J.C. from outside of Connecticut writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
Can I publish Board Minutes on my personal web page?
Mister Condo replies:
J.C., as a general rule, Minutes from an association meeting are considered property of the association. Just like Minutes from any company’s Board meeting are considered company property. However, once released by the Board to unit owners like yourself, I am not aware of any law that prohibits you from publishing the Minutes. I am not an attorney so I would suggest you speak with an attorney in your area before you take such steps but I have to ask why you would even want to publish Minutes from a Board Meeting on your personal web page? Do you think folks outside of your community would care to view them? What if there is business discussed at the meeting that would put the community at a disadvantage when negotiating with a contractor? By making that information public, could you actually cost your association money? How would that benefit you or your community? My practical advice is for you to NOT publish this potentially sensitive information on your own web page and that you should get a proper legal opinion before you do should you decide to do so.
Can I Publish Condo Meeting Board Minutes on My Own Web Page?: https://t.co/MExSLRRl94
I think the more appropriate question is whether I can publish my own minutes of Association meetings. Association minutes are normally not available until weeks after a meeting has been held. Associations should immediately publish draft minutes of each meeting so non-attendees know what actually happened at meetings. Most do not and they should. They can then be approved at the next Association meeting. We all know that minutes can be very detailed or very sketchy and miss the nuances of a meeting. An alternative version can provide more details of a meeting to the residents or it can entirely mislead residents too. Minutes can be be pro-Board or anti-Board. Good or bad depending upon your perspective. Open Board meeting and minutes should never discusses ongoing contract negotiations or other confidential information at public meetings for the exact reasons you cite. An Association attorney who permits this should should be an ex-Association attorney.
I would like to hear more from J.C. on why he wants to publish minutes on a personal web page. There is definitely a story behind this question.