Attendance at Executive Session of the Board Denied

R.R. from Hartford County, Connecticut writes:

Dear Mister Condo,

I requested to attend a recent Executive Board meeting at my condo but was told I could not because it was an Executive meeting and that general attendees were not allowed to attend. I thought there was a law passed that said any unit owner could attend any meeting of the Board. Why wasn’t I allowed to attend?

Mister Condo replies:

R.R., I am not certain of the circumstances that caused your Board to meet in Executive session so it is difficult for me to give you an exact answer here. As a rule, unit owners can attend any regularly scheduled meeting of the Board. Unit owners do not have the right to participate in the meeting (ask questions, debate, vote, etc.) but they are allowed to observe. Executive Sessions are generally used by the Board when there are sensitive topics at hand – discussion of employee or management company terminations. It is possible that this Executive meeting of the Board was for just such a purpose and that they are within their rights to refuse general audience. However, their discussions and actions taken in Executive Session should become public knowledge with the minutes of the meeting once they are recorded and any actions resulting from that meeting are taken.

I hope that helps. The law you are referring to is the revised Common Interest Ownership Act (CIOA). Now that it is the law in Connecticut, Boards need to act with more transparency. Best wishes!