The HOA proxy form — and when your state voids it
A proxy is a short written authorization that lets another person cast your vote at your homeowners association's meeting. Owners use one when they can't attend: you name someone you trust, say what they may vote on, sign, and date it. Below is a printable template that works in most states — followed by the part the template sites skip: your state may restrict, expire, or outright ban this form, quoted from the statute itself.
What makes a proxy valid
- Written, signed, and dated. Several states void an undated proxy outright.
- It names a holder. Another owner, or whoever your bylaws permit — the form hands that one person your vote.
- It has a life span. State statutes cap it (eleven months is common; some condo and director proxies run shorter). Write in an expiry date.
- It can be revoked. Usually by notice to the person presiding over the meeting — and often simply by showing up and voting yourself.
- Your bylaws sit on top. The statute is the floor; your association's governing documents can demand more (or, in a few states, less).
Before you use it: the state rules
Arizona: the proxy form is banned here
This is the page the template sites won't show you. Once the developer's control period ends, Arizona planned communities and condominiums may not cast votes by proxy at all — a generic “Arizona HOA proxy form” is a legally void instrument for most AZ associations. The statute, verbatim:
Notwithstanding any provision in the community documents, after termination of the period of declarant control, votes allocated to a unit may not be cast pursuant to a proxy. The association shall provide for votes to be cast in person and by absentee ballot and, in addition, the association may provide for voting by some other form of delivery, including the use of e-mail and fax delivery.
Condominiums carry the same ban in their own chapter:
Notwithstanding any provision in the condominium documents, after termination of the period of declarant control, votes allocated to a unit may not be cast pursuant to a proxy. The association shall provide for votes to be cast in person and by absentee ballot and, in addition, the association may provide for voting by some other form of delivery, including the use of e-mail and fax delivery.
The statutory exceptions are narrow — timeshare plans may still permit proxies:
Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, an association for a timeshare plan as defined in section 32-2197 may permit votes by a proxy that is duly executed by a unit owner.
During declarant control (and for associations outside those chapters), Arizona's nonprofit-corporation act still allows proxies, with an eleven-month default term:
A member may vote the member's votes in person or by proxy. [...] Unless the articles of incorporation or bylaws prohibit or limit proxy voting, a member may appoint a proxy to vote or otherwise act for the member by signing an appointment form, either personally or by the member's attorney-in-fact.
The statutory substitute is the absentee ballot — every owner marks their own vote instead of handing it to anyone. Open your community page on HOAproxy and choose Prepare an absentee ballot: the instrument carries every element the statute enumerates. Find your community →
North Carolina: dated, short-lived, and revocable only one way
North Carolina's Planned Community Act allows proxies but puts teeth on the paper: an undated proxy is void, and the clock starts ticking the day you sign. The statute, verbatim:
Votes may be cast pursuant to a proxy duly executed by a lot owner. A proxy is void if it is not dated. A proxy terminates 11 months after its date, unless it specifies a shorter term.
— N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47F-3-110(b)
Revoking is deliberately formal — actual notice to the person presiding:
A lot owner may not revoke a proxy except by actual notice of revocation to the person presiding over a meeting of the association.
— N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47F-3-110(b)
Condominiums get a one-year term and a written-notice revocation rule:
Votes may be cast pursuant to a proxy duly executed by a unit owner. A proxy is void if it is not dated. A proxy terminates one year after its date, unless it specifies a shorter term.
— N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47C-3-110(b)
And the nonprofit-corporation act backs the appointment itself:
Unless the articles or bylaws prohibit or limit proxy voting, a member may vote in person or by proxy, appointed by a signed form (electronic records bearing the member's e-signature or sent from the member's designated email address are valid). An appointment is effective when received by the secretary or other authorized tabulator and is valid for 11 months unless a different period is expressly provided.
Texas: three clocks — owner, member, director
Texas allows proxies across the board, but the valid term depends on whose vote it carries. Condominium owners first:
Votes allocated to a unit may be cast under a written proxy duly executed by a unit owner.
A unit owner may not revoke a proxy given under this section except by giving actual notice of revocation to the person presiding over a meeting of the association. A proxy is void if it is not dated or if it purports to be revocable without notice. A proxy terminates one year after its date unless it specifies a shorter or longer time.
For members of the nonprofit corporation (most Texas HOAs), the default and maximum term is eleven months:
Unless otherwise provided by the proxy, a proxy is revocable and expires 11 months after the date of its execution. A proxy may not be irrevocable for longer than 11 months.
— Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 22.160(c)
And a director's proxy — where the bylaws allow one at all — lasts only three months:
A proxy expires three months after the date the proxy is executed. [...] A proxy is revocable unless otherwise provided by the proxy or made irrevocable by law.
On HOAproxy a neighbor e-signs a proxy built on your state's own rules — timestamped, revocable, and checkable by the board, so nobody argues at the door about whether the form counts. Free for your HOA.
Prepare a verifiable proxy → Browse your state's HOA law