HOA
From Listings to Living
The email goes out on a Friday afternoon: "As HOA president, I have approved a new landscaping contract starting next month." Most of the community assumes that settles it. A few owners wonder whether one person can really do that, and nobody is sure where to check.
An HOA president is the officer who presides over board meetings, represents the association and signs the documents the board has authorized. In most associations the president is a director first, picked for the office by the other directors, and votes on board business like any other director. The title brings procedural authority. It does not bring personal control over the community's money or rules.
So the Friday email is probably wrong, or at least incomplete. Unless the bylaws or a board resolution delegated that specific decision, a contract approved by the president alone is a contract the board never approved, and owners are entitled to ask where the vote is recorded.
Leevli Editorial
The bylaws write the job description, and the statutes defer to them. Florida's nonprofit corporation law, which governs most Florida associations, says each officer has the authority and performs the duties set out in the bylaws or, consistent with the bylaws, the duties the board prescribes (Fla. Stat. § 617.0841). Other states' nonprofit codes follow the same pattern. The office is whatever your documents say it is.
Across most bylaws, the HOA president duties look like this:
Some bylaws make the president an ex officio member of every committee or let the president appoint committee chairs. Others are silent. Those differences are why the bylaws and the other governing documents come before any assumption about the role.
The president also carries every legal obligation of a director. In Florida, officers and directors of a homeowners association have a fiduciary relationship to the members they serve (Fla. Stat. § 720.303), which means acting in good faith, with reasonable care and in the association's interest rather than their own. The president is not held to a higher legal standard than other directors. The president's signature simply sits on more documents, so a mistake is easier to trace.
The duties the full board shares, from budgets and reserves to enforcement and insurance, are laid out in our guide to HOA board responsibilities, seat by seat. This article stays with the one chair at the head of the table.
The most common misreading of the job is that the president runs the association. Under most bylaws the board runs the association, and it does so by voting. The president holds one of those votes and runs the meeting where the vote happens.
Several states put that limit in statute. California's Davis-Stirling Act says the board shall not take action on any item of business outside a board meeting, and it bars boards from meeting by email except in an emergency with every director's written consent (Cal. Civ. Code § 4910). Florida's homeowners association statute lets directors exchange email but prohibits voting on association business by email. Texas allows a board to act outside a meeting when every director gets a chance to weigh in and vote, but it lists matters that need an open meeting noticed to owners, including fines, special assessments, borrowing money, the annual budget, filling a board vacancy and electing an officer (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.0051).
Notice the pattern. Even where action outside a meeting is allowed, it is action by the board, not by the president.
| Decision | Who usually decides | What the HOA president can do |
|---|---|---|
| Signing a contract the board approved | Board vote, then the president signs | Sign and send it, within the approved terms |
| Hiring or firing the management company | Board vote | Negotiate and recommend, then sign after the vote |
| Adopting or changing a rule | Board vote at a noticed meeting | Put it on the agenda and preside |
| Levying a fine | Board or a hearing committee, after whatever notice and hearing your state and documents require | Preside at the hearing if the bylaws assign it |
| Emergency repair (burst main, storm damage) | Whoever the bylaws or a standing resolution authorize | Act if authorized, then report to the full board |
| Amending the declaration | Owners, at the percentage the declaration sets | Nothing beyond any other owner's vote |
If the president is a director, the president votes. Many associations adopt Robert's Rules of Order as their default procedure, and Robert's says a president who is a member of the voting body has the same rights as every other member, including the right to make motions, debate and vote. In a small board, which Robert's describes as one with not more than about a dozen members present, the presiding officer may use those rights as fully as anyone else (Robert's Rules FAQ). There is no extra vote. A 2 to 2 split on a five-member board with one empty seat means the motion fails.
Owners often blur the two because both answer email and both show up at meetings. Legally they sit on opposite sides of a contract. The HOA president is a volunteer director elected by owners and appointed to the office by the board. The manager is a paid professional, or an employee of a management company, hired by the board under a management agreement.
| HOA president | Community manager | |
|---|---|---|
| Who puts them in the role | Owners elect the director; the board appoints the officer | The board, through a management contract |
| Paid? | Usually not; see the rules below | Yes, under the contract |
| Votes on association business | Yes, as a director | No |
| Day-to-day operations | Oversight only | Collections, vendor scheduling, records, owner requests |
| Who they answer to | The owners, at the next election | The board, under the contract terms |
A good manager will not take instructions from the president that the board has not approved, because the contract runs to the association, not to any one director. When the president and the manager disagree, the board settles it. If your community uses a management firm, our guide to what HOA management companies do and who they work for covers that relationship in depth.
In a self-managed association the line blurs in practice. The HOA president often ends up approving invoices, chasing vendors and answering every owner complaint personally. Most stories about a president who "acts like a king" begin in this setting, with an overworked volunteer taking shortcuts the bylaws never allowed.
In most associations, owners do not elect the president directly. They elect directors, and the directors choose the officers among themselves. Florida's nonprofit statute says officers are elected or appointed as the articles or bylaws provide and, if the documents are silent, by the board annually; it also allows one person to hold more than one office (Fla. Stat. § 617.0840). California's nonprofit mutual benefit law says officers are chosen by the board and serve at its pleasure (Cal. Corp. Code § 7213). A few associations have bylaws that let owners elect the president directly, so check yours.
The practical path looks like this:
Before you volunteer, read the minutes from the past year and ask the outgoing president how many hours a month the job takes. The honest answer varies a lot by community size and by whether there is a manager.
Usually not. Florida's condominium act provides that, unless the bylaws say otherwise, officers serve without compensation and at the pleasure of the board. Other states and documents take different approaches, and reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses is generally treated differently from pay. The full picture, including the tax and liability consequences of a stipend, is in whether HOA board members get paid.
Removal is two separate questions, and owners often mix them up.
Removing the person from the presidency. Because the board appoints officers, the board can usually replace them. California's statute says officers serve at the pleasure of the board, and Florida's condominium act says the same for condominium officers unless the bylaws provide otherwise. A board vote at a properly noticed meeting moves the gavel to someone else. The former president keeps the director seat.
Removing the person from the board. That belongs to the owners, through a recall. Florida's condominium act lets owners recall any director with or without cause by a majority of all the voting interests. Other states set their own thresholds and procedures, and the bylaws fill in the rest. A recall is slower and more political, so many communities start with the board vote.
If an HOA president signs a contract, hires a vendor or issues a fine without a board vote, the response that works is calm and documented.
You can pull the recorded declaration and amendments through Leevli's Deeds & Docs. The paperwork will not show how this president actually behaves between meetings. People who live there will, and Ask a Resident is the place to ask them.
Bylaws describe what a president may do, but only residents know how the person in the chair actually uses the role.
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.
Mostly coordination. The president sets agendas with the manager or secretary, chairs board and member meetings, signs contracts and checks the board has approved, and serves as the main contact for the manager, the attorney and large vendors. In a self-managed community the president often picks up operational tasks too, which is where informal power tends to grow beyond what the bylaws grant.
Only the ones the bylaws or a board resolution delegate, such as signing approved contracts or handling a defined emergency. California law bars the board from acting on any item of business outside a meeting, and Florida prohibits association votes by email. Texas allows some actions outside a meeting, but by the whole board, and it requires a noticed open meeting for items such as fines and budgets.
Procedural powers: running meetings, controlling the order of business, recognizing speakers and signing for the association once the board acts. Any further power has to be written into the bylaws or granted by board resolution. A president cannot change the declaration, raise assessments or adopt rules alone. Treat any claim of broader authority as something to verify against the documents and the minutes.
The president is a volunteer director who votes on association business and is accountable to owners at election time. The manager is a paid professional hired by the board under a management contract, runs daily operations and does not vote. When the two disagree, the board decides. A common mistake is asking the manager to overrule the president, which the manager has no authority to do.
In most associations owners elect directors at the annual meeting, and the directors then elect officers, usually at their first meeting afterward. Florida's nonprofit law has the board elect or appoint officers annually when the bylaws are silent, and California's law says the board chooses officers. Some bylaws let owners elect the president directly, so read your own before assuming either model applies.
Officer terms are set by the bylaws and commonly run one year, renewed when the board reorganizes after each annual election. Florida's default, if the documents say nothing, is annual election by the board. Because officers in many states serve at the pleasure of the board, a president can also be replaced mid-term by a board vote at a properly noticed meeting.
Generally no. The president votes as one director, and a tie means the motion fails. Under Robert's Rules, which many bylaws adopt as the default procedure, the presiding officer of a small board may speak and vote as fully as any other member. There is no second vote to settle a tie unless the bylaws expressly create one, which is unusual.
Yes, in two ways. The board can usually remove the person from the presidency by a vote, since officers serve at the board's pleasure in many states. Removing the person from the board itself takes an owner recall. In a Florida condominium, a director can be recalled with or without cause by a majority of all the voting interests. Other states set different thresholds.
Florida's training rules apply to directors, which every president is in practice. A newly elected Florida condominium director must complete an approved course of at least 4 hours within 1 year before or 90 days after taking the seat, plus 1 hour of continuing education every year. Florida homeowners association directors face their own certification requirement, so confirm which statute governs your community.
Ask in writing for the minutes or written consent authorizing it, then ask the other directors whether they voted. At the next board meeting, request that the board ratify or rescind the contract on the record. If the amount is large or this keeps happening, talk to an attorney who represents owners rather than relying on the association's own lawyer.
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.
