An HOA meeting minutes template can come in really handy, especially for a fledgling board. The minutes of a meeting serve as a record, allowing board members and homeowners to refer to them for clarifications. Poorly taken meeting minutes can lead to more misunderstandings, which is where a template comes in.
Why You Need an HOA Meeting Minutes Template
Homeowners associations hold meetings regularly, both annual membership meetings and board meetings. At these meetings, it is essential to make a record of what was done and decided. While not expressly required, the Illinois Common Interest Community Act does mention that HOAs must keep a record of all board meeting minutes for at least 7 years.
Given their importance, board members must strive to take meeting minutes every time. This can come as a challenge to board members who don’t even know what meeting minutes look like. After all, board members are often volunteers who don’t necessarily have a background in management.
An HOA meeting minutes template will be of great help to board members. This template will allow the board to take standardized minutes, jotting down the most important details.
Below is a sample of an HOA minutes template:
Download Your HOA Meeting Minutes Template Here
What are HOA Meeting Minutes?
Homeowners associations conduct board meetings to discuss community matters, make decisions, and maintain operations. Proper documentation is essential for every meeting, which is done through meeting minutes.
Meeting minutes are written records of discussions and decisions made during HOA board meetings. They also cover annual membership meetings, special meetings, and committee meetings. Unlike transcripts, meeting minutes provide brief summaries of the meeting’s key points.
The Importance of HOA Meeting Minutes
Meeting minutes are crucial for all organizations, including homeowners associations, for several reasons. They also have certain legal requirements. In most states, HOAs must take and maintain board meeting minutes. An HOA’s governing documents may also require meeting minutes.
All official meetings with a quorum must have proper documentation. If a meeting lacks a quorum, it doesn’t proceed and doesn’t need minutes. On the other hand, missed, postponed, or canceled meetings must still be recorded in the minute book.
Even if state laws don’t require it, HOAs should take minutes at every official meeting. This is because meeting minutes are legal records. Other parties may need to access them. These include lawyers, mortgage companies, realtors, banks, and homeowners.
Meeting minutes also promote accountability. They remind board members of their actions and decisions, helping them recall motions and responsibilities.
Finally, meeting minutes keep everyone informed. Anyone who missed a meeting can read the minutes to catch up on what they missed.
Who is Responsible for Taking HOA Meeting Minutes?
In general, the person responsible for taking meeting minutes is the HOA secretary. Of course, exact responsibilities can vary from one association to another. In Illinois, the secretary must keep the minutes of all board meetings and membership meetings (765 ILCS 160/1-25).
Secretaries can use an HOA meeting minutes template to make the job easier. Sometimes, a secretary will delegate the job of minute-taking to another person, especially if the secretary is otherwise preoccupied at the meeting.
Tips for Writing HOA Meeting Minutes
The homeowners association meeting minutes template above details what to include. Beyond that, it pays to know some tips for taking down meeting minutes correctly.
1. Keep Minutes Short
Meeting minutes should not be a transcript or play-by-play of all the meeting events. It is important to keep minutes short and concise. This will eliminate a lot of confusion for readers. It is also much easier for people to find what they are looking for when the minutes are organized and brief.
2. Don’t Include Irrelevant Discussions
The meeting minutes should only include relevant items and discussions. If two board members go on a tangent about playground equipment, there is no need for the minutes to reflect that.
The secretary must know what information to include in the minutes. Writing down every rant, argument, or objection is neither productive nor helpful. To keep everything clean and short, it is best to stick to the HOA meeting minutes template.
3. Don’t Include Personal Opinions
Meeting minutes have no room for personal opinions. While homeowners and board members can certainly express their views at the meeting, the secretary should not include them in the minutes.
In addition to this, the secretary should not include any of their personal notes or reflections in the minutes. Just because they agree with a decision does not mean they should highlight it or add a comment in agreement. Minutes must be objective.
4. Write Impartially and Professionally
The secretary must adopt an impartial and professional tone in the meeting minutes at all times. It is best to write in a matter-of-fact way, getting straight to the point.
The tone must not be casual, and the minutes-taker must refrain from using controversial language. Word choice is also important here. Avoid using aggressive, offensive, or discriminatory language.
5. Stick to a Basic Style
A simple layout is best for the minutes of the meeting. The HOA secretary should refrain from decorating the minutes like a scrapbook or using unnecessary font formats. Avoid using bold, italics, and underlines, as these can be construed as highlighting certain items in a non-objective manner.
6. Make Use of Lists
Lists are great for meeting minutes because they keep the document organized and easy to read. Whenever possible, the secretary should use lists to take down information. Proper spacing can also prevent overcrowding, which can make the document look cluttered.
7. Focus on Important Details
The minutes of the meeting should only focus on the important details and events. There is no need to jot down who said what, where everybody sat, and every movement or facial expression.
Again, the meeting minutes are not a transcript. They are a brief summary of the meeting’s events. The minutes should instead focus on attendance, motions, votes, reports, and decisions.
A Template for HOAs
An HOA meeting minutes template can be of great help to any homeowners association. It can be used in all types of meetings, including annual meetings, board meetings, special meetings, and committee meetings. Having a template allows the HOA to keep a standardized record of all official meetings.
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