Members attending Board Meetings

Started by DR • 6 replies • 3344 views

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DR (Florida)
Posts: 4

Posted:

Roberts Rule states: Non-Members are prohibited from attending, speaking, or addressing Board of Director Meetings unless approved by 2/3 vote of Board of Directors. Is this true in all states? Florida for example?

GeraldT1 (<Not Specified>)
Posts: 519

Posted:

DR - Robert's Rules are an informative tool that can guide all those that attend and lead meetings. They present a code of conduct that I believe can curtail loudmouths.

However, what do your governing documents state regarding the rights of members, and those permitted to attend meetings?

Robert's Rules have no jurisdiction over associations unless the association adopts them in a duly called meeting, or it is stipulated in your gov. docs that Robert's Rules be adhered to.

Don't get me wrong, I believe Robert's Rules to be a useful guide to protect the interests of the whole. However, I find the rules to be a bit parliamentary (old world), and have had first hand experience that the procedures can be a hindrance because of its formalities.

GeraldT1

SwanB (Washington)
Posts: 199

Posted:

You are asking if 'non-members' are allowed or prohibited from attending Board meetings, right?
How do your governing documents define members? Is there a large distinction in your HOA between people who live there who are members and who are not?
In our HOA, a member is defined as the titled owner of the lot. We are a community property state and our definition further defines the membership parameters of a marital community and also the 'members' in a situation of multiple owners of a lot. All of these members (and their representative(s)) are allowed to attend Board meetings not by our governing documents but by the RCWs or State statues.

BradP (Kansas)
Posts: 2,640

Posted:

While I don't think it is any business of a non-member to speak at a meeting, you would have to be careful about restricting non-members. That would mean a parent could not stop by with their child and attend the meeting for a few minutes because the child is not a member, or at least is not as it is defined in our association.

We have enough trouble getting people to show up to our meetings, so I am not too concerned if they are members or not unless they try to speak.

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

DR, no that is not true in any state where the HOA's documents state otherwise. For example many By-laws and non-profit corporations (I think) allow a non-member to represent a member.

EdR (Texas)
Posts: 170

Posted:

Another point is this: some bylaws of HOAs allow non-homeowners to even run and be elected to their boards (ours allows this). So what is the definition of a member? I do not consider a non-owner a member (they are not paying assessments). It is my understanding that the builders wrote the rules--CC&Rs and Bylaws. The former president of our HOA moved from the community almost a year before her term was up and continued to run the show. I don't approve of this rule, really. We have had selective speakers at our HOA board meetings--ones that were allowed because they were friends of the board, others disallowed because they were not friends of theirs. It would be difficult for a board to justify allowing an outsider of their choice to speak and not an outsider of a member's choice, but then our board isn't too fair or scrupulous.
EdR

BrianB (California)
Posts: 2,820

Posted:

Most associations are "private" businesses, and can restrict attendance and speaking rights to those with membership or business with the association. I don't own IBM shares, so i don't just drop by their board meetings to say Hi or see how things are going, for instance.

One way to do allow controlled access is with a set agenda: Leave a portion of a meeting for new business or input from non members. ANother is to notify only members of the time and place of the meetings. a third is to restrict entrance, which is technically "legal" if your by laws support it.

As mentioned above, Roberts Rules are guidelines, not statutes. And you should carefully define who is a member/owner in your association. In general, I fall into the camp of wishing anyone would attend a board meeting, and keeping the workings of the board open and transparent. You rarely get into trouble with open doors.

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