Board of Trustee Decisions Using Email

Hello- The board of trustees in my condo association (located in Massachusetts) does a lot of the decision making using email. They meet once a month but it’s come to my attention that many decisions on projects, vendors, issues, etc are done using email. The monthly meetings are basic statements by the treasurer, approving the prior minutes (if they took any) and updates on any projects that were started. Is this normal for the board to do much of the decision making using email rather than at meetings? There is a majority on the board who like to do many things in secret.

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Board decisions by email are common and depends on if your state allows them or not. NC allows them only by unanimous email vote. Emailed votes passed this way are affirmed at the next Board meeting and included in those minutes.

Email discussion outside of board meetings are also common. Sitting through a 3 hour monthly Board meeting to again discuss an item because it was tabled 4 months ago for an additional question, then again for another question accomplishes little. Discussion between meetings allows for research and questions to be asked prior to the vote.

Board minutes do not have to contain discussion. They are to record the action taken, pass, fail, or table.

I agree!

My HOA does most everything via Email except vote on an issue and even then we will "straw vote" to see where we are. When we meet, we have discussed the issue so we can deal with the voting in a prompt manner. I know other states "hobble" these type discussions but that is their issue, not ours.

Your assertion that this is common seems to imply it's lawful nationwide. As you and I are noting subsequently, it's not.

Nor do I know if it's common. In my experience, a board that knows how to write an agenda, or has designated someone with this skill to write the agenda, would be able to avoid all these side discussions.

One of the biggest complaints of directors is too many emails. Your way seems to be largely about a lot of emails.

Again I grant you all are volunteers. If no one is complaining, and the board is not intimidating people into not complaining, then congratulations.

How else do you think HOA business is conducted after the regular meeting? Meetings are a formality to enter to the record for HOA business like bids on vendor services and routine maintenance. What if a pipe breaks and you need a plumber? All of these things are completed via email. HOA business can't wait for a meeting. Prior to the advant of email, these same tasks were conducted with the telephone. Email provides a record.. paper trail. I feel you're getting your knickers in a knot over nothing. This is perfectly normal.

The leading complaint here at hoatalk is lack of transparency, but it's not because of meetings. Some people here make it that. Most are the unavailability of HOA records, financials, minutes and contracts.

I will speak only of California, but an agenda is prepared, posted within the legal timeframe, and the minutes will follow the outline of the agenda.

The process for the meeting is to call to order, identify whether a quorum of directors is present, who is present, who is absent, and if a management representative is present. Minutes are approved or not approved, motion whether financials were reviewed, as they don't have to be approved, summary of executive session, management report, and then official business. It will be divided between old business and new business, and there must be specific topics listed on the agenda for both. If action is required, a motion, second and voted is recorded for each topic. Afterwards, homeowner forum and then adjournment.

As the manager, now the fun part begins. The following day, the emails start, putting everything that happened at the meeting into motion. That could be between 10-15 emails.

I've read minutes from several HOA's that cover 15 pages, almost word for word what happened at the meeting. I think all here agree that the minutes are a recording of the actions that took place.

This meeting took place with two homes of the over 300 homes in the association present. I am curious, if any action(s) were taken between meetings and properly recorded in the next meeting's minutes, what difference would it make to the 310 homes that didn't show up.

If you have a meeting, don't notice the community, don't post an agenda, or don't record the action at a meeting, then I'll call that a secret meeting, one that California outlawed in 2012 for those very reasons.

This is good info for Mike. To double check-it's Mass. statute, right? If so, Mike' board is actually illegally because he writes that some directors are excluded. I would hope that other who say they do a lot of bu iz outs of ne meetings follow their own state statutes on this topic. All I've seen say the decision must be unanimous and all directors must sign for the decision to be in a futile meeting's minutes.

I agree!