Recording Open Meetings

Started by KellyC6 • 10 replies • 1827 views

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KellyC6 (Virginia)
Posts: 37

Posted:

There is a reference in VA Code Section 55-510.1 Meetings of the board of directors which states, "Any member may record any portion of a meeting required to be open. The board of directors or subcommittee or other committee thereof conducting the meeting may adopt rules (i) governing the placement and use of equipment necessary for recording a meeting to prevent interference with the proceedings and (ii) requiring the member recording the meeting to provide notice that the meeting is being recorded."

Our board recently established a rule that members must provide signed, dated notice when they are recording in advance of the meeting. Seems like a pretty straightforward rule. Except that some homeowners are refusing to do so, claiming that the policy isn't legal and enforceable and that their right to record cannot be denied just because they refuse to provide a signed, dated notice.

What's a board to do if members attending meetings refuse to comply with the policy?

PetunkaM (Florida)
Posts: 1,009

Posted:

What's a board to do if members attending meetings refuse to comply with the policy?
__

The Board should back off and realize that they cannot impose rules that are more restrictive than VA code or their own docs.

BrianB (California)
Posts: 2,820

Posted:

The board can
1) Refuse to open the meeting. Just don't have one.
2) Ask the Sgt at arms to remove the offenders
3) contact the police and have offenders removed
4) Realize this isn't a battle worth fighting, and that the board will look petty and juvenile for doing so, and allow the people to record the meeting. As long as the recorders aren't disruptive, there is no real problem, so the board will just look bad for trying to micromanage the issue and create a mountain out of a molehill.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,062

Posted:

Create a form for the member to fill out if they are planning on recording the meeting. At the top of the form have it highlighted that:

IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE VIRGINIA PROPERTY OWNERS ACT, § 55-510.1, THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ADOPTED POLICY RESOLUTION ### WHICH REQUIRES ANY MEMBER INTENDING TO RECORD (AUDIO AND/OR AUDIO/VISUAL) TO PROVIDE ADVANCE NOTICE OF ANY SUCH RECORDING. REQUIRING THIS ADVANCED NOTICE IS AUTHORIZED UNDER § 55-510.1.

ANY SUCH RECORDING SHALL NOT BE CONSIDERED AN OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE ASSOCIATION UNLESS IT IS RECORDED BY THE ASSOCIATION, HOWEVER, A COPY OF THE ADVANCE NOTICE SHALL BECOME AN ADDENDUM TO THE MINUTES OF ANY MEETING WHERE SUCH ADVANCE NOTICE IS GIVEN.

ANY INDIVIDUAL GIVING SUCH NOTICE IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR COMPLYING WITH VIRGINIA CODE § 19.2-62. Interception, disclosure, etc., of wire, electronic or oral communications unlawful; penalties; exceptions AND VA § 19.2-67. Disclosure of information obtained by authorized means.

This way you will be showing where the Association has the authority to require such advance notice and that the individual is responsible for conforming to or suffering any penalties associated with the wiretapping laws of VA.

Tim

SteveM9 (Massachusetts)
Posts: 3,699

Posted:

There is really nothing you can do to limit recorders. Why try?

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,062

Posted:

Steve,

You can't prevent the recorders from being there. However, working within the Broadcasting community as I do, I know that cameras can be intimidating. Having an intimidating atmosphere can prevent someone from speaking up and thereby losing a great input to an issue.

Therefore, adopting a policy that the cameras are in the back of the room vs. anywhere they want to put them can minimize the intimidation to others. By providing notice to the membership that the cameras will be there, individual members who are camera shy can choose to send a proxy vs. seeing the cameras and walking out. Additionally, having advance notice also protects the Association by having Directors think about their answers before blurting something out. The down side is that most answers might be, "we need to look up the laws that affect that issue and will get back to you" (which might be the best answer anyway).

By having a warning on the form that the videographer is responsible for how the recording is used points out some legal issues to a novice who might not even be aware of those things if they choose to post the video on the internet. It also provides some level of protection for the Association of any posted video.

Tim

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

WHY would any homeowner go to the trouble of recording his HOA board meetings?

Something tells me that the board has not been communicating with its members enough. Regular Newletters and constant web site updates stating the motions passed should suffice. A summary of the minutes should be posted. All the other stuff is conversation.

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Susan,

Same reason as to why would someone want to see 7 year old minutes or budgets? It is a mystery to me. They either have control or trust issues.

PetunkaM (Florida)
Posts: 1,009

Posted:

I am somewhat puzzled. With all due respect, if a member has the right to see old association records or tape record BOD meetings, why would anyone want to question his reasons for doing that? I have requested old financial records for a very specific and rather important reason.

There may also be a reason for a member to tape record a meeting. Perhaps a neighbor is on vacation and asked to do it for him? Perhaps a member is hard of hearing. Perhaps there is no reason at all. In one instance, we had a dispute between ‘repair’ vs ‘replace’ the roof. Some people insisted it was voted to ‘replace’ the roof and some heard it was agreed to only ‘repair’ the roof. Our secretary’s tape recorder jammed so that portion of the meeting was not recorded. Fortunately, one member who also taped that meeting came forward and the issue was settled. So, you never know.

LynneS (Florida)
Posts: 3

Posted:

If over 60% are out of state owners and want a clear view of what is actually said at the meeting

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,062

Posted:

Petunka,

As you pointed out, there easily could be any number of reasons why someone would want to tape a board or general membership meeting. Typically, if it's for any of the reasons you mentioned, the person planning to tape usually provides the reason without any fuss. If they do not want to share a reason, it can raise concerns.

Unfortunately, if there are trust issues, then the person being taped is as much on guard as the person doing the taping. This could cause both sides not to be very open and just make the issue more difficult to resolve.

Tim

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