Interesting question!  You are correct that the law requires 30 day notice of meetings and 30 day notice of the result of the votes, which could make the entire association not legally binding if a complaint were to go to court. 

On the other hand, as long as it does not go to court, there is nothing stopping the association from continuing to run that way.  In essence, it would be pretty much the same as an "informal" or "voluntary" association. 

That would mean that if someone stopped paying their dues and the association tried to collect through a Notice of Claim, (a process that is available for legitimate Statutory road associations,) a real estate attorney who is sharp enough to notice the flaws in the association could get the non-payer off the hook.  At that point it might boil down to a question of whether it was cheaper for the non-payer to just pay what they owed rather than paying for a good real estate attorney.

The other thought that comes to mind is that I fully understand the "inconvenience" of meeting the 30 day notice requirements, having served on a road association board for a number of years myself.  While it may seem like a trivial matter to make sure the notices go out on time, board members are volunteers whose lives are likely just as busy as the lives of those who don't feel they have time to serve on the board.

So my final suggestion would be, if those who are on the board are unable to make sure the notices go out by the deadline, maybe it's time for someone else to step up and either become a board member, or at least volunteer to help get the mailings out on time.

Thank you for your questions regarding failure to follow Title 23.

When I read your comments, I immediately thought it was written by a member of our statutory road association. I will follow the responses to your questions closely.

Our association has a president who does things unilaterally, without any discussion or consultation with the membership. We have four Board of Directors and there has never been a meeting of the “board”. Our bylaws are not followed as written, and there is no adherence to Title 23.

Our bylaws state “there will be an annual meeting of all members held on the second Wednesday of September at 6pm “.  According to our bylaws, this year’s meeting should be on September 14^th, but our president has made the unilateral decision to hold the annual meeting one month earlier, on August 17^th.  There is no explanation as to why the meeting date is being moved. By moving the date of the meeting, it presents a problem of those members who are unable to change vacation plans they have previously scheduled and cannot attend the newly scheduled meeting.

Road association members who look forward to our annual meeting are being denied the opportunity to attend the meeting, participate in discussions, vote on budgets or the elections of officers. We have 18 members, however the change of date for this year’s meeting was only sent via e-mail to 8 members.

The minutes of last year’s annual meeting were not sent out until approximately 6 months after that meeting and were not sent to all members of our road association. There was an “emergency meeting” held on March 23^rd to discuss the treacherous condition of our roads and no one has received the minutes of that meeting.

However, if the tests of 3101 fail then would not the provisions of 3121 apply? And then ANY other owner on the road could pursue collection with the primary question being that the cost is reasonable and the repairs and maintenance necessary?

§3121.  Responsibility for cost of repairs to and maintenance of private roads that benefit residential properties

 If more than one property shares a common benefit from a private road, each property owner who shares the common benefit is responsible for a share of the cost of reasonable and necessary repairs to and maintenance of that private road determined pursuant to the terms of any agreement entered into to determine the share of the cost of reasonable and necessary repairs to and maintenance of the private road, any deed restriction, covenant or declaration applicable to the benefited property, any road association created pursuant to this chapter or otherwise or any method elected under section 3101, when applicable.  In the absence of any such agreement, restriction, covenant, declaration, road association or method elected under section 3101, each residential property owner, after reasonable due process and notice, shall share equally in the cost of reasonable and necessary repairs to and maintenance of the private road when the private road is the primary means of access to the benefited property.  

3.  Enforcement.  If a residential property owner fails to pay that owner's share of the cost of reasonable and necessary repairs to and maintenance of the private road in accordance with subsection 1, after a demand in writing, a legal claim for payment of the amount owed may be brought against that owner by a residential property owner or owners who share a common benefit in the road, either jointly or severally.