New Hampshire Condominium Quorum & Supermajority Calculator — 50% Default Quorum, 67% Amendment, Unanimous Termination (RSA 356-B)

How this calculator works

This is a quorum-and-threshold validator for New Hampshire condominium unit-owner votes under the New Hampshire Condominium Act (RSA 356-B, enacted 1977 — pre-UCIOA framework). Given the total units, in-person attendance, proxy count, mail or electronic ballot count, vote type, and any bylaws or declaration overrides, it returns:

1. Whether quorum has been met (total ballots compared against the effective quorum requirement under RSA 356-B:36(II) or the bylaws-specified override).
2. The yes votes required to pass for the vote type — 67% of total for declaration amendments under RSA 356-B:34, 100% (unanimous) for termination under RSA 356-B:35 unless declaration specifies lower, majority of those present for board removal under RSA 356-B:38, and majority of quorum for regular and budget votes.
3. The current outcome (PASSED, FAILED, PENDING, or NO-QUORUM) based on the supplied vote tally.

Use the calculator before convening a unit-owner meeting to confirm the procedural framework, during ballot counting to validate the threshold, and after a meeting to memorialize the outcome in the secretary's minutes.

The relevant RSA 356-B statute

The New Hampshire Condominium Act lives at RSA 356-B and was enacted in 1977. New Hampshire did NOT adopt UCIOA and continues to use its pre-UCIOA framework. The voting framework lives across RSA 356-B:34 (declaration amendment), RSA 356-B:35 (termination), RSA 356-B:36 (meetings and quorum), and RSA 356-B:38 (board removal).

RSA 356-B:36(II) — Default quorum at unit-owner meetings is 50% of the votes in the association unless the bylaws specify otherwise. The 50% default is materially higher than the UCIOA 20% default adopted by Vermont (27A V.S.A. § 3-109), Minnesota (Minn. Stat. Sec. 515B.3-109), Connecticut (CGS § 47-250(c)), and Colorado (CRS § 38-33.3-308), and is higher than Washington's WUCIOA 25%. Most New Hampshire condominium bylaws override the statutory default and specify a lower quorum (commonly 25% or 33%) because mobilizing 50% of unit owners is impractical for most associations.

RSA 356-B:34 — Declaration amendment requires unit owners holding at least 67% of the votes in the association. This is a TOTAL-VOTES threshold (not 67% of those voting). The declaration may specify higher; it cannot specify lower than 67% for general declaration amendments. Certain amendments affecting unit boundaries, common-element allocations, or the percentage interest of any unit require the consent of ALL affected unit owners PLUS the 67% general threshold.

RSA 356-B:35 — Termination of the condominium requires the consent of unit owners holding at least 100% (UNANIMOUS) of the votes in the association unless the declaration specifies a LOWER threshold. The unanimous-consent default is materially higher than the UCIOA 80% default and reflects New Hampshire's pre-UCIOA approach of treating termination as a near-irreversible property right. Most New Hampshire condominium declarations specify a lower threshold (commonly 80% to 90%) to make termination feasible.

RSA 356-B:38 — Board member removal by a majority of unit owners present and entitled to vote at a meeting where a quorum is present. The "majority of those present and voting" standard is materially easier than the OF-TOTAL thresholds for declaration amendment and termination.

Budget vote (no automatic-rejection mechanism) — New Hampshire does NOT have an automatic budget-rejection mechanism like UCIOA. Instead, budget adoption follows the bylaws and the declaration. Some declarations require an affirmative unit-owner vote to ratify the budget; others delegate full budget authority to the board.

New Hampshire-specific gotchas (dual foreclosure regime, no CAM licensure)

THE 50% STATUTORY QUORUM DEFAULT IS UNUSUALLY HIGH. The 50% default under RSA 356-B:36(II) is materially higher than the UCIOA 20% adopted by Vermont, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Colorado, and higher than Washington's 25%. Mobilizing 50% of unit owners is impractical for most associations — the average condominium meeting in any state typically achieves 25% to 35% turnout. Most New Hampshire condominium bylaws override the statutory default and specify a lower quorum (commonly 25% or 33%). New boards inheriting old bylaws should verify whether the bylaws override the 50% default; if they do not, the board may not be able to hold a quorate meeting and may need to amend the bylaws to lower the quorum (which itself requires a meeting with quorum, creating a chicken-and-egg problem).

THE UNANIMOUS-TERMINATION DEFAULT IS NEAR-IMPOSSIBLE TO MEET. The 100% statutory default under RSA 356-B:35 makes termination effectively impossible in any condominium with a single dissenting owner — even one owner in foreclosure could block termination. Most New Hampshire condominium declarations specify a lower threshold (commonly 80% to 90%) to make termination feasible. Boards considering termination should first review the declaration to confirm the operative threshold; if the declaration is silent or specifies 100%, termination is effectively unavailable absent unanimous consent. The unanimous default reflects pre-UCIOA policy choices treating termination as a near-irreversible property right.

MAJORITY OF TOTAL vs MAJORITY OF QUORUM. The two thresholds produce different outcomes when turnout is low. RSA 356-B uses OF-TOTAL for declaration amendments (RSA 356-B:34 at 67%) and termination (RSA 356-B:35 at 100% default). RSA 356-B uses OF-QUORUM (or "of those present and voting") for board removal (RSA 356-B:38) and regular governance. The OF-TOTAL thresholds are intentionally hard to reach for property-affecting changes; the OF-QUORUM thresholds make governance practical at typical turnout levels. Confusing the two is the most common voting-threshold error in New Hampshire condominium practice — boards routinely announce declaration amendments as passed based on majority-of-voters math, which is wrong.

A DECLARATION AMENDMENT CAN FAIL EVEN WITH 100% OF VOTERS APPROVING. In an 80-unit association with 40% turnout (32 voters), 32 yes votes (100% of voters) is only 40% of total — well short of the 54-vote (67%) threshold and the amendment FAILS. The calculator distinguishes the two thresholds explicitly to prevent this error. New Hampshire's high quorum default exacerbates the problem; even when the high quorum is reached, the OF-TOTAL threshold for amendment is still hard to satisfy.

NEW HAMPSHIRE DOES NOT FORMALLY LICENSE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MANAGERS. Florida (LCAM), Illinois (CAM), Nevada (CAM), and Virginia (CIC manager) all require state licensure of CAMs. New Hampshire does not. The RSA 356-B compliance work falls to the association attorney and the managing agent under contract. Boards in New Hampshire condominium projects should expect to engage the association attorney earlier in the meeting-planning cycle than in states with licensed CAMs because there is no state-licensed manager handling procedural compliance independently. Industry associations (Community Associations Institute New England chapter) offer professional designations (CMCA, AMS, PCAM) on a voluntary basis but they are not state licenses.

THE DUAL FORECLOSURE REGIME INDIRECTLY AFFECTS GOVERNANCE TIMING. New Hampshire's dual-regime foreclosure (judicial under RSA 356-B:46(V) OR nonjudicial power-of-sale under RSA 479) means that delinquent units may be resolved faster (90 to 120 days for nonjudicial sale) than in judicial-only states like Vermont. Faster delinquency resolution means governance votes (declaration amendments, special assessments) are less likely to be complicated by long-running collection cycles. While this calculator does not directly model foreclosure timing, boards should anticipate the faster New Hampshire foreclosure timeline when scheduling consequential governance votes that depend on a stable membership roster.

NO UCIOA-STYLE BUDGET-REJECTION MECHANISM. Unlike UCIOA states which use an automatic-ratification-unless-rejected mechanism for budgets, New Hampshire follows the bylaws and the declaration for budget procedure. Some declarations require an affirmative unit-owner vote; others delegate full budget authority to the board. Boards must consult the declaration before assuming the budget procedure — there is no statutory default to fall back on.

PROXIES ARE PERMITTED BUT VALIDITY IS BYLAW-SPECIFIC. RSA 356-B permits proxies for unit-owner voting unless the declaration or bylaws prohibit them. New Hampshire bylaws commonly specify a maximum proxy validity period; proxies older than the period are invalid even if all other elements are met. For OF-TOTAL threshold votes, aggressive proxy campaigns are typically necessary to reach the threshold given the high 50% statutory quorum default.

What this calculator does NOT model

The calculator implements the RSA 356-B QUORUM-AND-SUPERMAJORITY math. It does NOT:

• Model the heightened-threshold consent categories under RSA 356-B:34 (unit-boundary changes, allocated-interest changes, percentage-interest changes). If your vote type falls into one of these categories, the 67% threshold understates the requirement; consult counsel.
• Model bylaws-amendment procedures in detail — the bylaws specify the threshold and the calculator uses a default majority-of-quorum if no declaration override is supplied.
• Validate the form of proxies (signature, witness, expiration, delegation chain).
• Model the board-meeting procedures (board meetings have separate quorum and notice requirements).
• Model the budget procedure in detail — New Hampshire has no statutory default and the procedure varies by declaration.
• Validate compliance with the RSA 356-B:36 notice requirements that gate the meeting.

For any consequential vote, retain New Hampshire counsel with RSA 356-B experience to oversee the procedural compliance review.

Sources

Last reviewed: 2026-05-17 against:

• RSA 356-B (New Hampshire Condominium Act — pre-UCIOA framework, enacted 1977).
• RSA 356-B:34 — declaration amendment 67% of total default; heightened-threshold consent categories.
• RSA 356-B:35 — termination 100% unanimous default unless declaration specifies lower.
• RSA 356-B:36 — meetings; 50% default quorum unless bylaws specify lower.
• RSA 356-B:38 — board removal majority of those present.
• Community Associations Institute New England chapter practitioner materials on RSA 356-B governance.
• New Hampshire Bar Association Real Estate Section practitioner resources.