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If a condominium unit is jointly owned by a husband and wife, can both of them run for election to the Board
of Directors?

AUGUST 2004

The Michigan Condominium Act does not forbid a husband and wife from both running to be on the Board of Directors for a condominium association.  Some associations' Bylaws do impose restrictions that would forbid a husband and wife team from running for the Board.  However, the Bylaws for most older associations fail to include such a restriction.  In fact, the Bylaws for some associations even allow delinquent co-owners and people who do not even own a unit in the condominium to serve on the association's Board of Directors!

It is not desirable for an association to have such open-ended rules regarding who is qualified to serve on the association's Board of Directors.  When our firm is involved in drafting amended Bylaws for our clients, we often tighten the requirements for the qualifications of who is eligible to serve as a Director to better serve the interests of the Association.  For example, the amended Bylaws normally would prohibit delinquent co-owners from serving on the Board and would limit the number of co-owners of a unit who may run for election to the Board to one candidate per unit.

If your association's Bylaws do not contain such restrictions on qualifications for director eligibility, the association may face a legal challenge from any co-owner that attempts to run for the Board if the association tries to prevent that co-owner from running, for whatever reason.  Even though reasonable people might agree that a co-owner who owes assessments to the Association (or who possesses some other undesirable quality) should not be able to run for election to the Board, the reality is that no legal justification exists for preventing such a co-owner from running if the association's Bylaws do not contain express eligibility requirements that would prevent that person from serving on the Board.

We recommend that each association have their Bylaws reviewed by qualified counsel periodically to determine whether amendments are needed to best serve the needs, goals and objectives of the association's membership. 

 
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