The HOA board of directors sets the agenda for association meetings. The board president usually drafts it, often with help from the property manager, but every director can propose items, the full board approves the final version, and certain topics are required to appear by law or by the association’s governing documents. Homeowners can request additions and, in many states, petition to force a special meeting on a topic the board has refused to address.
The Board Controls the Agenda as a Body
An HOA’s bylaws and its declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) grant the board broad authority to manage the association’s affairs. Agenda-setting is one of the clearest expressions of that power. The board decides which topics come up for discussion, which get a formal vote, and which get tabled for a future meeting.
In practice, the board president typically drafts the agenda, often working with the property manager to gather reports, compile updates, and identify items that need board action. But the president doesn’t have unilateral control. Any director can request that an item be placed on the next meeting’s agenda, and if a majority of the board agrees, it goes on. A president who refuses to list items other directors want addressed is overstepping. The agenda belongs to the board as a body, not to any single officer.
Where the Management Company Fits In
When an HOA hires a professional management company, that company handles much of the logistical work behind the agenda. The manager pulls together financial reports, tracks outstanding maintenance issues, follows up on committee recommendations, and packages everything into a draft agenda for the board’s review. The manager also sees that meeting notices go out on time and in the format the governing documents require.
The important word is “draft.” A management company has no independent authority to decide what the board discusses. The board reviews the manager’s proposed agenda, adds or removes items, and gives final approval. Boards that let the manager run the agenda without meaningful review are effectively handing a governance function to a vendor, which is a common way for important topics to quietly get buried.
How Homeowners Can Get Items Added
Homeowners don’t set the agenda, but they have real avenues to influence it. Most associations allow owners to submit written requests asking the board to consider a specific topic. The board then decides whether to include the item. Some boards formalize this with a submission form and a deadline; others handle requests informally. Check your bylaws and any posted policies before submitting a request, because meeting a stated procedure makes it harder for the board to brush the request aside.
If the board ignores a legitimate request, homeowners in many states have a stronger tool: the petition. The Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, the model legislation adopted in whole or part by a significant number of states, lets unit owners holding at least 20 percent of the association’s votes compel a special meeting on a topic of their choosing. If the association doesn’t send out meeting notices within 30 days of receiving a valid petition, the owners who submitted it can notify every owner directly and hold the meeting themselves.1Community Associations Institute. Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act 2021 Final Act Some states set the threshold lower, and your bylaws may specify a different percentage, so look there first.
When a board repeatedly refuses to address a legitimate concern, the most reliable long-term remedy is electing new directors. That isn’t a satisfying answer when you want action now, but short of a petition-driven special meeting, the board controls what gets discussed.
Items That Must Appear Regardless
Not everything on the agenda is discretionary. State law and the association’s governing documents require certain topics to appear at specific meetings. Under the model act, every meeting notice must include the agenda, and that agenda must specifically flag any proposed amendments to the declaration or bylaws, any budget changes, and any proposal to remove a board member or officer.1Community Associations Institute. Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act 2021 Final Act
Beyond those statutory minimums, most bylaws and standard practice call for additional standing items on a typical board meeting agenda:
- Call to order and quorum verification.
- Approval of the previous meeting’s minutes.
- Financial report covering income, expenses, reserves, and budget compliance.
- Committee reports from architectural review, landscaping, social, or other active committees.
- Old business carried over from prior meetings.
- New business raised for the first time.
Annual membership meetings carry additional required items, most notably board elections and presentation of the annual budget. Skipping required items can expose the board to legal challenges.
Annual Meetings and Board Meetings Follow Different Rules
The agenda for an annual membership meeting looks quite different from a regular board meeting agenda. Annual meetings are for the full membership. Their primary business is electing directors, presenting the association’s financial condition, and voting on matters that require owner approval, such as special assessments or major governing document amendments. Notice requirements are typically longer, often 10 to 60 days in advance, and the agenda must accompany the notice so owners know what’s at stake before they attend or submit a proxy.1Community Associations Institute. Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act 2021 Final Act
Board meetings are working sessions where directors handle ongoing business: approving contracts, reviewing delinquencies, addressing maintenance, and making the operational decisions that keep the community running. Many states require shorter notice for board meetings, sometimes as few as two to four days. Homeowners generally have the right to attend and observe, but their ability to speak is more limited than at annual meetings.
Changing the Agenda During a Meeting
Sometimes an urgent issue surfaces after the agenda has been distributed, or a director realizes during the meeting that something was left off. Whether new items can be added mid-meeting depends on the association’s parliamentary rules and the type of meeting.
For board meetings, many associations follow Robert’s Rules of Order or a simplified version. Under Robert’s Rules, the board adopts the agenda at the start of the meeting by majority vote. Before adoption, anyone can propose an amendment to add an item, and it passes by simple majority. Once the agenda has been formally adopted, changing it requires either a two-thirds vote or unanimous consent.
Special meetings of the membership operate under tighter constraints. Under the model act, only matters described in the meeting notice may be acted upon at a special meeting.1Community Associations Institute. Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act 2021 Final Act Members can discuss topics not on the notice, but they cannot vote on them unless every unit owner consents. The reason: owners who didn’t attend may have skipped the meeting precisely because the noticed agenda didn’t include anything they cared about.
What Happens When the Board Breaks the Rules
Boards that act on items not included in the agenda, fail to provide proper notice, or skip required items risk having those actions challenged. The consequences depend on the nature of the violation and your state’s law, but they generally fall along a spectrum.
Most procedural defects make a board’s action voidable rather than automatically void. The distinction matters. A void action is treated as if it never happened; a voidable action stands unless someone successfully challenges it in court. So a board that approves a contract without proper agenda notice might get away with it if no one objects, but any homeowner who does object has grounds to ask a court to undo the decision. Courts that find a violation can order the association to reverse its actions, pay damages, and comply with transparency requirements going forward.
Boards that make honest procedural mistakes can often fix them through ratification. If the board realizes it acted on an item without proper notice, it can typically re-notice the item, hold a properly called meeting, and vote again. In most jurisdictions, that corrective step retroactively blesses the original action. Boards that discover a procedural slip are better off addressing it proactively than hoping no one notices.