I just got elected to a struggling HOA board

These are the rules most state HOA acts and most well-drafted Bylaws have in common. Your community’s specific rule may differ — the bylaw concierge surfaces the exact citation.

• Most Bylaws empower the board to adopt resolutions, hire a CPA for an audit or compilation, and engage counsel without an owner vote — within the operating budget.

• Most state HOA acts require the board to make records (minutes, financials, contracts, owner roster) available to current directors immediately upon request.

• The fiduciary duty applies to every director from the moment they take office — "I just got elected" is not a defence for inaction on a known problem.

• Reserve studies are required by statute in many states and are an industry standard everywhere — commissioning one is almost always within the board's existing authority.

1. 1

   Take inventory. Get the current Bylaws, Declaration, Rules, prior-year financials, current bank balances, vendor contracts, insurance policies, and any reserve study. Use the CC&R Health Check to spot governing-document gaps.

2. 2

   Identify what's on fire vs what's broken. Leaks, expired insurance, lapsed contracts, and unpaid lien-eligible delinquencies are on fire. Stale Bylaws, deferred minutes, and underfunded reserves are broken — work the on-fire list first.

3. 3

   Set a 12-month operating cadence. Fixed monthly meeting day, written agenda 7 days prior, draft minutes 7 days after. Predictability rebuilds engagement.

4. 4

   Re-establish records discipline. Move minutes, financials, contracts, and the owner roster into a shared, board-controlled folder. Document who can access what.

5. 5

   Commission a reserve study (if one isn't current) and a financial review or audit. Both are independent assessments that anchor the next year's budget.

6. 6

   Communicate. Send a quarterly written update to all owners: what the board did, what's coming, what the financials look like. Engagement follows information.

• Don't rewrite the Bylaws in your first quarter. Big-bang governance rewrites without owner buy-in fail at the membership-vote stage and burn political capital you'll need later.

• Avoid taking on personal liability. Confirm the association's D&O insurance is in force before signing anything as a director. If it isn't, that's the first board-meeting agenda item.

• Don't bypass the management company. If the prior board sidelined the manager, that's part of why records decayed. Either rebuild the working relationship or change vendors deliberately, not in pique.

These are general orientation only and are not legal advice. Specifics vary by state and by your governing documents — review with counsel before acting.

• CC&R Health Check

  Spot ADA gaps, unenforceable breed bans, and vague fine authority in your governing documents.

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• Instant Board Packet

  Agenda, action items, and snapshot — generated for any meeting.

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• Manager Comparison

  Side-by-side cost comparison vs. your current management company.

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• HOA Board Meeting Agenda Template

  Standing-meeting agenda template with placeholders for officer reports, manager updates, and old/new business.

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• HOA Meeting Minutes Template

  Minutes template with placeholders for attendance, motions, votes, and action items — the bare minimum to satisfy most state recordkeeping requirements.

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• HOA Welcome Letter Template (New Homeowner)

  First-touch letter to a new owner introducing the board, the community resources, and where to find the governing documents.

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Other scenarios

• The annual meeting didn't reach quorum
• An owner stopped paying assessments
• The HOA fined me for something I didn't do
• The HOA board won't respond to me