In 2024, New Jersey Assemblywoman Annette Quijano introduced legislation (Bill A2449), which, if passed, would require community association board members to undergo board member training. While the bill is gaining traction in the assembly and may be signed into law in the near future, it is not yet the law of New Jersey – if and when it becomes law, we will issue a supplement to this blog release. The purpose of this article is to simply provide an update on where the legislation currently stands and what it may ultimately require if signed into law.
The bill, if passed in its current form, will require newly elected association board members to take “at least” three hours of training within the first 180 days of their board tenure. The training would cover topics such as good business practices for associations, model record keeping procedures, legal requirements for boards, making budgets and maintaining reserve accounts, information on various State entities available to assist the board, and other relevant information.
The Legislative Action Committee (LAC) for CAI-NJ has offered its conditional support of this proposed legislation and has provided the bill’s sponsors with suggested revisions to the law. The original bill provides that the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) would be responsible for creating the training materials and administering it. However, the LAC believes that large, nonprofit community association organizations such as CAI-NJ, with the help of their vast network of members spanning all industries and disciplines impacting community associations, are better suited to create and administer the training materials. CAI-NJ already provides optional board member training for board members.
In anticipation of the new law, CAI-NJ created a committee to put together a board member training program that complies with the proposed legislation. The program material is in its beta testing phase and is expected to be publicly available this year.
The LAC revisions also include clarification that the training is only required for “initially elected or appointed” board members, and that it is not required for subsequent terms. If board members fail to undergo the required training, they will be subject to removal from the board by the DCA (after being provided with a reasonable time period to cure the deficiency).
The LAC revisions also specify that the training may be attended either in-person or remotely through webinars, videoconferences and/or pre-recorded computer self-study programs. Certificates of completion will be issued to board members who complete the training.
If and when mandatory board member training becomes law, we will provide a follow up to this article which explains the final version of the law and its requirements, how the training program works, how board members can sign up and all other key information about this important new law.
