Are owner comments from homeowner forum recorded in the minutes?

In the associations we manage, and in the sub and master association in which we reside, the details of the owner's forum comments are not recorded in the minutes any more than are the details of discussions which take place by members of the Board during the meeting. The Owner's Forum in our client associations, and in our sub/master associations, takes place before the meeting is called to order, hence before the Secretary begins taking the official minutes.

A general comment is included with the document which when published contains the meeting minutes which states X owners (or none, if that is the case) provided comments during the owner's forum. As an example, it might say: two owners spoke to landscape matters and a third spoke to the proposed increase in the assessment.

Occasionally an owner will make a comment or raise an issue which merits further review, in such cases the President or the PM will tell the owner he or she will be contacted by the PM for additional information.

Also occasionally a member of the Board or the PM will ask questions for clarification, otherwise the President simply thanks the owner who provided the comments.

Just remember this simple advice from Robert's Rules; The minutes should include only what was done, not what was said.

So certainly open forum remarks should not be included. But I'd leave it up to the Board to decide a general policy. The minutes might note the general comments as Bill suggests, or simply that 4 members participated in open forum or none, or whatever. The minutes should show that open forum was held so that jerks like MichaelT's past board member cannot claim that the law was not followed.

What's worked exceedingly well for the past couple of years in our HOA is that every owner has one or more chances to contribute to open forum. They are limited to one topic per turn and two minutes per their turn. Directors & the PM take notes about the general topic addressed by each. Usually about 8-12 owners participate. Then the Chair closes open forum and the PM and/or one or more directors respond to each topic raised. Some may lead to directions to management; some to further research; some to a clarification of the rules, etc.

We have a Guide for Conduct on the backs of the agenda. Notable, maintenance complaints are not generally acceptable.

This approach takes away the contentious back-&-forth between an Owner & one or more directors that characterized a previous abusive & bullying board.