NO MATTER WHAT YOU CALL IT – IT’S A BOARD MEETING

By Jan Bergemann

Published March 26, 2021

 

Over the years I have seen many association boards trying to circumvent the requirements of holding a board meeting. Giving a board meeting a different name doesn’t change anything – it’s still a board meeting.

 

Remember: You can call a dog a cat, it’s still a dog.

 

Even so-called “specialized” attorneys are often in cahoots with the board trying to hold “secret” board meetings.

 

This is the fact – and it’s easy to remember: As soon as a quorum of board members is participating in discussing association business, it’s a BOARD MEETING.

 

It requires an official, minimum 48 hours, notice. And it requires that official minutes of this meeting are being kept. Contrary to common belief this goes as well for so-called “closed” meetings, “meetings between the board and its attorney with respect to proposed or pending litigation where the contents of the discussion would otherwise be governed by the attorney-client privilege”.

 

Even committee meetings turn into board meetings, if board members appointed themselves to these committees in numbers that creates a quorum of the board. Actually, it anyway doesn’t make a lot of sense to have board members sitting on committees. Committees should report to the board. Remember: Committee members are serving at the pleasure of the board – with other words: They would be reporting to themselves?

 

The latest hype among board members: Holding a “WORKSHOP-MEETING” by Zoom, without giving any owners the access code to the Zoom meeting. Oh, by the way: The CAM was allowed to attend!

 

The rule of thumb: A board meeting is a BOARD MEETING, no matter what fancy name is being used to disguise it.


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Jan Bergemann Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice, Florida 's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group. CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in community  

associations. He moved to Florida in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues for his own purposes. End of retirement!

 

CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in Tallahassee - finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.

 

The organization has two websites to inform interested Florida homeowners and condo owners:

News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.

Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.

   
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all service providers surely have a different interest! We are trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking in Florida !


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