Vermont § 2-117 - Amendment of declaration

§ 2-117. Amendment of declaration

• (a) Except in cases of amendments that may be executed by a declarant under subsection
  2-109(f) or section 2-110 of this title, or the association under subsections 2-106(d), 2-108(c), and 2-112(a) or section 2-113 of this title, or by certain unit owners under subsection 2-108(b), 2-112(a), 2-113(b), or 2-118(b) of this title, and except as limited by other subsections of this section, the declaration, including
  any plats and plans, may be amended only by vote or agreement of unit owners of units
  to which at least 67 percent of the votes in the association is allocated unless the
  declaration specifies a different percentage for all amendments or for specific subjects
  of amendment. If the declaration requires the approval of another person as a condition
  of its effectiveness, the amendment is not valid without that approval. (b) No action to challenge the validity of an amendment adopted by the association pursuant
  to this section may be brought more than one year after the amendment is recorded. (c) Every amendment to the declaration shall be recorded in every town in which any portion
  of the common interest community is located, and is effective only upon recordation.
  An amendment, except an amendment pursuant to subsection 2-112(a) of this title, shall be indexed in the grantee’s index in the name of the common interest community
  and the association, and in the grantor’s index in the name of the parties executing
  the amendment. (d) Except to the extent expressly permitted or required by other provisions of this title,
  no amendment may create or increase special declarant rights, increase the number
  of units, change the boundaries of any unit, or change the allocated interests of
  a unit, or the uses to which any unit is restricted, in the absence of unanimous consent
  of the unit owners. (e) Amendments to the declaration required by this title to be recorded by the association
  shall be prepared, executed, recorded, and certified on behalf of the association
  by any officer of the association designated for that purpose or, in the absence of
  designation, by the president of the association. (f) Provisions in the declaration creating special declarant rights that have not expired
  may not be amended without the consent of the declarant. (g) The time limits specified in the declaration pursuant to subdivision 2-105(a)(8) of this title within which reserved development rights must be exercised may be extended, and additional
  development rights may be created, if persons entitled to cast at least 80 percent
  of the votes in the association, including 80 percent of the votes allocated to units
  not owned by the declarant, agree to that action. The agreement is effective 30 days
  after an amendment to the declaration reflecting the terms of the agreement is recorded
  unless all the persons holding the affected special declarant rights, or security
  interests in those rights, record a written objection within the 30-day period, in
  which case the amendment is void, or consent in writing at the time the amendment
  is recorded, in which case the amendment is effective when recorded. (h) If any provision of this title or of the declaration requires the consent of a holder
  of a security interest in a unit as a condition to the effectiveness of an amendment
  to the declaration, that consent is deemed granted if a refusal to consent in a record
  is not received by the association within 60 days after the association delivers notice
  of the proposed amendment to the holder at an address for notice provided by the holder
  or mails the notice to the holder by certified mail, return receipt requested, at
  that address. If the holder has not provided to the association an address for notice,
  the association shall provide notice to the address in the security interest of record.
  Notwithstanding this section, an amendment to the declaration that affects the priority
  of a holder’s security interest or the ability of that holder to foreclose its security
  interest may not be adopted without that holder’s consent in a record if the declaration
  requires that consent as a condition to the effectiveness of the amendment. (i) If the declaration contains a provision requiring that amendments to the declaration
  may be adopted only by the vote or agreement of unit owners of units to which more
  than 80 percent of the votes in the association are allocated, the amendment is approved: (1) if: (A) unit owners of units to which at least 80 percent of the votes in the association
  are allocated vote for or agree to the proposed amendment; (B) no unit owner votes against the proposed amendment; and (C) notice of the proposed amendment is delivered to the unit owners holding the votes
  in the association that have not voted or agreed to the proposed amendment and no
  written objection to the proposed amendment is received by the association within
  60 days after the association delivers notice; or (2) unit owners of units to which at least 80 percent of the votes in the association
  are allocated vote for or agree to the proposed amendment but at least one unit owner
  objects to the proposed amendment and, pursuant to an action brought by the association
  in the Superior Court for the county in which the common interest community is located
  against all objecting unit owners, the court finds that the objecting unit owners
  do not have an interest, different in kind from the interests of the other unit owners,
  that the voting requirement of the declaration was intended to protect. (j) An amendment to the declaration may prohibit or materially restrict the permitted
  uses of or behavior in a unit or the number or other qualifications of persons who
  may occupy units only by vote or agreement of unit owners of units to which at least
  80 percent of the votes in the association are allocated, unless the declaration specifies
  that a larger percentage of unit owners must vote or agree to that amendment or that
  such an amendment may be approved by unit owners of units having at least 80 percent
  of the votes of a specified group of units that would be affected by the amendment.
  An amendment approved under this subsection must provide reasonable protection for
  a use or occupancy permitted at the time the amendment was adopted. (Added 1997, No. 104 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. Jan. 1, 1999; amended 2009, No. 155 (Adj. Sess.), § 20, eff. Jan. 1, 2012.)