The creation of an HOA board resolution is one of the primary methods for revising documents that establish policies and rules. And addressing the issue is a formal record of a board decision.
Still, HOA board resolutions should also comply with federal and state law, provide details, and should be constantly enforced.
What is an HOA Board Resolution?
HOA board resolutions are formal statements concerning the association’s policies. An HOA board resolution covers the following:
- The basis of the board’s right to make the resolution.
- The reason for the resolution.
- Sufficient details to understand the purpose and the context of the resolution.
- Scope of the resolution.
What Are The Types of HOA Board Resolutions?
1. Policy or Interpretive HOA Board Resolution?
Policy resolutions are those that affect the rights and obligations of the community members. It includes rules that are concerning the use of amenities and facilities, guidelines for the enforcement procedures, and lastly the appearance or framework of a property or home.
In particular, the boards generally use this type of resolution to have clarification on unclear provisions in the governing documents. In situations where the documents don’t give you enough information to make your board decision, it’s important to make policy resolutions.
2. Administrative or Procedural HOA BOARD
Administrative resolutions are those that have to do with internal processes. It can be in the form of proper procedures for the following:
- board meetings
- elections
- architectural change applications
And the board and members must strictly and constantly obey these procedures.
3. Special or Rule HOA Board Resolution
Special resolutions are those that are concerned with a specific situation. Overall, boards use this rule if they need to add a rule that doesn’t exist in the HOA.
In addition, the board can decide to create new rules to revise the existing ones. And always bear in mind that these special resolutions must be following the CC&Rs, bylaws, and state laws. Therefore must be rational and within the scope of the board’s authority.
How to Create an HOA Board Resolutions?
1. Refer to the law
Indeed, the most important thing you can do when you write an HOA resolution is to check federal and state laws first. But, keep in mind that the law takes precedence over everything else.
The resolutions can also be useful in a court of law. However, if you approve a resolution that is against the law, it will be void and cannot be enforced. And worst, you may be liable for approving it.
Before drafting a resolution, be sure that you check the law and any conflicting provisions.
2. Ensure authority
After checking the law, next would be the HOA governing documents. First, ensure that your documents will authorize your board to create new resolutions, or all of the efforts will be gone for nothing.
Next, when drafting the resolution make sure that you will reference the section of your bylaws or CC&Rs that will give the authority to approve the resolution. So, there will be no one that will question the power of the board.
3. Do research
The HOA board should talk about the resolution in detail. Ask specific questions, like:
- Why are you proposing the resolution?
- How will you implement the resolution?
- What are other details that should be addressed?
It is vital to get everyone on board coming from the same direction and act as one. So that, things should turn out positive and there’s no obscurity left unresolved.
4. Involve the whole board
There must be an involvement of the whole board in the decision-making and creation of the resolution. And everyone will feel that their opinions are valued at the same time you can have different perspectives when drafting the document.
5. Draft the resolution
After going through the details, next would be writing down the resolution. In fact, you should follow a standard format when writing a resolution since it’s a formal statement. However, adopting the format from the previous board is advantageous so that there is uniformity.
HOA board resolution must include:
- Specific sections of bylaws that authorize the creation of resolution.
- Reason for proposing the resolution
- Specific details of the resolution.
- Board plan to enforce the new resolution.
6. Obtain feedback
Generally, resolutions do not require the vote of the HOA member to pass. However, it doesn’t mean that the board can take advantage and do whatever they want regardless of the community.
After drafting the resolution, you must send a copy to the HOA members. And allow them to check and read the resolution and give feedback because their opinions and feedback are important.
Following, if there are questions, you must answer them. In case, that the resolution is not clear to them and has cliche terms, you must edit and clarify them.
When obtaining feedback from the member, you must remember that you don’t have to follow all of them. And bear in mind that the board’s administrative duty is to make decisions that have the best interest of the community, and not the individual member’s interests.
7. Vote on the resolution
Succeeding the drafting of the resolution, you will have to take an official vote at the board meeting to formally start the resolution. However, you have to reach the majority to confirm the meeting and come up with a resolution. And without the majority, the official vote can’t happen and the resolution can’t be passed.
8. Notify the members
After bringing to an end the final resolution, the board must let all the members know about it. However, HOA members can’t follow the new resolution if they are not aware that it exists.
Thus, if there’s a change or addition the board must notify the members. And make some copies and send them to all the HOA members. Moreover, you can also use social media or email as an alternative.
9. Consistently enforce the resolution
If everything is in place, it’s now the right time to enforce the resolution. And enforcing a resolution is a continuous step and must be taken seriously by the HOA members. And on the part of the board, they must enforce them in a consistent and equal manner. Avoid selective enforcement, because it can get the whole board into a lot of problems.
The Bottomline
HOA resolutions are one of the best ways to make the governing documents of the HOA work better. As a result, they help the community’s rules and procedures be more formal and clear. Furthermore, they must agree with the CC&Rs and bylaws in order for the HOA to run smoothly.
Also, when the board notices that a new rule or change needs to be made, HOA board resolutions can be very useful.
And as a board, you also need to know how to write resolutions correctly. Therefore, make sure you know about the different types of HOA resolutions and follow the correct steps when making one. In that case, always check with the rules and the law in your state to make sure you don’t get into trouble.
Moreover, following the steps are also useful for board members in knowing if the resolution is essential to continue the process.
And most importantly everyone should be involved because all the HOA members will be affected by these resolutions. Therefore, resolutions must be created correctly and carefully, considering the details and enforcement.
