HOA
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Two years after the vote, an owner challenges a $40,000 roofing contract. The board remembers approving it. The minutes from that night say "Roofing was discussed." Nobody recorded a motion, a vote or which directors were present, and the association now has to prove a decision its own record does not show.
HOA meeting minutes are the association's official record of what the board or the members did at a meeting: who attended, whether there was a quorum, each motion and how it was decided. They are not a transcript. A good HOA meeting minutes template forces the secretary to capture actions and votes in the same order every time, and the samples below give you one for a board meeting and a shorter one for an annual meeting.
Requirements vary by state and by your bylaws. Florida and California, covered below, set some of the most specific rules, and they show what a careful board should record anywhere.
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Robert's Rules of Order, which many bylaws adopt as their parliamentary authority, puts it plainly in its official FAQ: minutes are a record of what was done at a meeting, not a record of what was said, and summarizing debate in them is improper. That principle protects the association. Minutes that paraphrase arguments invite fights over who said what; minutes that record the motion and the vote settle the question.
Minutes also have readers well beyond the board. Owners inspect them to see how their money was spent, buyers read them for signs of litigation or special assessments, and courts and insurers rely on them to establish whether a board acted within its authority. How the meeting itself must be noticed and run, including quorum and owner speaking rights, is covered in our guide to how HOA meetings work.
Whatever HOA meeting minutes template you use, it should capture these items for every meeting:
Leave out verbatim debate, personal remarks about owners or staff, and the substance of legal advice. If the board relied on a document, such as a bid, a reserve study or an attorney's letter, the minutes should identify it so a later reader can find it.
Most states treat minutes as association records that owners can inspect, but the detail varies widely.
Under Florida Statutes 720.303, minutes must be kept in written form or a form that can be converted into written form, and a vote or abstention on each matter voted upon must be recorded for each director present. Minutes of all board and member meetings are official records that must be kept for at least 7 years, unless the governing documents require longer. The association must make records available within 10 business days after receiving an owner's written request, and an owner denied access through willful noncompliance can recover minimum damages of $50 per calendar day for up to 10 days.
Condos face stricter rules under Florida Statutes 718.111. A vote or abstention for each director present must be recorded in the minutes, directors may not vote by proxy or secret ballot at board meetings, and the minutes of all association meetings must be permanently maintained from the association's inception. Meetings held by video conference must also be recorded, and the recording kept as an official record. An association managing a condominium with 25 or more units must post approved board minutes from the preceding 12 months on its website or app. If you are buying a condo in Fort Lauderdale or Miami Beach, those posted minutes are a free first look at how the building is run.
Under California Civil Code 4950, the minutes, proposed draft minutes or summary minutes of any board meeting other than an executive session must be available to members within 30 days of the meeting, and the association's annual policy statement must tell members how to get copies. Civil Code 5200 lists agendas and minutes of member, board and committee meetings as association records, excluding executive session minutes, and Civil Code 5210 makes minutes of member and board meetings subject to inspection permanently. Owners in San Francisco and elsewhere in the state can ask for minutes going back to the association's early years.
| Rule | Florida HOA (720.303) | Florida condo (718.111) | California (Civil Code) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Director votes in minutes | Each director's vote or abstention | Each director's vote or abstention | Not specified in the sections cited; record the vote count at minimum |
| How long minutes are kept | At least 7 years | Permanently | Open to inspection permanently |
| Owner access | Within 10 business days of a written request | Within 10 working days of a written request | Within 30 days of the meeting, including drafts |
| Online posting | Not required for minutes | Approved board minutes, preceding 12 months, for 25 or more units | Not required by the sections cited |
Other states set their own rules, and many bylaws add requirements. Check your state's HOA or condominium statute and your governing documents; our guide to which HOA governing documents control shows where the secretary's duties usually appear.
The bylaws usually assign minutes to the secretary, an officer the board elects from among its directors. In professionally managed associations, the manager or a staff recording secretary often drafts them, but the secretary and the board remain responsible for their accuracy. The president runs the meeting and should not be writing the record at the same time; our guides to the HOA president's role and board responsibilities by seat explain the split. Where the manager fits, and who the manager works for, is covered in our article on HOA and property management roles.
Fill in your HOA meeting minutes template within a few days, while notes are fresh, and mark them DRAFT until approved. The board approves them at its next meeting. Robert's Rules says that corrections made at that point go directly into the text, and the new minutes simply state the prior minutes were approved "as corrected." A correction to minutes already approved requires a motion to amend something previously adopted, and the secretary adds a note rather than rewriting the original. California's 30-day access rule means owners may see the draft before the board approves it, which is another reason to keep drafts factual.
Some topics belong in a closed session. In California, Civil Code 4935 allows the board to meet in executive session to consider litigation, contracts with third parties, member discipline, personnel matters, and a member's request to discuss assessment payments. The matters discussed must be generally noted in the minutes of the next meeting open to the entire membership. A line such as "The board met in executive session on [date] to discuss pending litigation and a personnel matter" satisfies the principle without disclosing privileged detail. Keep separate executive session notes confidential and ask association counsel how to store them.
Sample only. This HOA meeting minutes template is a starting point, not legal advice. Requirements vary by state and by your bylaws; adapt it to your statute and have association counsel review it.
[Association name] Board of Directors, Regular Meeting Minutes
Replace each bracketed field.
Submitted by [Secretary name], Secretary. Approved by the board on [date].
Annual meetings are meetings of the members, not the board, so the record centers on member quorum and elections. A shorter format works.
Sample only. Check your bylaws for quorum, proxy and election rules, which vary by state.
Most of these are exactly what an HOA meeting minutes template is meant to prevent, and they are the gaps owners notice first when they read a year of sample HOA meeting minutes before buying.
Minutes show what the board did. Residents can tell you how it felt in the room, and you can ask them on Ask a Resident.
Minutes record actions, so only people who attend can tell you what the record leaves out.
Listings show the property, but they rarely explain the lived reality around it. On Leevli, a mover can explore the city, review neighborhood and building information, and ask a verified resident the specific questions that remain unanswered. That human layer helps readers know what to investigate before signing a lease, making an offer, or choosing between two addresses.
At minimum: the association name, meeting type, date, time and place; directors present and absent; a statement that quorum was present and notice was given; approval of prior minutes; reports received; the exact wording and result of every motion; a general note of owner comments and any executive session; and the adjournment time. In Florida, each director's vote or abstention must also appear.
The bylaws usually assign the job to the secretary, an officer elected by the board. In managed associations, the manager or a recording secretary often drafts the minutes, but the secretary and the board stay responsible for their accuracy and approve them. The president normally chairs the meeting and should not be the person keeping the record at the same time.
It depends on your state. California requires minutes, draft minutes or summary minutes of open board meetings to be available within 30 days of the meeting. Florida HOAs must produce official records, including minutes, within 10 business days of a written request, and Florida condos within 10 working days. Send your request in writing and keep proof of when it was delivered.
Florida HOAs must keep minutes for at least 7 years unless the documents require longer. Florida condominium associations must keep them permanently from inception. California makes minutes of member and board meetings subject to inspection permanently. Other states vary, so check your statute and bylaws, and when in doubt keep minutes permanently, since they document decisions that affect the property for decades.
In Florida, yes. Both the HOA statute and the condominium statute require a vote or abstention to be recorded for each director present. Other states may only require the result. Recording individual votes is still good practice for contested or financial decisions, because it shows who supported an action if a director's duty is ever questioned.
Usually not in full. California excludes executive session minutes from the association records owners can inspect, but requires the topics discussed to be generally noted in the minutes of the next open meeting. Other states handle closed sessions differently. Boards should keep closed-session notes separately and confidential, and owners can ask what topics were covered without getting privileged detail.
Board minutes record what the directors decided at a board meeting: contracts, budgets, enforcement and policies. Annual meeting minutes record a meeting of the members, so they focus on member quorum, proxies or ballots, election results and any member votes. An annual meeting template can be shorter, but it should still identify the meeting, show quorum, record certified election results and be signed.
Yes, but not by quietly editing the document. Under Robert's Rules, which many bylaws adopt, a correction to approved minutes requires a motion to amend something previously adopted, recorded in the minutes of the meeting where it passes. The secretary can add a note on the original pointing to the correction. Rewriting approved minutes without a vote is a common mistake that undermines the record.
A template is a format, not compliance. It works only if it captures what your state statute and bylaws require, such as individual director votes in Florida or executive session notes in California. Use a sample as a starting point, compare it with your statute and governing documents, and have association counsel review your standard format once rather than for every meeting.
Note that an owner comment period was held and list the topics raised, without quoting speakers or summarizing arguments. Minutes record what the board did, and verbatim comments invite disputes over accuracy and can expose the association to claims. If the board takes action on a comment, record that action as a motion with its result.
Editorial review: verify current federal and state law, insurance regulations, HOA and condominium statutes, and lender guidelines before relying on any single claim. This article is informational and does not constitute legal, financial, tax or insurance advice.
