"A nomination or election procedure shall not be deemed reasonable if it disallows any member from nominating themself."
Source: California Civil Code Section 5105, California Legislative Information
What actually disqualifies a candidate
Which specific conditions can bar someone from running, unpaid assessments, term limits, how long you've been a member, or a close relationship to a sitting director, varies by state statute and by your own governing documents. Check both before assuming a rule applies to you.
Where a state does regulate this, delinquency on association fees is the condition that shows up most often. One state bars a member from being nominated if they are behind on payments as of the nomination deadline, and treats a director who falls seriously delinquent mid-term as having automatically given up the seat, no removal vote required.
"A person serving as a board member who becomes more than 90 days delinquent in the payment of any fee, fine, or other monetary obligation to the association shall be deemed to have abandoned his or her seat on the board."
Source: Florida Statutes Section 720.306, The Florida Senate
Another state disqualifies candidates for close personal ties to a sitting director, living together, marriage, or near relation, with carve-outs for majority owners and races where nobody is actually competing for a seat. None of these thresholds transfer from one state to another; the categories are common, the specifics are not.
Some states also require written disclosure
A qualification rule can also require a candidate to say, in their own words, what might make them the wrong person to sit in judgment on association business. That is different from a delinquency check; it asks the candidate to surface relationships and interests nobody else would necessarily know about.
"Any financial, business, professional or personal relationship or interest that would result or would appear to a reasonable person to result in a potential conflict of interest."
Source: Nevada Revised Statutes Section 116.31034, Nevada Legislature
A checkbox that just says "no conflicts" does not do this job. Where this kind of disclosure is required, it asks for a description, not a confirmation.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
A board disqualifies a candidate for a reason found nowhere in its adopted rules, three days before the nomination deadline. What is wrong here?
A sitting director in one researched state falls more than 90 days delinquent on assessments mid-term. What happens to that seat under that state's rule?
A state requires candidates to disclose conflicts of interest in writing before an election. What must that disclosure actually describe?
Sources
- California Civil Code Section 5105, California Legislative Information
- Florida Statutes Section 720.306, The Florida Senate
- Nevada Revised Statutes Section 116.31034, Nevada Legislature
Elections
Once you know who can qualify, the next question is how nominations actually happen at the meeting: see Candidate nominations.
Which conditions disqualify a candidate, whether delinquency counts, how long a member must have belonged, term limits, family relationships to other directors, and what must be disclosed in writing, all vary by state statute and by your own governing documents.