Arizona Board of Director meetings

KarlP1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7

Posted:

Greetings,

Based on what I am reading in the Arizona Revised Statues (see attached PDF) it looks like there are two types of meetings the Board of Directors can hold. 1. executive meetings, 2. non-executive meetings. My reading of this is that ANY TIME (regardless of how minor the discussion seems) the directors need to talk about an issue that does not fall under the definition of an executive meeting they must invite the community to participate and give proper notice (it must be held openly).

Would this make any meeting that is NOT an executive meeting and NOT openly held a violation of the revised statues?

I am new to understanding these revised statutes and am looking for someone to tell me if my interpretation is correct or not, and to just lend some general insight.

Thanks in advance.

📎 Attachments (1):

⏸ Downloads temporarily unavailable

📄161124281671.pdf(42 KB)

AugustinD
Posts: 3,698

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By KarlP1 on 06/01/2021 11:12 AM
Would this make any meeting that is NOT an executive meeting and NOT openly held a violation of the revised statues?

In Arizona, yes.

If board meetings are not held as required by statute, Arizona does have a dispute resolution process that the Arizona Dept. of Real Estate administers. See https://azre.gov/consumers/hoa

You might find this link to Arizona HOA/Condo statutes helpful: https://www.azleg.gov/arsDetail/?title=33

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

With Augustine, the answer is clearly yes. Do know that fewer than a quorum of the Board may meet and discuss anything it wishes outside of a noticed meeting.

Many HOAs have pretty managers (PMs), who have the authority to act of "the most trivial" matters. If yours does not have a PM, the Board at an open meeting can sort of delegate certain matters to certain officers and directors. For ex., Director Rose may spend up to $300 to replace landscaping without board approval. VP Bulb may contact electricians for any burned out lights in the common areas.

AZ statues are very similar to ours in CA and to those in FL, IL and VA nd maybe others re: open meetings.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Karl

The document seems straight forward but I draw your attention to the first sentence where it basically says with the exception of Declarations and Bylaws. This says your association's Declarations and/or Bylaws rule not what is said in the document. When one joins an association they agree to abide by the associations Declarations Bylaws

MaxB4
Posts: 3,513

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnC46 on 06/01/2021 4:01 PM
Karl

The document seems straight forward but I draw your attention to the first sentence where it basically says with the exception of Declarations and Bylaws. This says your association's Declarations and/or Bylaws rule not what is said in the document. When one joins an association they agree to abide by the associations Declarations Bylaws

John,

What it means is that no matter what your governing documents state, these are the rules. The problem is how many directors actually look to see what has been updated in state statues, no many I am guessing.

Doing business in California, having a large number of governing documents out of date with current status poises a huge problem for those association who are self-managed. I bet you the last place a homeowner is looking for updates is some state website.

AugustinD
Posts: 3,698

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnC46 on 06/01/2021 4:01 PM
Karl

The document seems straight forward but I draw your attention to the first sentence where it basically says with the exception of Declarations and Bylaws. This says your association's Declarations and/or Bylaws rule not what is said in the document.

Not so. The first sentence is:

"Notwithstanding any provision in the declaration, bylaws or other documents to the contrary, all meetings of the members' association and the board of directors, and any regularly scheduled committee meetings, are open to all members of the association or any person designated by a member in writing as the member's representative and all members or designated representatives so desiring shall be permitted to attend and speak at an appropriate time during the deliberations and proceedings."

"Notwithstanding" is commonly used in statutes. It means "despite." Here, it translates to an Arizona HOA being required to have open meetings, regardless of what the Declaration and Bylaws say, except when the subjects listed in the statutes arise.

I think you are thinking of clauses that start with "Unless the Declaration or Bylaws say otherwise... "

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

I noticed that too and while I tend to agree with John, I also wonder about the effect date of this statute. Sometimes it applies regardless of when the HOA was established and in some instances it may only apply to HOAs that came into being on or after a certain date.

The OP may want to check that part. Otherwise, it would seem high-level as some have suggested - designate some board members to oversee certain tasks and report during the next board meeting (documenting everything) or have the property manager do it and summarize it in a management report.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

KarlP1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7

Posted:

Thank you all for the helpful feedback.

AugustinD
Posts: 3,698

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By SheliaH on 06/01/2021 4:21 PM
I tend to agree with John,

Because... ?

The meaning of "notwithstanding" is not trivial here.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By AugustinD on 06/01/2021 4:15 PM

Posted By JohnC46 on 06/01/2021 4:01 PM
Karl

The document seems straight forward but I draw your attention to the first sentence where it basically says with the exception of Declarations and Bylaws. This says your association's Declarations and/or Bylaws rule not what is said in the document.

Not so. The first sentence is:

"Notwithstanding any provision in the declaration, bylaws or other documents to the contrary, all meetings of the members' association and the board of directors, and any regularly scheduled committee meetings, are open to all members of the association or any person designated by a member in writing as the member's representative and all members or designated representatives so desiring shall be permitted to attend and speak at an appropriate time during the deliberations and proceedings."

"Notwithstanding" is commonly used in statutes. It means "despite." Here, it translates to an Arizona HOA being required to have open meetings, regardless of what the Declaration and Bylaws say, except when the subjects listed in the statutes arise.

I think you are thinking of clauses that start with "Unless the Declaration or Bylaws say otherwise... "

You are correct. My bad/confusion.