HOA Board Meetings Florida

Started by JohnL26 • 32 replies • 3543 views

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JohnL26 (Florida)
Posts: 89

Posted:

Members of the Association are being allowed to dial-in to our board meetings (as well as attend in person) but they are being muted until the end after all board discussion and resolutions.

Whilst this appears to technically comply with statute, does it really?

I would have thought the idea was that Association members were allowed to give their $2c worth before the Board Members vote on an issue.

This is what statute says: "Members have the right to attend all meetings of the board. The right to attend such meetings includes the right to speak at such meetings with reference to all designated items. The association may adopt written reasonable rules expanding the right of members to speak and governing the frequency, duration, and other manner of member statements, which rules must be consistent with this paragraph and may include a sign-up sheet for members wishing to speak. Notwithstanding any other law, meetings between the board or a committee and the association’s attorney to discuss proposed or pending litigation or meetings of the board held for the purpose of discussing personnel matters are not required to be open to the members other than directors.”

Thoughts please.

JerryD5 (Colorado)
Posts: 218

Posted:

I obviously do not live in FL but I would say a majority of HOA meetings do have an open forum at the beginning of each meeting for homeowners to state any concerns or ask questions. After that period is over, we ask that homeowners not to interupt the remaining business being conducted. We are pretty informal and we have only had a few owners attend any of our meetings. I don't see an issue with homeowners dialing in and listening to the meeting. We have had a few board members do that if they can't attend in person.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

As Jerry pointed out, and your Statutes specify, the Board may adopt reasonable rules concerning the members right to speak. Typically, Boards will specify an agenda item for this time frame and, perhaps, limit the length of time one may speak. Other than those times, members who attend Board meetings are observers - not participants.

Now, if the time to talk is at the end of the meeting and you have something relevant to say in an earlier topic, simply start your comment with something along the line of "I would encourage the Board to reconsider their earlier decision on abc, for the following reasons . . . and I offer the following alternative action . . ."

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Wanted to add that we set our Open forum at the end of the meeting. However, if a member does attend a Board meeting (which is rare) we invite them to discuss their issue/concern at the beginning and then invite them to stay or leave as they desire. If they stay, we also invite them to participate.

However, if there are a lot of members attending the meeting, we would not ask them to participate and to only speak during the open forum. Our meetings are 1.5 to 2 hours in length now (without members attending). The more participants there are the longer the meeting takes and, to be honest, I don't want the meeting to take more than an hour.

JohnL26 (Florida)
Posts: 89

Posted:

Thanks everyone.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

If the board has set the Open Time to be near the end of the meeting then what you've described is perfectly fine. We have ours near the beginning of the meetings. I prefer that it would be near the end so that people's comments could be better informed by what went on at the meeting, but I got outvoted. Both are "reasonable" choices so yes, I think it's OK.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Personally I have a problem with people phoning in and speaking. Phoning in and listening is fine. My issue is with them talking as it could be a cluster kiss.

I would look at limiting talking to only those present.

JohnL26 (Florida)
Posts: 89

Posted:

Thanks for the extra opinions.

My own idea would be to use the 3 minute rule.

Before any item on the agenda ask those homeowners who want to say something and then schedule them one by one to have their say. They can then be muted and one by one given their 3 minutes. The BOD can then discuss among themselves taking into account the things they've heard, then vote.

AllisonD (Florida)
Posts: 449

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnL26 on 06/10/2015 2:00 PM
Thanks for the extra opinions.

My own idea would be to use the 3 minute rule.

Before any item on the agenda ask those homeowners who want to say something and then schedule them one by one to have their say. They can then be muted and one by one given their 3 minutes. The BOD can then discuss among themselves taking into account the things they've heard, then vote.

I do not know why you are thinking that members need to weigh in on everything the board does, for example, if they are voting to approve an expenditure that is the normal course of operation of the HOA (which is something the board is tasked with) then why keep interrupting the meeting? Members can weigh in at the end of the meeting and if that time, a member makes a great argument about something that the board already voted on, they can always revisit that topic. It comes down to the smooth running of the meeting and keeping the order. I would suggest that you might want to allow the homeowners on the phone to text or instant message someone sitting in the room if there is something he or she wants to contribute at that time. Also you can group items that you think will incite discussion towards the end and then allow members to speak. We have had several board meeting via phone, its a great way to get people to attend. I am considering trying out one of the online meeting sites like gotomeeting or joinme. There are many of them out there. They offer the ability to upload documents for all to see as well, which can be very helpful.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

In Florida members have the right to attend all board meetings and speak on any agenda item. Boards can enact reasonable rules to make sure that meetings go smoothly, however, such as setting aside a time on the agenda where members who want to speak can do so. All at once in one block of time. There's no need to allow members to continually interrupt the procedings once that part of the meeting is over. When I attended the Florida director certification training session a few months ago, the instructor told us that if your board meetings are lasting over an hour then you're doing it wrong.

JohnL26 (Florida)
Posts: 89

Posted:

Thanks.

I suppose my thinking is that if each member is allowed to speak on each designated item then the time they are going to take is the same whenever it is in the meeting.

In fact, if the board have to go back and discuss something again and re-vote then it's actually going to take longer.

Pretty much everybody dials-in for our meetings including the Directors. It's a vacation resort with about 50% overseas and very few locals.

I've only listened to one meeting fully and that was 3 hours long. Members were muted until the BOD had finished with the Agenda and then there was a free-for-all with everybody including the Directors speaking (shouting at times) over each other to be heard. In the end there was no formal closure of the meeting and the Chairman said something like this meeting could go on forever and hung up.

So I'm looking to make suggestions. A time limit and scheduling members to a time slot would appear sensible and I think the best use of time would be that the member speaks (if they want to) before the designated item with everybody else muted apart from the Chair. I suppose the difficulty then is muting the few who are present at the meeting.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

FS 617.0820 permits directors to participate in meetings via remote means (e.g. by telephone or videoconference) as long as all the directors can simultaneously hear each other when they speak. FS 720.303 permits a board to institute a sign-up sheet for members who wish to speak. You could do something like that and mute everybody else. Can you selectively mute people? From what you have described it sounds very chaotic. Do you verify people's identity when they call in? I know there are pretty sophisticated ystems out there. Maybe you have one.

If it was my choice I would get the board to pass "reasonable rules" in accordance with FS 720.303 that define "members in attendance" as persons physically present in the place where the meeting is being held. Again, Florida law specifically allows for directors to participate in a meeting remotely but it says nothing about the regular members. I say if a member wants to speak they should attend in person. (Not a lawyer, etc. etc. etc.)

JohnL26 (Florida)
Posts: 89

Posted:

Thanks GenoS

Yes, I must admit when I heard the chaos (on a recording) my first instinct was "why are board members prepared to put up with this?". However if you stop owners from dialing in to speak, in practical terms, you are stopping them from speaking at the meeting. The nature of ownership is that we are all hundreds to thousands of miles away so it would be questionable whether it was a reasonable rule, especially as it has been allowed for many years from what I can see.

I'm pretty sure the technology can deal with individual muting but I'll check. Owners are given a code to enter when they dial-in. I think they are asked to identify themselves too but I need to check on that.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnL26 on 06/11/2015 2:34 AM

However if you stop owners from dialing in to speak, in practical terms, you are stopping them from speaking at the meeting.

However, allowing them to speak only at a specified time is not the same thing.

For example:

I inform you that all members will be allowed to speak at the open forum section of the meeting.

Someone dials into the meeting to listen. I lower the volume on the speaker until the open forum.
The dialer may still listen to the meeting and, if they wish, talk. However, they won't be heard until the open forum session when I turn the volume back up.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnL26 on 06/11/2015 2:34 AM
I'm pretty sure the technology can deal with individual muting but I'll check. Owners are given a code to enter when they dial-in. I think they are asked to identify themselves too but I need to check on that.

Ah yes, I'm familiar with those kinds of systems. I dial in to meetings for work a couple of times a week and it works the same way. Pretty fancy. Here in my HOA we're lucky if someone shows up for our board meetings with an iPad so our out-of-state director can facetime in for the meetings. If you've got the technology you might as well use it.

LarryB13 (Arizona)
Posts: 4,099

Posted:

Some of you would just hate being on a board in AZ. The statutes require the board to allow members to speak on each agenda item before a vote is taken. If there are ten items on the agenda that is ten potential times when members may speak. In reality, few members attend and almost no one speaks on each and every item. It is just not a problem and I would prefer to see members address an issue while it is under discussion and not before or after the real meeting.

Our statutes also allow directors to attend by telephone but are silent regarding members phoning in.

Allison wrote, "I do not know why you are thinking that members need to weigh in on everything the board does, for example, if they are voting to approve an expenditure that is the normal course of operation of the HOA (which is something the board is tasked with) then why keep interrupting the meeting?"

My question is why is the board deliberating over expenses incurred in the normal course of business? If you have approved an annual budget of, say, $12,000 for landscaping what is there to deliberate when the landscaper submits a bill for a $1,000 each month? You already agreed to pay for the work and you set money aside to pay for it. The proper course should be for the treasurer to report that he paid the landscaper and the expense is reflected in the ledger. It is not a board function to operate the corporation on a day-to-day basis. Do you think General Motors has a board meeting to discuss whether to replace a burned out light bulb in the restroom at the Buick dealer in Des Moines?

If you are having a problem with members weighing in on too many issues it is probably because your board is trying to micro-manage the day-to-day business that should have been delegated to the officers or property manager. The board's job is to deal with long-range planning and budgeting. The officers' job is to manage the day-to-day operations in conformance with the board's directives and policies.

DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,046

Posted:

Our board works much like Larry suggests:
1) If members show up for meetings, we welcome their input on any topic we are discussing.
2) Regular budgeted expenses are paid by the treasurer and show up in the financials, we don't vote to pay the landscaper each month, or even mention it during the treasurer's report.

Back to the topic of members phoning in. I participate in a lot of conference calls for work, and I can see valid reasons for keeping phoned-in members on mute for most of the meeting and just letting them speak during a pre-defined time.

Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

I agree with what Larry said:

If you are having a problem with members weighing in on too many issues it is probably because your board is trying to micro-manage the day-to-day business that should have been delegated to the officers or property manager. The board's job is to deal with long-range planning and budgeting. The officers' job is to manage the day-to-day operations in conformance with the board's directives and policies.

I have seen associations have 3 meetings to discuss a light bulb change..........LOL

RickP2 (Idaho)
Posts: 12

Posted:

A Board meeting is a meeting for the Board to handle the business affairs of the Association.

A Members meeting is a meeting for the members to make their feelings known both by electing Directors and having their voices heard.

Members are allowed to attend the Board meetings and speak when the agenda dictates....not whenever they wish or on every topic. You cannot have 400 people provide their opinions on every business topic on the agenda every month....that is why you have an elected Board. As a member, if you wish to share your feelings with the community, come to the Members meeting which is the appropriate forum.

You elect Directors to run the Association, let them do their jobs. If you do not like what they do, you run for the Board and get rid of them.....yes, even those of you who have been previous Board members for twenty years. Shut up, sit down and let the current Board do their jobs without the benefit of your wonderful experience and advice.

As a community association manager for twenty years I am tired of hearing from members who have been Board members for many, many years thinking that the way they do it is the only right way because that is how they have always done it. I cannot tell you how many times I would start with a new community and find that these types of Board members have been doing it wrong for twenty years!!!

Board meetings are for Association business......the Board doesn't need everybodies opinion on every vote. Leave them alone to do their jobs as it is hard enough as it is.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Rick,

As a Board member, I actually appreciate input from the membership. I wish more of them would come to meetings in order to get that input. Often, members may have a unique perspective of the issue that the Board didn't think of. They may even have expertise in a specific area that the Board is unaware of and the Board lacks.

Now, I agree that if there is a large non-Board participation at board meetings, it's not practical to have everyone chime in on every issue. However, if there is only 1 or 2 non-board members present, then it can't hurt to invite the input. It may allow the Board to make a more informed decision.

JohnL26 (Florida)
Posts: 89

Posted:

Thanks everyone.

Larry, you have identified one of the issues with how things operate with our Association. Our Directors do everything and talk about pretty much everything at the BOD meetings. The text that I generally refer to states that Directors are there to decide policy and the Officers are there to implement that policy and usually the President is akin to the CEO of a company.

I take heart from Arizona's statute and I think this will lead to fewer problems in the long run. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who will never change their minds when they have decided something, they tend to see this as an admission of weakness. For me, it's better that opinions and all relevant information is shared before a vote.

There will always be somebody who wants to express their opinion on every issue but most owners, if they know they don't have anything valuable to add, will not want to speak anyway.

I believe that the reason we had such long & heated debate at the end of the meeting I mentioned above (I'm told this is typical) is because the Directors have adopted unpopular policies at earlier meetings and members then decide to phone in to express their feelings.

Because of unpopular decisions in our Community, members have recently called for a special meeting and election and have last week voted for 4 new Directors (from the 5). The first election for 9 years.

Unfortunately Florida statute helps the BOD to make these unpopular decisions. Policy can actually be decided by unanimous approval in writing by the board members and BOD meeting require no agenda when notice is posted. So you wonder why they then pass statute that allows members to speak on all issues. Florida Statute is a mess and begs just as many questions as it answers. Lawyers are the ones who benefit.

Larry, where does Arizona statute stand on those two issues?

LarryB13 (Arizona)
Posts: 4,099

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnL26 on 06/12/2015 12:11 AM
Unfortunately Florida statute helps the BOD to make these unpopular decisions. Policy can actually be decided by unanimous approval in writing by the board members and BOD meeting require no agenda when notice is posted. So you wonder why they then pass statute that allows members to speak on all issues. Florida Statute is a mess and begs just as many questions as it answers. Lawyers are the ones who benefit.

Larry, where does Arizona statute stand on those two issues?

Arizona has required open meetings of public bodies for decades. The statutes also require HOA's and condos to hold open board meetings, at least after declarant control ends. Arizonans are accustomed to open meetings so this seems to be no big burden. BOD's can hold emergency meetings and decide matters outside of a regular meeting but they are required to enter this into the minutes at the next board meeting. There does not seem to be widespread abuse of emergency meetings.

Meetings are also required to have a posted agenda, although there is no requirement for giving much more notice than taping it to the door of the meeting room or handing them out to attendees.

This statement is from ARS 33-1804 and summarizes the legislative intent:
"E. It is the policy of this state as reflected in this section that all meetings of a planned community, whether meetings of the members' association or meetings of the board of directors of the association, be conducted openly and that notices and agendas be provided for those meetings that contain the information that is reasonably necessary to inform the members of the matters to be discussed or decided and to ensure that members have the ability to speak after discussion of agenda items, but before a vote of the board of directors is taken. Toward this end, any person or entity that is charged with the interpretation of these provisions shall take into account this declaration of policy and shall construe any provision of this section in favor of open meetings."

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Keep in mind many rules/regulations whatever's say members may speak concerning items that will be or have been voted on. It does not say they can comment on everything at at any time. If the BOD is simply having a discussion on something does not mean members can speak nor that it has to be in the minutes.

I advocate an open Q&A session prior to a meeting so I am not trying to quiet people. I am trying to limit the interruptions.

RickP2 (Idaho)
Posts: 12

Posted:

Tim,

I would not disagree that Board members can learn from residents who might have specialized knowledge on a particular subject. In that case I would suggest that you either pick their brain in advance of the meeting or appoint them to a sub-committee to work on their specialty. Too often though we always see the same three or four residents who feel they have that special knowledge about every subject and believe that the Board needs to have the benefit of their counsel before every decision and this makes Board meetings run very long.

In my many years of managing associations I have learned one thing well, the longer your meetings run the harder it is to find good quality volunteer Board members. Truly sharp people who would have a lot to offer do not enjoy coming to sit in a meeting for three hours and listening to residents rample on about "how we used to do it". Allow residents to speak for 3 minutes each at the start of the meeting on any item they choose and then conduct the business of the Association in a reasonable amount of time (60-90 minutes max).

Will there be times when you have a truly important topic that will/may seriously affect residents and you feel the need for additional comment....of course and in that case you adjust the rules for that one topic on that one night.

My biggest concern with your comments is the last line.....what this says to me is the following. If we have two of our supporters at the May meeting and they wish to chime in, we should just let them talk. However, if we get 8-10 people with a particular gripe come in June and want to do the same thing, we need to put a stop to that and follow the policy.

While I am sure that is not exactly what you meant, that is what could be derived from your statement. You need to have a policy and follow it every month at every meeting regardless of who or how many are present.

NpS (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 4,216

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By RickP2 on 06/12/2015 10:25 AM
Tim,

I would not disagree that Board members can learn from residents who might have specialized knowledge on a particular subject. In that case I would suggest that you either pick their brain in advance of the meeting or appoint them to a sub-committee to work on their specialty. Too often though we always see the same three or four residents who feel they have that special knowledge about every subject and believe that the Board needs to have the benefit of their counsel before every decision and this makes Board meetings run very long.

In my many years of managing associations I have learned one thing well, the longer your meetings run the harder it is to find good quality volunteer Board members. Truly sharp people who would have a lot to offer do not enjoy coming to sit in a meeting for three hours and listening to residents rample on about "how we used to do it". Allow residents to speak for 3 minutes each at the start of the meeting on any item they choose and then conduct the business of the Association in a reasonable amount of time (60-90 minutes max).

Will there be times when you have a truly important topic that will/may seriously affect residents and you feel the need for additional comment....of course and in that case you adjust the rules for that one topic on that one night.

My biggest concern with your comments is the last line.....what this says to me is the following. If we have two of our supporters at the May meeting and they wish to chime in, we should just let them talk. However, if we get 8-10 people with a particular gripe come in June and want to do the same thing, we need to put a stop to that and follow the policy.

While I am sure that is not exactly what you meant, that is what could be derived from your statement. You need to have a policy and follow it every month at every meeting regardless of who or how many are present.

While you make some good point Rick, the trash truck came by my house this morning at 7:59 am. Everyone knows that they are not supposed to pick trash up before 8:00 am. If the board doesn't do something about this now, they could be here at 7:58 next week and so on and so on. Before you know it, those darn trucks will be here at 5 am. We need to deal with this now.

Sikubali jukumu. Read all posts at your own risk.

RickP2 (Idaho)
Posts: 12

Posted:

....and that is a perfect point for a resident to make in their three minutes at the start of the meeting!!!

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

My fear in allowing people to call in and speak is all the old (where am I), half in the bag, off their meds, etc. people who will babble on..and on..and on. These people would more then likely not attend a meeting but give them phone privileges and you have opened up a Pandora's Box. I say listening in is fine.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Sometimes you don't know that they have an expertise until they speak up and inform you of their knowledge. Therefore, picking their brain before hand isn't always an option.

Committees are staffed with volunteers. Some who have an expertise that they use in a job do not want to utilize those skills when they volunteer. For example: My wife is a school teacher. Because she is a teacher our church approached her to be one in children's vacation bible school. She said no. However, she was willing to help out in the kitchen.

My point is that sometimes just because someone has an expertise doesn't mean that they will want to serve on a committee that needs that expertise.

Quote:

Posted By RickP2 on 06/12/2015 10:25 AM
Tim,
My biggest concern with your comments is the last line.....what this says to me is the following. If we have two of our supporters at the May meeting and they wish to chime in, we should just let them talk. However, if we get 8-10 people with a particular gripe come in June and want to do the same thing, we need to put a stop to that and follow the policy.

While I am sure that is not exactly what you meant, that is what could be derived from your statement. You need to have a policy and follow it every month at every meeting regardless of who or how many are present.

Well, to use your own words - Will there be times when you have a truly important topic that will/may seriously affect residents and you feel the need for additional comment....of course and in that case you adjust the rules for that one topic on that one night.

Our board simply does not have anyone outside the Board attend meetings unless they have a specific issue (as I posted earlier in the thread). Therefore, we don't have any hard rules on this topic.

If we consistently had 3-4 individuals attend meetings that they don't have to, we would invite them to serve on the Architectural committee or fill the vacant seats on the Board or take on any of the tasks that many of us have taken on due to lack of volunteers.

In my opinion, count yourself lucky that you have more than enough individuals interested who are willing to take their time to fill the seats on your Board and your committees and attend meetings that they don't have to. So yes, encourage them to participate either at the beginning, during or at the end of the meeting. If you encourage them to participate during the meeting - you need to have a strong President who knows how to keep the discussion on topic and keep things moving. If you do not have this, then consider only allowing open forums at the beginning or the end of the meeting and for a specific length of time.

You and I agree that meetings need to be as short as possible. You and I also agree that sometimes the rules need to adjust for specific situations.

AllisonD (Florida)
Posts: 449

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By TimB4 on 06/13/2015 4:19 AM

Quote:

However, the original poster lives in Florida where members are entitled to attend meetings (with some exceptions). I think that when people are given the chance to speak at the end of the meeting rather than the beginning, it works better because sometimes their topics were covered during the meeting so they end up not speaking and you dont run the risk of the meeting going so long that your board portion of the meeting is rushed (unless this is a strategy you prefer). Also, when people speak at a meeting during the resident comment period, there is no requirement for others to comment on and discuss each resident's comment. You can simply let each resident have their say, and move on to the next one. During the meeting, if you are discussing matters that you want residents input on, you can ask for it, but keep in mind that if you have many members attending the meeting and wanting to comment, you should have tight control meaning make sure they know one person talks at a time, dont interrupt, no cursing or shouting etc. If you have a civilized group and the board really wants to know what the residents are thinking, you can sit back and let them talk it out so long as you can keep it on topic and veer them back to agenda. It really depends on the group you deal with and the skill of the president to run a productive meeting. After all, they are homeowners and deserve to be heard. Its much easier to control this situation with folks calling in, because you can mute everyone except the one entitled to speak.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By AllisonD on 06/13/2015 5:08 AM

However, the original poster lives in Florida where members are entitled to attend meetings (with some exceptions).

I live in VA with those same requirements

Quote:

Posted By AllisonD on 06/13/2015 5:08 AM

It really depends on the group you deal with and the skill of the president to run a productive meeting. After all, they are homeowners and deserve to be heard.

And, I do believe, that this is the crux of the issue.

Those with open meeting laws, and some who don't have those laws, agree that non-board members should be allowed to speak. When they speak and how they are engaged depends on exactly what you stated:

It really depends on the group you deal with and the skill of the president to run a productive meeting.

Personally, If I was a member and given the opportunity to phone in to hear and voice my opinion, I wouldn't do it. This is because I wouldn't have access to any of the documents the Board has access to. I wouldn't be able to see the faces of the Board members which would prevent me from knowing if I need to alter my approach on the issue or go into more or less detail of what I am trying to get across.

However, for those Boards who allow members to phone in, good for them. The member utilizing that option simply needs to understand that they are at a disadvantage when compared to those non-board members who attend the meeting.

JohnL26 (Florida)
Posts: 89

Posted:

Thanks again for all the comments.

I don't think we should forget that interpretation of the statute lies ultimately with the Courts and not the HOA.

Any rules about participation must be reasonable. I don't think they can differ depending on whether the Chair has the skills to control the meeting or not.

As a point of interest the language in the Florida Statutes for members meetings and a members' right to speak also doesn't specify that they should speak before the vote.

I can see the argument that members speaking after the board has discussed the matter has merit because less will need to be said by members but I think it should be before the vote.

In order to keep meetings short the BOD should make sure resolutions deal as fully as possible with a matter and delegate specific responsibility for ongoing implementation of policy to an Officer. Then there's no need for revisiting policy or general micro-management of matters at Board Meetings.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnL26 on 06/14/2015 1:21 AM

I don't think we should forget that interpretation of the statute lies ultimately with the Courts and not the HOA.

Absolutely correct. The Courts have the final say on interpretation

Initial interpretation is done by the Board.
Secondary interpretation is done by any attorneys involved.
Final interpretation is done by the courts (once brought before the court)

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

Don't forget mediators. In Florida certain disputes are subject to mandatory mediation and only if that fails can a lawsuit be filed.

Our new president this year proposed having the members' open-forum near the beginning of our board meetings, and we approved it. I would almost prefer it to be at the end of the meeting since what a member has to say may be affected by what transpires at the meeting. On the other hand, the meeting is over and the votes have been taken by then so the members might as well have not shown up at all.

The past board had more of a free-for-all approach. As each item on the agenda was opened up for discussion, any member who raised his hand to opine on the matter was recognized. This often lead to a lot of crosstalk in the crowd and ended up slowing things down a great deal. Our meetings last year were routinely lasting over 2 hours. That is what the new president wanted to avoid. That goal has been achieved; our last 2 board meetings have lasted under an hour.

But... does it encourage members to participate? No it does not, but Board meetings are not supposed to be fora for member participation, really. And yet, fewer people are showing up at the meetings and if member attendance at the board meetings is any indication, fewer people than last year are taking an interest in how the association is run.

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