New Hampshire's Condominium Act treats meetings as a real check on board power, not an afterthought. RSA 356-B:37 requires an annual meeting, with at least 21 days' notice for that or any regularly scheduled meeting and at least 7 days' notice for any other meeting; the notice has to state the time, place, and purpose, and any budget change or proposal to remove a board member or officer has to be listed as a purpose. If owners want a meeting the board won't call, RSA 356-B:37(II) lets the president, a majority of the board, or unit owners holding at least 33 percent of the votes (or a lower percentage the bylaws set) demand the secretary call a special meeting — and if the association doesn't notice it within 30 days, the requesting owners can notice it themselves and put their proposal directly to a vote. Board meetings get their own rhythm under RSA 356-B:37-c: at least quarterly open sessions where owners can comment, 10 days' notice (5 days if most owners are full-time residents), and tightly limited executive sessions under RSA 356-B:37-d — attorney consultation, active litigation, personnel matters, or sensitive contract negotiations only, with no final vote allowed behind closed doors.
Quorum and voting are spelled out with real numbers. RSA 356-B:38 sets a default quorum of more than one-third of the votes for an association meeting (bylaws can lower that to not less than 25 percent, or raise it for associations under 25 units) and more than half the board's votes for a board meeting; if quorum fails at an annual meeting, the board has to reschedule within 60 days. RSA 356-B:39 caps how much of the vote any single proxy holder can control — no more than 10 percent of votes cast in an association over 20 units (unless the bylaws set an even lower cap), and less than a majority in a smaller association — and requires the board to reconcile every proxy against a control-number list, retained for at least three years. Owners can also vote entirely by ballot without a meeting under RSA 356-B:39-a, with a minimum 10-day return window and a right to demand a recount of the tally sheets.
Removing a bad board member, and the one thing non-condo HOAs do have
RSA 356-B:40-b gives owners something genuinely rare: the right to remove any director or officer, with or without cause, by a simple majority of the votes cast at a properly noticed meeting with quorum present — as long as the removal was listed as a meeting purpose in advance, and the member facing removal gets a chance to speak before the vote. The board's own power is bounded the same way: RSA 356-B:40(II) bars the board itself from amending the declaration or bylaws, terminating the association, electing new board members (it can only fill vacancies for the unexpired term), or setting board qualifications — those require an actual ownership vote. Budgets follow their own process under RSA 356-B:40-c: the board adopts a proposed budget, has to summarize it for owners within 30 days, and sets a ratification meeting 10 to 60 days later. The default favors the board here — the budget is ratified unless two-thirds of all unit owners (not just those who show up) affirmatively reject it, whether or not a quorum is even present at that meeting.
If your community isn't a legal condominium, almost none of this exists in state law. RSA 292:8-m gives non-condo HOA owners exactly one meeting-and-voting-adjacent protection: once developer control has ended, if a single person or entity acquires more than half the votes in the association, a two-thirds majority is required to change the bylaws, the budget, or any contracted property-management service — a real, if narrow, defense against one dominant owner rewriting the rules unilaterally. Beyond that, there's no state-mandated notice period, quorum threshold, proxy cap, or removal right for a standalone HOA. RSA 292:6 confirms only the generic corporate default: the board holds the power to alter or amend bylaws unless the articles of agreement reserve that power to the members, and the initial bylaws require a two-thirds vote of the original signers to adopt. Everything else — how meetings are noticed, how votes are counted, whether you can remove a sitting board member — is whatever your own declaration and bylaws happen to say.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
RSA 356-B:37
Requires an annual condo association meeting with 21 days' notice, and lets 33 percent of owners force a special meeting the board won't call.
RSA 356-B:38
Sets the default quorum floor (more than one-third of votes, or a bylaw-adjusted 25 percent) for association meetings and majority-of-board-votes for board meetings.
RSA 356-B:39
Caps how much voting power any single proxy holder can control and requires the board to reconcile proxies against a control list.
RSA 356-B:40-b
Gives owners the right to remove any board member or officer mid-term by majority vote at a properly noticed meeting.
RSA 292:8-m
The one HOA-specific voting protection in New Hampshire law: a two-thirds vote is required to change bylaws, budgets, or a management contract once a single person controls a majority of an HOA's votes.
Step by step
How to assert your meeting and voting rights in New Hampshire
Steps to hold a New Hampshire condo association, or a non-condo HOA, accountable to its meeting, quorum, and voting obligations.
- 01
Confirm which statute applies to your community
RSA 356-B's detailed meeting-and-voting scheme applies to legal condominiums. A non-condo HOA generally has only RSA 292:8-m's narrow supermajority protection, plus whatever its own bylaws provide.
- 02
Check the meeting notice against the statutory minimums
For a condo, verify 21 days' notice for the annual meeting (7 days for other meetings, 10/5 days for board meetings). Improper notice is a real defect you can raise.
- 03
Count quorum against the statutory floor
Confirm attendance or proxies met the more-than-one-third default (or your bylaws' adjusted percentage) before treating a vote as valid.
- 04
Use the 33-percent petition if the board won't act
For a condo, organize 33 percent of the votes to demand a special meeting under RSA 356-B:37(II); if the board misses the 30-day window to notice it, you can notice it yourselves.
- 05
Build the record to remove a board member
Get the removal question onto a properly noticed meeting agenda in advance, then organize a majority of the votes actually cast at that meeting under RSA 356-B:40-b.
Straight answers
Common questions
How much notice does my New Hampshire condo association have to give before the annual meeting?
At least 21 days, under RSA 356-B:37(I), stating the time, place, and purpose of the meeting. Other, non-annual meetings require at least 7 days' notice.
Can owners force a special meeting the board doesn't want to hold?
Yes. RSA 356-B:37(II) lets unit owners holding at least 33 percent of the votes (or a lower bylaws-set percentage) demand the secretary call a special meeting, and lets them notice it themselves if the association doesn't act within 30 days.
Can I remove a sitting board member without waiting for their term to end?
Yes, for a condo. RSA 356-B:40-b lets owners remove any director or officer, with or without cause, by majority vote at a properly noticed meeting with quorum present, as long as removal was listed as a meeting purpose in advance.
My community is just an HOA, not a condo — do these meeting rules apply to me?
No. RSA Chapter 292 has no general meeting, quorum, or proxy statute for homeowners' associations. The only protection you get is RSA 292:8-m's two-thirds-vote requirement once a single person controls a majority of the association's votes; everything else is governed by your own bylaws.