Over the course of 2020, virtual meetings enabled Homeowners Associations to meet regularly and attend to their association’s regular business. While the safety guidelines that necessitated remote meetings are not actively in effect, HOAs are continuing to utilize virtual meeting formats.
Meeting Remotely Can Facilitate Attendance
Board members are often busy professionals with packed schedules. Finding meeting times that work for everyone’s schedule can prove tough for many boards, and the imposition of meetings may deter some of the most qualified owners in a membership from serving on the board. Meeting remotely makes the logistics of board service less onerous.
Compliance Considerations
One advantage of meeting remotely is that it makes HOAs better able to comply with their governing documents’ rules about the frequency and format of meetings. It is worth noting that boards must continue to send notices abouts to their membership as stipulated in applicable bylaws. They must also be wary of instances in which an informal conversation online or email exchange has a quorum of board members, thereby constituting a meeting and requiring notice to the membership.
Ultimately, board members must take care to ensure that their meetings are consistent with regulations in their governing documents. Likewise, record keeping functions pertaining to meetings must remain consistent.