In this declaratory-judgment action, India Crittenton, Lynette Rogers, Terrence Myles, David Hale, and Muneerah Sabir collectively “plaintiffs” sued the Southland Owners Association, Inc. “SOA” and several members of its board of directors collectively “defendants”, claiming that defendants 1 improperly invalidated a March 2010 election which resulted in all five plaintiffs obtaining seats on the board, and 2 negligently misused association funds. Shortly after plaintiffs filed suit, a second election was held in August 2010, which resulted in four of the five plaintiffs obtaining seats on the board. Subsequently, the trial court dismissed plaintiffs’ claims on the ground that the controversy was now moot. Plaintiffs appeal, arguing that the trial court erred in holding that no justiciable issues remained after the August 2010 election. For the reasons set forth infra , we affirm. The record shows that in February 2010, SOA, which serves as the homeowners’ association for residents of a neighborhood known as the Southland Community in Stone Mountain, mailed a newsletter to all homeowners, in which it informed them that only homeowners who were current in the payment of their assessments would be allowed to vote in the upcoming election for SOA’s board of directors. But shortly before the election, the current SOA board decided to allow all homeowners to vote regardless of whether they had assessments that remained unpaid. This decision, which was initially made during an informal board meeting and without notifying homeowners, increased the number of homeowners eligible to vote from 625 to 1147.
In late February through early March 2010, the election the “March election” was held via the mailing of ballots to SOA’s management company. Shortly thereafter, but prior to the election votes being counted, the board sent out an email to a small number of homeowners, indicating that a quorum of voters was not required to elect the board of directors. After the votes were tallied, it appeared that India Crittenton, Lynette Rogers, Terrence Myles, David Hale, and Muneerah Sabir had successfully been elected to serve as members of SOA’s board of directors. However, on March 27, 2010, at SOA’s annual meeting, SOA’s election committee chairperson announced that the election was invalid because of the lack of a quorum and that the incumbent board of directors would continue to serve until a new election could be held.
