HOA Management Blog
In homeowners associations, residents are encouraged to attend and observe HOA board meetings. Does your Association have many residents attend the board meetings? Some Associations have many residents that participate and attend meetings and other communities may never have a resident attend a meeting. This entirely depends on the Association.
All meetings of the HOA board, excluding executive sessions, are open meetings. A required part of every homeowners association Board meeting is the homeowners forum (also referred to as “open forum” or “open comments to the Board”). Homeowner forums are typically held at the beginning or end of meetings, and any owner attending a meeting has the opportunity to address the Board and may do so during the homeowner forum portion of the meeting.
Being a board member in a homeowners association is a difficult job. It takes a commitment of time and resources, but it can also be very rewarding. Sometimes you are asked to deal with tough issues that relate to your next door neighbor – maybe even your friend. It can be tough to tell the little old lady who’s just making it on social security, that a special assessment to fix something is going to be in effect. But, you can also use your role as an HOA board member to be the voice for people in the Association.
Your homeowners association needs to hold elections for Board members every so often. While it is important to refresh the leadership of the Association every now and then it is just as vital to make sure any election is held in accordance with the rules and regulations of the individual HOA and the state. Fair elections are a staple of any democracy, on a very large or small scale.
HOA Board meetings can sometimes get pretty heated in homeowners associations. As a Board member it is important that you work toward keeping meetings orderly and flowing smoothly. Yet, there are times when meetings get stormy. In these eventful times try to stay calm and be a voice of reason for the Board.
In the proper course of governing the community, an HOA board has to conduct meetings of all kinds. Using a format to run these meetings insures an orderly gathering and makes sure that all parties have their say in any discussion. Although adherence to a particular parliamentary procedure is not required, it is the method most often used by Boards to discuss business at meetings.
