These Bylaws were ratified by the MALA Membership on September 24, 2006, at the Annual Meeting (and by ballot). The change in these bylaws consisted of one (1) item, namely to remove the incorrect reference to the Architectural Committee as a standing committee rather than one created by the Merifield Acres, Inc. covenants. The Bylaw amendment paragraph correctly identifies the antecedent version as approved on December 12, 2000, at a Special Meeting of the Membership on that day. Multiple contemporaneous historical records confirm this.
In 2007, most likely due to the confusing way the 2006 Bylaws were presented for amendment, the 2007 Bylaws were resubmitted for approval in the Annual Meeting Letter, this time in their entirety. These are identical to the Bylaws approved in 2006. However, we are missing the Minutes from the 2007 Minutes that show approval. We do have a contemporaneous March 2008 Newsletter that mentions that the 2007 Bylaws were approved by a “wide margin”–as most Board-approved referenda are. Also, these Bylaws have been accepted as valid by the Board by its inclusion in the Directors’ Green Books since 2007 and they remain the current copy in that book.
Update: At the October 14, 2023, Annual Meeting, the Membership approved an Amendment to the 2007 Bylaws. Once the President and Secretary have formally signed the Amendment, the entire new Bylaws will posted on our website.
Note: These Bylaws state that MALA operates under the Virginia Property Owners Association Act. However, according to a legal opinion obtained by MALA on August 28, 2009, MALA did not and still does not qualify to operate under this Act. As such, all references in these Bylaws to the Act are, by law, void. Since this is an archive document, these changes are not marked in the historical copy below. Please see the Annotated Bylaws which contain the appropriate strikethroughs, with the omitted text clearly legible. Note that Membership approval of changes imposed by law is not required as the marked changes are available for everyone to see.
MALA currently operates under the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act.
See Also Bylaws Information (Important!)
See Also the Annotated Bylaws (with references by line numbers—important for better understanding!)