How businesslike are HOA board meetings

I have been on my current HOA and a condo association board. In both cases the meetings are very businesslike and conducted according to an agenda. I hope that's typical. It sounds like the board meeting you were at was fast and loose.

Chris,
As Kerry has mentioned meeting take on the life that the President and the PM allow. As a Board President for 6 years I try and run it as officially as I possible can. As stated we always have 3 minutes per HO for comments and concerns at the start of the meeting. Once the agenda gets started we try and stick to it and avoid allowing HOs to contribute comments. I will occasionally ask people in the audience who may have outside knowledge on specific topics to speak briefly if we need their input. My current board likes to try and keep the meetings as short as possible. I personally thinks the time of the meeting should be dictated by the discussion not the clock. In Ca. when we had a very engaged group of HOs we implemented an additional 3 minute per with a 20 minute max for questions or comments at the end of the meeting. This gave them the option to save questions till the end of the meeting. My Texas board has not bought into this yet but I haven't given up on trying either.

As the President I run our meetings. Many PMs run the meetings in HOAs. Who runs the meetings in the HOA you are mentioning?

How did you expect or want it to be run? It is YOU and your neighbors after all. It's not like people are going into work into a corporate building to do work. Heck some of my meetings have been held in our swimming pool. (I live in Alabama and most members are in the pool behind the clubhouse anyways in evenings).

Not sure what you are expecting from your HOA board meetings. Each HOA is different and each set their own "tone" to meetings. Plus there is usually a list of what has to be covered in a meeting per the Articles of Incorporation or CC&R's. Ours had a list EXAMPLE like: 1. Financials (Distributed). 2. Collections (ONLY for BOD members view) 3. Old business. 4. New business. 5. Open forum. (5 minutes)

As long as we stuck to that agenda list, our meeting were pretty much done in 1 to 2 hours. They were open with the BOD sitting at their own table and the members sitting in chairs outside of the table. I often held my meetings facing the membership with the board sitting beside me. Almost "last dinner" like. The board that replaced me sat around the table. They just let people sit in chairs outside table to observe. I didn't like this myself but I am also not the one holding the meeting either.

Some people here are sticklers about what they think is supposed to happen in a board meeting they lose site of what really IS to be done. Yes, it is a non-profit corporation. Does not mean being friendly or being unformal isn't running things "right". Sometimes this is the culture of the HOA to keep things this way.

Why should Owners have to "ask" directors about the board's secret meetings behind closed doors? Why wouldn't the board post minutes of the meeting on the HOA's website except for (truly) confidential matters. That would be informative for all owners.

Unfortunately, you can't always dictate how others should react to HOA issues in their community - its up to them to take an interest on how their community is run. For me I always said make the information available whether people ask for it or not. If they have questions, answer them completely and accurately. How they feel about the board's decisions is up to them, but nothing the board does should ever be a surprise.

Its ok if the meeting is run in an formal or informal manner - I'm more interested in not wasting time and that pertinent issues are addressed. I'm also more concerned with board members coming prepared to discuss the issues and casting votes (this doesn't mean you must go along with everyone).

I hope this means you will begin to attend more meetings. You don't have to attend them all, but keep your mouth shut and eyes and ears open and listen carefully to the proceedings. If you have questions suggestions or concerns, speak up. Perhaps offer to help - that's where you can find out much more about community issues!

Thing is, Sheila, NY is a closed meeting state, so Chris' Board can do everything behind closed doors. He only attended because the Board specifically invited him.

I don't know how it make sure "all Owners are heard" when they can't attend board meetings.

So far as what the Board SHOULD do, Chris, that is in your CC&Rs (covenants, declaration, deed restrictions) and I'm thinking you won't find that the Board's duty is to make " owners" homes better." More likely you'll see that the Board needs to protect and maintain he common areas. What does this governing document say?

JohnC's HOA doesn't have to inform Owerns when board e meetings occur, so they generally do't attend from what John's written in the past. Not surprising then, that their board meetings are very informal. Unlike SC, many states require business be conducted at duly noticed meeting and not via email.

HOA Board meetings should be rigid and structured so as to convey professionalism.

So, Chris, you're saying that your HOA has no covenants that protect Owners and/or the common areas? Is this HOA a co-op?