Quick Answer
A developer turnover election is the first board election homeowners run without the builder, and in most states the trigger is a percentage of lots conveyed rather than a date: 75 percent in Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and Texas condominiums, 90 percent for Florida condominiums and homeowners associations.
The hard part is structural, not legal: turnover is the one election your community has never run, because the body that would normally run an election is the body being elected.
| The question turnover raises | Where the answer comes from |
|---|---|
| When does builder control end? | Your state's act or your declaration, whichever is sooner |
| Who calls the meeting? | The declarant or the appointed board; some states let owners force it |
| Who holds the voter roster? | The declarant. Ask in writing, early |
| Who counts the ballots? | A neutral administrator or inspector, not the developer's manager |
| When must records arrive? | 30 to 90 days after the new board is seated |
vote.direct will run a turnover election end to end from $199 for up to 100 voters. That matters more here than at a routine annual meeting: both parties who would normally administer the vote have a stake in the result.
General information, not legal advice. Turnover rules vary by state, by property type and by your own declaration. Software cannot make an election legally binding or guarantee that it complies with your statute and governing documents; your documents and your attorney decide that.
What Declarant Control Is, and When It Ends
The declarant is the builder that recorded your declaration, and nearly every declaration reserves a period of declarant control during which the declarant appoints and removes the officers and the board. That exists for a real reason: on day one there are no owners to elect anyone.
Two things end it, and the earlier one wins: your declaration states a termination date or a method for calculating one, and your state's act caps whatever the declaration says.
Colorado is the archetype, because it is Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act language that many states adopted almost verbatim. Under C.R.S. §38-33.3-303(5)(a)(I), declarant control terminates no later than the earliest of 60 days after 75 percent of the units that may be created are conveyed to other owners, two years after the declarant's last conveyance in the ordinary course of business, or two years after any right to add units was last exercised. A declarant who simply stops selling does not get to stay on the board forever.
Minority Seats Are Not Turnover
The most common mix-up. Long before control transfers, most acts hand owners a minority of the seats. Colorado again, at §38-33.3-303(6): within 60 days of 25 percent conveyed, at least one member and not less than 25 percent of the board must be elected by owners other than the declarant; within 60 days of 50 percent conveyed, not less than 33 1/3 percent.
Those are real elections. They are not turnover. Turnover is the moment owners other than the declarant elect a majority, because that is when the records, the bank accounts and the liability move with it.
A declarant may also leave early: voluntary surrender is expressly allowed in Colorado at §38-33.3-303(5)(b), Nevada at NRS 116.31032(1)(f) and Arizona at ARS §33-1243(F). Arizona planned communities have the bluntest backstop in the country, at ARS §33-1820: every declaration providing for declarant control must state a termination date or a method to calculate one, and control ends no later than the day the second to last lot is conveyed.
The Transition Meeting
Two separate events get merged into one phrase and then argued about. The election seats the first board with a homeowner majority; the transition meeting is where control, custody and records change hands. They often happen the same evening. Minute them as two acts.
Florida sequences it. Under Fla. Stat. §718.301(2), within 75 days after owners other than the developer become entitled to elect a board member, the association must call an election on not less than 60 days' notice, and the notice may be given by any unit owner if the association fails to give it.
Illinois answers the "who convenes it" problem even more directly. Under 765 ILCS 605/18.2(b)(i), the first unit owner board must be elected no later than 60 days after the developer conveys 75 percent of the units, or three years after the declaration is recorded, whichever is earlier, on at least 21 days' notice, and any owner may demand the names, addresses and weighted vote of every eligible owner within three working days. If the developer does not call the meeting, §18.2(b)(ii) lets owners holding 20 percent of the interest call it themselves; if the board still is not elected, §18.2(c) keeps the developer in office 30 days, then makes it mail notice of its resignation to every owner.
So when the board that would run the election does not exist yet, the statute usually names a convener and a fallback.
The agenda that works: read the trigger into the record, hold the election, accept the appointed directors' resignations, take custody item by item against the list below, and set the next meeting date before anyone leaves the room.
The First Homeowner Board Election, Step by Step
Step 1: Prove the Trigger in Writing
Pull the conveyance count from county records, or ask the declarant in writing, and put the number, the date and the governing provision in one memo. Every later dispute starts here, and a community with a dated memo has an answer instead of an argument.
Step 2: Get the Roster Before You Need It
The roster belongs to the declarant and is usually a sales list rather than a member roll. Ask for owners of record, mailing addresses that differ from the property address, and the vote allocated to each lot. Colorado requires a roster of owners and mortgagees with contact details at §38-33.3-303(9)(j), Nevada under NRS 116.31038, and Illinois inside three working days of a request, before turnover.
Step 3: Decide Who Is Neutral Enough to Run It
The developer's management company is not, however honest and competent it is, because the question at turnover is whether the developer influenced the vote. California makes the principle statutory: an independent inspector is required under Civ. Code §5110(a), and Cal. Civ. Code §5110(b) bars anyone under contract to the association for compensable services from serving. vote.direct serves as inspector in Colorado, Nevada, Florida, Texas, Arizona and Maryland only, never in California, for that reason. Our inspector guide covers the role elsewhere.
Step 4: Write a Notice That Does Two Jobs
The statutory job is dates, seats, deadlines and ballot instructions. The other job is that most of your electorate has never voted in an association election and does not know this one decides who controls the money. The annual meeting checklist has the standard contents. Before planning on online ballots, confirm your bylaws do not require a mailed or in-person one: see electronic voting by state and switching online.
Step 5: Open Nominations Early and Expect Them to Be Thin
New communities have no bench: nobody has served, nobody knows the documents, and the first slate is often shorter than the number of seats. Open the window early, publish candidate statements, and send candidates the first-time board member guide.
Step 6: Build a Ballot Your Declaration Would Recognize
This is where new communities lose elections on arithmetic. Check whether votes run per lot or by undivided interest, whether unsold lots still carry declarant votes, and whether cumulative voting applies. A one lot, one vote tally in a weighted-vote community is the wrong count, however clean the process was.
Step 7: Count It, Publish It, Minute It
Ballots cast, ballots rejected and why, quorum met or not, and the tally per candidate. The first minutes of a homeowner-controlled association are a founding document, so treat them like one.
The Documents the Builder Must Hand Over
Colorado's list at C.R.S. §38-33.3-303(9) is the most itemized in the uniform-act states and works as a checklist even where your own statute is thinner. Delivery is due within 60 days of owners electing a majority.
| Item | Cite | Why you need it |
|---|---|---|
| Declaration as amended, articles, bylaws, minutes, rules | (9)(a) | Quorum, notice, voting method |
| Audited accounting of funds, at the declarant's expense | (9)(b) | Whether reserves are real |
| The association funds, or control of them | (9)(c) | Signatory changes |
| Tangible property, with inventories | (9)(d) | Keys, fobs, gate codes |
| Construction plans and specifications | (9)(e) | Later defect claims |
| Insurance policies in force | (9)(f) | Cover for the new board |
| Certificates of occupancy and current permits | (9)(g), (h) | Obligations you inherit |
| Warranties still effective | (9)(i) | They expire unwatched |
| Roster of owners and mortgagees, with contacts | (9)(j) | Your voter file |
| Employment and service contracts | (9)(k), (l) | Review these first |
Elsewhere the window runs from 30 days after owners may elect a majority (Nevada, NRS 116.31038) to 90 days (Florida HOAs, Fla. Stat. §720.307(4)), with Florida condominium delivery due at the transfer itself, at the developer's expense (§718.301(4)).
Illinois gives its 60-day deadline (765 ILCS 605/18.2(d)) teeth twice. Under §18.2(g), a developer that misses the 60 days and then fails to comply within 10 days of a certified written demand can be sued to compel delivery, with the board recovering reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. Under §18.2(f), the limitations clock on claims the association may bring does not start until owners elect a majority. The transition audit and the construction-defect clock sit alongside this election; what an HOA election challenge looks like covers what happens if the first vote is contested.
Honest question
Would you trust an online vote to decide your community's annual budget?
The Deadline in Your State
These are statutory ceilings, not the whole answer. Your declaration can end control sooner, phased developments restart clocks, and amendments move these numbers. Verify against your recorded documents and the current statute before relying on a row.
| State | What ends declarant control | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 60 days after 75% conveyed; 2 years after the last conveyance; 2 years after the last right to add units | C.R.S. §38-33.3-303(5)(a)(I) |
| Nevada | 60 days after 75% conveyed (90% at 1,000+ units); 5 years after sales stop; 5 years after the last right to add units; recorded surrender | NRS 116.31032 |
| Florida (condo) | 3 years after 50% conveyed; 3 months after 90%; 7 years after the surveyor's certificate; bankruptcy or sell-out | Fla. Stat. §718.301(1) |
| Florida (HOA) | 3 months after 90% of parcels in all phases conveyed | Fla. Stat. §720.307(1)(a) |
| Illinois (condo) | 60 days after 75% conveyed, or 3 years after recording, whichever is earlier | 765 ILCS 605/18.2(b) |
| Texas (condo) | 120 days after 75% conveyed | Tex. Prop. Code §82.103(c) |
| Texas (HOA) | None by statute; the declaration's development period governs | §209.00591(c); §209.002(4-a) |
| Arizona (condo) | 90 days after 75% conveyed, or 4 years after sales stop | ARS §33-1243(E) |
| Arizona (planned) | The day the second to last lot is conveyed | ARS §33-1820 |
| Virginia (condo) | Declaration cap of 5, 3 or 2 years from first settlement by project type, or three fourths of the undivided interests conveyed | Va. Code §55.1-1943 |
| California | None statewide; set by the declaration's membership classes | 10 CCR §2792.19 |
| Everywhere else | Varies. Declaration first, then your state's act | — |
Minority seats arrive earlier: Florida condominium owners holding 15 percent or more elect one third of the board (§718.301(1)), Florida HOA members elect one director at 50 percent conveyed (§720.307(2)), and Texas condominium owners reach one third at 50 percent (§82.103(d)).
California has the country's most detailed election law and its least specific turnover rule: Davis-Stirling sets no turnover percentage but governs the election itself, with secret ballots under Civ. Code §5100 and an independent inspector under §5110(a). For the procedure in each state, see California, Florida, Texas, Colorado, Nevada and Arizona.
What Goes Wrong
The roster is a sales list. Recent buyers are missing, investor mailing addresses are wrong, and unconveyed lots still carry declarant votes. Reconcile against county records before the notice goes out.
Nobody notices the trigger passed. The clock runs on conveyances and no one is watching the recorder's office, so months of appointed governance can happen after the right to elect a majority vested. That is what the Illinois petition and Florida's owner-given notice exist for.
Quorum fails at the one meeting where it is expensive. New owners have no voting habit, investor owners are absent, and nobody has ever hit quorum here because there has never been a meeting. Plan reminders and remote ballots from the start instead of adjourning twice. See how to reach quorum and what quorum failure costs.
Weighted or class votes get flattened. Cumulative voting, votes by undivided interest, and Class A and Class B membership are ordinary in new construction, and each breaks a simple headcount.
The election happens and the records do not. The board is seated, everyone is relieved, and the delivery window quietly closes. Calendar it at the transition meeting; send the demand the day it passes.
Nobody writes it down. No trigger memo, no notice copy, no ballot record, no tally in the minutes: cheap on the night, expensive a year later. If the result is challenged anyway, see challenged HOA elections.
Running It When Nobody Has Run One Before
There is no institutional memory at turnover, which is why first boards often outsource the mechanics of this one election even when they self-manage everything afterward.
| Service | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Setup & Launch | From $99 | We build the ballot, load the roster, write and send the notices, and hand you a live election. |
| Full Managed Election | From $199 | Everything in Setup & Launch, then we run it: reminders, quorum, voter support, close, tally, certificate. |
| Managed + Mailed Packets | From $199 plus $6.00 per packet | A full managed election where the members who need paper get a printed packet with a postage-paid return envelope, and their returned ballots land in the same tally. |
| Managed + Inspector of Elections | From $499 | A full managed election where vote.direct also serves as your inspector of elections — Colorado, Nevada, Florida, Texas, Arizona and Maryland only. |
| Above 100 voters | Quoted | Same scope, priced on your roster (the platform itself is quoted above 2,000 voters) |
Give us 10 days before ballots open. $99 buys the ballot build, roster load and notices and hands you a live election to run yourself; owners who need paper get a printed packet at $6.00, counted in the same tally as the online ballots. The $6.00 covers the trip both ways: the packet out, and a return envelope that already has the postage paid on it, so the member never buys a stamp. There is no separate postage line on your invoice.
Running it yourself, the platform is $4.99 for up to 50 voters and $19.99 up to 200: one ballot per credential, an exportable tamper-evident audit trail, live quorum tracking, and a tally and record for the minutes. What it cannot do is decide whether your procedure satisfies your declaration or your state's act. That is your attorney's call, and at turnover it is worth the phone call.
FAQ
Q: Who calls the turnover meeting if there is no homeowner board yet?
Usually the declarant or the sitting developer-appointed board, once the trigger is met. Several states add a fallback: Florida lets any unit owner give the election notice if the association fails to (Fla. Stat. §718.301(2)), and Illinois lets owners holding 20 percent of the interest in a condominium association call the meeting themselves (765 ILCS 605/18.2(b)(ii)).
Q: What percentage of homes must be sold before turnover?
It depends on the state and on whether you are a condominium or a planned community. Common ceilings are 75 percent of units conveyed in Colorado, Nevada, Arizona condominiums and Texas condominiums, and 90 percent in Florida. Many states also end control after a fixed number of years regardless of sales, and your declaration may set an earlier trigger.
Q: Is the transition meeting the same as the turnover election?
No. The election seats a board with a homeowner majority; the transition meeting is where control, funds, keys and records change hands. They often happen the same night and should be minuted as two separate acts.
Q: How long does the developer have to hand over the records?
Thirty days in Nevada (NRS 116.31038), 60 in Colorado (C.R.S. §38-33.3-303(9)) and in Illinois condominiums (765 ILCS 605/18.2(d)), and up to 90 for Florida HOAs (Fla. Stat. §720.307(4)). Florida condominium delivery happens at the transfer itself, with audited financials allowed 90 days more.
Q: Can homeowners force turnover if the developer stalls?
Often, and the first mechanism is statutory rather than a lawsuit. Illinois gives owners a 20 percent petition, and awards the board reasonable attorneys' fees and costs if the developer fails to deliver records and does not cure within 10 days of a written demand (765 ILCS 605/18.2(g)). Start with a certified letter naming the trigger and the date it was met.
Q: Does the developer still vote after turnover?
Usually, for the lots it still owns. Florida says a developer that has relinquished control may vote its units like any other owner, except to reacquire control or select a board majority, and may keep a seat while holding 5 percent of units for sale in condominiums under 500 units, or 2 percent in larger ones (Fla. Stat. §718.301(1)).
The Bottom Line
Turnover is not a harder election than an annual meeting. It is a normal election run by people who have never run one, from a roster they did not build, against a deadline nobody was watching, with a counterparty who benefits if it slips.
So prove the trigger, get the roster, pick someone neutral to administer it, notice it properly, count it the way the declaration says to, and calendar the records deadline before you leave the room.
Not sure what your declaration says about declarant votes or the termination date? Call or text (512) 222-8191, or email [email protected] with the voting article and we will read it with you.
Sources:
- 1Fla. Stat. §718.301, §720.307: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0718/Sections/0718.301.html
- 2C.R.S. §38-33.3-303: https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2023-title-38.pdf
- 3NRS 116.31032, 116.31038: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-116.html
- 4765 ILCS 605/18.2: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=076506050K18.2
- 5Tex. Prop. Code §82.103, §209.00591, §209.002: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/
- 6ARS §33-1243, §33-1820: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01820.htm
- 7Va. Code §55.1-1943: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title55.1/chapter19/section55.1-1943/
- 8Cal. Civ. Code §5100, §5110; 10 CCR §2792.19: https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/10-CCR-2792.19
This article is general information, not legal advice. We recommend you do your own research and confirm anything you plan to act on. Where this article states law, the section is cited so you can read the primary source yourself rather than take our word for it — that is what the citations are for. Election requirements also turn on your own governing documents, which we have not seen, and statutes are amended. For advice about your community, consult a qualified attorney licensed in your state.
We work hard to verify every citation against the primary source, but laws change and errors happen. If you spot an inaccuracy, email [email protected] and we will correct it. See our editorial standards for how these pages are researched and checked.
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