NJ Radburn Regulations: Elections, Meetings, and Member Rights

The New Jersey Radburn regulations are the state’s governance rules for community associations, requiring open board elections, advance notice of meetings, homeowner access to records, and a written alternative dispute resolution process. They sit within the Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act (PREDFDA) and were strengthened by P.L. 2017, c.106 to close off the closed-door practices that had become common in older associations. Whether you live in a condominium, a homeowners’ association, or a housing cooperative, if your community has mandatory dues and a governing board, these rules almost certainly apply to you.

Which Communities the Rules Cover

The regulations reach any “planned real estate development” under PREDFDA. That definition takes in condominiums, homeowners’ associations, housing cooperatives, and community trust arrangements where owners share common property and belong to a mandatory association. Age of the community does not matter. P.L. 2017, c.106 made explicit that PREDFDA’s protections apply to common-interest residential communities established before or after the law’s passage, so a board cannot point to older governing documents as an exemption.¹

Size matters for procedure, not for whether the rules apply. Communities with 50 or more units face the full set of election requirements, including detailed nomination timelines and third-party ballot counting consistent with the New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation Act. Smaller associations still must give election notices, let any member in good standing run, share candidate qualification information, and count ballots honestly. They have more flexibility in structuring the nomination process, and their rules on appointments to fill seats are somewhat looser.² The open-meeting and records-access provisions apply either way.

How Board Elections Must Work

Before the Radburn reforms, boards in many communities effectively picked their own successors. The current rules require open nominations, anonymous ballots, and public counting.

Notice and Nomination Timing

In communities of 50 or more units, the board must first issue a call for nominations at least 30 days, and no more than 60 days, before mailing the election meeting notice. Members then have at least 14 days to submit nominations. Once nominations close, the election notice, including the ballot, goes out at least 14 days before the vote.³

Smaller communities have a single notice step. Written election notice must go out at least 14 days, but no more than 30 days, before the vote. It has to explain how to vote and confirm that any member in good standing may run.³

Voting and Counting

Ballots must be anonymous. Electronic voting is allowed only where the bylaws permit it, the member consents, and a neutral third party administers the system while preserving anonymity. Counting happens in public, not behind closed doors. Associations with 50 or more units also follow the counting standards of the Nonprofit Corporation Act. Boards generally cannot fill seats by appointment in place of an election; the main exception is a mid-term vacancy.²

Developer-to-Homeowner Transition

In new communities the developer starts out controlling the board, and the law forces a phased handoff tied to how many units have been sold:

Within 60 days of 25% of units being conveyed, homeowners elect at least 25% of the board.
Within 60 days of 50% of units being conveyed, homeowners elect at least 40% of the board.
Within 60 days of 75% of units being conveyed, developer control ends and homeowners elect the full board.

Even after losing majority control, the developer may keep one seat while unsold units remain.¹ Homeowners approaching these thresholds should track sales figures and make sure the required elections actually get scheduled.

Open Meetings and When Boards Can Close the Door

Any board meeting where binding votes will be taken must be open to every member. The board has to give all members direct written notice at least seven days ahead and post the notice publicly, including on any association website or newsletter. If the date shifts, the new date gets its own seven-day notice. Genuine emergencies can shorten that timeline, but only for the urgent matter, and the board still has to send notice as soon as it can after calling the meeting.³

Working or conference sessions where no binding votes are taken fall outside the open-meeting rule.¹ Boards sometimes try to use that label to keep members out while conducting real business. If a binding decision comes out of a session marked as non-voting, members have grounds to challenge it.

Executive session, meaning a closed portion of a meeting, is limited to narrow categories: matters whose disclosure would be an unwarranted invasion of privacy, and pending or anticipated litigation or contract negotiations.⁴ Routine financial decisions or vendor contracts without active litigation do not qualify, and the board has to justify closing the door.

Records Access and Member Rights

Members can review association records, including financial statements, meeting minutes, and governing documents. The association must make these materials available on written request. Refusing to produce records or putting unreasonable obstacles in the way can expose the board to legal challenges.

Beyond records, members can petition for bylaw amendments and challenge board decisions through the association’s grievance procedure. If the association will not address the concern, homeowners can file a complaint with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs or take the matter to court.⁵

Rights carry obligations. Members must pay assessments on time and follow rules on maintenance, architectural changes, and common area use. Associations can impose fines or restrict amenity access for violations, but they have to follow due process first.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

PREDFDA and the New Jersey Condominium Act both require every association to maintain a written alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedure as an alternative to litigation, whether the dispute is between a homeowner and the board or between neighbors.⁶

A few details tend to surprise people:

If a homeowner properly requests ADR over a board action or inaction, the board must participate.⁶
The board, its agents, and individual board members cannot sit on the ADR panel. A neutral party has to handle it.⁶
A homeowner is not required to use ADR before going to court. A judge, however, may refer the case back to ADR if it looks likely to help.⁵

Refusing to participate in ADR when properly requested can affect a member’s eligibility to vote or hold a board position. And a board member cannot be removed simply for disagreeing with the majority without first being offered ADR.³

Fines, Liens, and Limits on Enforcement

Associations can enforce rules and collect unpaid dues, but the Radburn framework puts real limits on how.

Before imposing a fine, the board must give the homeowner written notice of the alleged violation and the basis for the proposed penalty, and must inform the homeowner of the right to use the association’s dispute resolution process.⁷ Skipping those steps is one of the fastest ways for enforcement to be overturned. Fines must be reasonable and proportionate. Tiered structures that escalate for repeat offenses are common, but even tiered fines have to stay within bounds.

Unpaid assessments become a lien on the unit. Under the Condominium Act, the amount owed for common expenses is automatically a lien against the property.⁸ To make it enforceable against third parties, the association records a formal lien claim in the county records; it must state the unit description, the owner’s name, the amount due, and the date it became due. The lien can pick up interest, late fees, and reasonable attorney’s fees from the collection effort. It cannot be recorded based only on unpaid late fees.⁹ These liens are generally subordinate to first mortgages, which limits their power in some scenarios, but a recorded lien clouds title and must be cleared before the unit can be sold or refinanced.

Filing a Complaint With the DCA

The Department of Community Affairs has an Association Regulation unit that can step into certain disputes involving owner-controlled associations. Its jurisdiction covers three specific areas of association operations, so not every complaint fits.⁵

You start with a completed complaint form. Staff review it, and if they find the matter is within their jurisdiction, they send a letter to the board president asking for a response. Plan on a wait; the DCA says it can be several months before enough information is gathered to make findings or move toward a resolution.⁵

One important boundary: the DCA cannot void contracts, even ones the board entered into improperly. If a board hires a contractor without following the open-meeting rules, the contractor can still hold the association to the deal. The homeowner’s route is to notify the board of the violation, file a DCA complaint if the board will not correct it, and, if needed, pursue the matter in court.⁵ DCA records are generally public, so a complaint is not guaranteed to stay confidential.

1
New Jersey Legislature. P.L. 2017, c.106
2
Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 45-22A-45.2 – Executive Board Elections
3
NJ.gov. Chapter 26 – Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act Regulations
4
Cornell Law School. N.J.A.C. 5:26-8.12
5
NJ.gov. Frequently Asked Questions – Association Regulation
6
NJ.gov. DCA Alternative Dispute Resolution Guide
7
Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 46-8B-15
8
Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 46-8B-17 – Common Expenses
9
Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 46-8B-21 – Liens in Favor of Association