michigan non-profit hoa
Michigan Home Owners Association Formation
<p>Our subdivision has a total of 50 lots with about 65 owners of those 50 lots (e.g. a lot jointly owned by husband and wife).</p>
<p>My question is around formation of a Home Owners Association.</p>
<p>A little background : There are 4 pieces of land in our subdivision that are jointly owned by all lot owners as per the original 1903 Plat dedication. We will call these properties &quot;jointly owned properties&quot; or JOPs from here on. These JOPs are adjacent to a lake and provide lake access to non-riparian property owners of our subdivision. As per a couple of court orders in 1990 and 1991 borne out of conflict between riparian and non-riparian property owners of our subdivision, a non-profit voluntary HOA needs to be formed to govern the use of these JOPs which we are trying to form now after so many years. A copy of these orders can be found here :
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F07SrgqC73CejrHp9WdU5Oh8VOFvWFMZ/view?usp=sharing" rel="nofollow noreferrer">1990 Court Order</a>
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mcyqikZImPq7tvjP1jBZ8h-39_swN23h/view?usp=sharing" rel="nofollow noreferrer">1991 Court Order</a></p>
<p>I have the following question :</p>
<p>Q1) Is there a minimum number of lot owners that must agree to join the HOA for a voluntary non-profit HOA to be viable?</p>

<p><strong>Is there a minimum number of lot owners that must agree to join the HOA for a voluntary non-profit HOA to be viable?</strong></p>
<p>I don't know about viability, as that's opinion based and would hinge on things like its operating practices and how it's managed / governed, but it seems there may not be a specific legal requirement for a minimum number of members.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.hopb.co/michigan" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this source</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Michigan does not have a specific statute governing homeowners’ associations. However, if an association is organized as a non-profit, as is the case with most Michigan associations, it will be governed by the <a href="https://micondolaw.com/michigan-community-association-law-hoas-co-ops-summer-resorts/the-michigan-nonprofit-corporation-act" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Michigan Nonprofit Corporation Act</a>, specifically with regard to corporate structure and procedure.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And Section 304 of that Act states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(1) Except as otherwise provided in this act, <strong>the articles of incorporation or bylaws of a corporation organized on a membership basis may prescribe the number</strong>, voting rights, qualifications, liquidation rights, preferences, and limitations, and other rights, preferences, and limitations <strong>of</strong> or on <strong>the members</strong> of the corporation.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>The articles of incorporation or the bylaws may provide that members of a homeowners or property owners association are entitled to voting rights based on the number of lots owned by each member.</p>
</blockquote>
