Guide · 7 min read

HOA Board Member Duties, by Role

Every director owes the association the same two duties. The officers divide the work. Here is what each one is responsible for, and the calendar that keeps a volunteer board out of trouble.

In Havn

Havn keeps the board seats on the People module with each director's term and officer role, delivers the packet and the financials to the board on the community's schedule, and files every notice with proof of sending.

People and property

What every director owes

Directors owe the association a duty of care, meaning they inform themselves and act as a prudent person would, and a duty of loyalty, meaning they put the association's interest ahead of their own and disclose any conflict. Most states extend the business judgment rule to volunteer directors: a decision made in good faith on reasonable information is protected even if it turns out badly.

The duties attach to the whole board, not to the officers alone. A director who skips the packet, misses the meetings, or defers to one strong voice is still responsible for the result.

The president

Runs the meetings, signs contracts the board has approved, and is the board's voice to the manager, the attorney, and the owners. The president has no authority the board has not given; a president who commits the association without a vote has exceeded the role.

The president's calendar: the meeting schedule for the year, the annual meeting date and its notice deadline, insurance renewal, and the management agreement's renewal or notice date.

The treasurer

Owns the money: reviews the monthly financials, watches delinquencies, chairs the budget, and makes sure the reserve study is current and the reserve contribution is funded. The treasurer does not have to be an accountant; they have to read the statements every month and ask about every variance.

The treasurer's calendar: the monthly close and bank reconciliation, the budget draft by late summer for a January fiscal year, the annual audit or review if the state or the documents require one, and the tax return.

What the treasurer reads each month

  • Balance sheet: operating and reserve cash, receivables, prepaid assessments
  • Income and expense against budget, with variances explained
  • Delinquency aging: who is 30, 60, 90 days past due and what step each is on
  • Bank reconciliation, signed by someone other than the person who wrote the checks

The secretary

Keeps the record: notices and proof of sending, minutes, the roster, the governing documents, resolutions, and the correspondence that matters. The secretary certifies documents when a lender, a title company, or a court asks, and signs the minutes once approved.

The secretary's calendar: the notice date for every meeting, the minutes draft within the days the state requires, and the records retention schedule.

The vice president and directors at large

The vice president steps in for the president and usually chairs a committee: architectural review, landscape, social, or rules. Directors at large take a committee or a project each. A board where every director owns something meets faster than one where the president owns everything.

What the manager does instead

A management company carries out the board's decisions: collects assessments, pays bills, inspects, sends notices, keeps the books, and prepares the packet. The manager does not decide. A board that lets the manager decide has handed over the duty it cannot delegate.

Questions Boards Ask

Are HOA board members paid?

Almost never. Most governing documents bar compensation for directors; some allow reimbursement of expenses. A paid director is usually a conflict the documents forbid.

Can a board member be removed?

Yes, by the members, usually by a majority of the votes at a meeting called for that purpose, with the notice the bylaws require. Some documents also let the board remove a director who misses a set number of meetings.

Is a board member personally liable?

Rarely. Directors acting in good faith are protected by the business judgment rule, the association's indemnification, and its directors and officers insurance. Self-dealing, fraud, and decisions made outside the documents are not protected.

How many board members should an HOA have?

The bylaws set the number, most often three, five, or seven. An odd number avoids ties.

Keep Reading

More Guides

  • How to Run an HOA MeetingA board meeting that ends on time and an annual meeting that makes quorum are mostly the same discipline: a notice sent on the right day, an agenda that puts decisions first, and minutes written before anyone leaves.
  • How to Read HOA Financial StatementsFour pages a month tell a board everything about the association's money.

Templates

  • HOA Meeting Minutes TemplateA free HOA board meeting minutes template: who attended, whether quorum was met, each motion with who moved it and the vote, and what was decided.
  • HOA Petition TemplateA free HOA petition template owners can use to call a special meeting, recall a director, or propose an amendment: the request, its basis in the bylaws, and a signature table.

Terms to Know

  • Board of directorsThe owners elected to run the association: adopt the budget, levy assessments, maintain the common areas, enforce the rules, and hire the manager.
  • Board packetThe set of reports a board reads before its meeting: the financial statements, the delinquency list, open violations and requests, bills awaiting approval, and the agenda.
  • Fiscal yearThe twelve months the association budgets and reports on.
  • Reserve fundMoney set aside, apart from operating cash, to repair and replace the community's major components as they wear out: roofs, paving, elevators, paint.

Laws and Documents

Run the community this guide describes, on Havn.

HOA management software with a homeowner portal owners actually use. Resale documents are included; the requester pays for each one.

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