Condo Association Management Blog

This topic has been addressed many, many times before. It is a no brainer and has nothing to do with state laws. Look up "Meetings' on the right side of the screen under "Topics." Unfortunately, there is no "Minutes" category. Chances are you also need to know how meetings are conducted.

The muinutes of all offcial meetings involving the Board of Directors represent the official record of actions taken. These minutes,should a law suit be oursued against the Board constitute the written evidence of what actions have transpired in the past. Unit owners memory as to what happened or who said what to whom would not be admitted as evidence by the court. So to answer your question. The minutes should acurately reflect any and all decisions taken at each meeting. There is no need to record conversations which took place by assembly members or the board members themselves. The minutes should not be untilized to make some comments a part of the permanent record. In many states there is in their state condo act provisions which define which subjects can only be discussed in a closed meeting. Usuall a restricted set of minutes of closed meetings are also required and those should be attached to the minutes of the next regualr meeting of the Board of Directors.  
 
Read your state's condominium act.

The answers from C Adler are on target. In addition, the minutes should indicate which directors were present, etc. Minutes should follow format of the agenda. In corporate records, our office always advises clients to maintain Agenda, Minutes, Attendance sheet of owners and visitors (Minutes contain Directors in Attendance. Also local association attorneys often have websites reflecting guidance. Minutes should be"draft" until next meeting and then corrected if necessary and then approved with any corrections reflected. 
Google "board minutes" and check out the suggestions there from Robert's Rules, etc. Very good guide for both minutes and agenda. Reminder: in many states minutes of incorporated associations permit a director to correct an item. Check out State law for incorporated entities.  
Insurance companies can defend action of board with consistent written record of actions. They can deny defense when minutes are not maintained. 
Best luck.

Webmaster, can you create a Minutes category under your list of topics and copy Charles and Nacy posts ?? They are very helpful and people could refer to this new category.

I would like to add a fact of life. Board meetings and Minutes will always be as good as your board members aptitude to do the volunteer job at hand. I have seen 1 page Minutes and 5 page Minutes, and everything in between. You can teach all the theory you want but that does not guarantee the outcome. There are plenty of books in libraries around the country that people can use as reference to improve their skills.

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR)has a Q & A Forum which I've been using for years (1st URL) 
 
 
 
Frequently asked Q & A 
 
(2nd URL) 
 
 
 
Save to FAVORITES as a valued resource. 
 
 
 
http://robertsrules.forumflash.com/ 
 
 
 
http://www.robertsrules.com/faq.html