L.R. from Pinellas County, Florida writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
I was the board president, and part of the quorum, at the time of the annual meeting. I am no longer on the BOD. I am told by the Condo manager that I am not entitled to see a copy of the annual meeting minutes until they are approved by the new BOD at the next members meeting. Is this correct?
Mister Condo replies:
L.R., technically, that is quite correct. Non-Board members do not have access to unapproved meeting minutes. You have the same rights as any other unit owner to review the Minutes once they are approved by the current Board. If you notice discrepancies in the finalized Minutes, you have the right to contest the Minutes and set the record straight but until the Minutes are approved by the current Board, they are not official records of the association. All the best!
I believe that this may not be true for all States and all types of meetings — e.g., in NJ there were rules effective May 18, 2020, that requires unapproved meeting minutes to be posted after the meeting marked as “unapproved’. I don’t know if this applies to annual meeting minutes,.
Thanks, Ellen. Yes, rules vary by state and even association. Of course, even if you have access to unapproved Minutes, there isn’t too much you can do with them other than review them. They aren’t official records of the association until they are approved.
My HOA board sends out a draft copy of the HOA meetings. Recently the board approved a homeowner’s air conditioner which approved the AC condenser be placed in the common area which is against our CC&R’s. The board voted and approved this in the general meeting. They conveniently omitted the AC approval from the minutes. I emailed the property manager that this needed to be documented in the minutes, she brought it to the board’s attention and they never did. The voted on the minutes as drafted leaving out the AC.
K.S., it is unfortunate that they omitted the voting details that violated the association’s rules on use of the common area. You can challenge them on the issue but they may not correct the minutes or change the decision. At some point, your best bet is to alert your fellow unit owners and vote them out of office at the next election cycle. Board Members who disregard the governing documents and do not properly document their votes have no business serving. Good luck!