Giving HOA community members a voice takes two things: clear, easy ways for owners to tell the board what they think, and a board that shows it listened. Surveys, an open forum at meetings, committees and a monitored inbox all work, as long as someone follows up.
Without that follow-up, it can seem like the only time an association listens is when owners are upset and ready to revolt. It is easy for a board to say, “They can talk to us any time,” but there is often a gap between what the board says and how the community feels. Offering a line of communication and then failing to respond is worse than offering none. This article covers the channels that work and the habits that make owners believe the board is listening.
Set Up a System and Close the Loop
Start with a simple process that every owner can find and every board member follows:
- Give owners one clear place to send concerns, such as an email address used only for community issues or a form on the association’s website, plus a paper option.
- Assign one or two board members, or your manager, to monitor it and keep a running list of what comes in.
- Acknowledge each message within a few days, even if the full answer will take longer.
- Put items that need a board decision on the agenda for the next meeting.
- After the meeting, tell the owner what the board decided and why.
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The last step is the one boards skip, and it is the one owners remember. Each answer that comes back adds to the trust owners place in the board, which is the subject of our article on goodwill in an HOA community.
Establish Boundaries
Setting boundaries may seem to work against the goal, but board members are volunteers, and boundaries keep the work professional and sustainable. The last thing you want is one issue consuming weeks of your time and crowding out everything else. The board is elected to run the association for the whole community, and it cannot do that if it is answering the same complaint every evening.
Be direct and honest about what the board can do and when. Tell owners how to reach the board, how quickly to expect a reply, and which matters will wait for a meeting. Ask that association business go through the official channel and not to a board member’s personal phone or front door. Then say just as plainly that you respect their opinions and welcome their suggestions. Owners accept limits far more easily when they know their input is wanted.
Communicate Openly
The more you tell homeowners, the better and more honest the feedback you get back. Silence breeds resentment. At the core, people want to be heard. An owner who has had a fair chance to object to a decision, and who heard the board’s reasons, is far more likely to accept the outcome than one who learned about it from a notice on the door.
Different people communicate in different ways, so use more than one channel: email, a printed newsletter, a notice board, the association’s website. A community social media page or group can work well too. Owners can check it when it suits them and comment on news and event reminders. If you use one, keep these points in mind:
- Someone has to moderate it. Post simple ground rules and apply them evenly.
- Reply to comments, so owners can see that someone is reading them.
- Do not discuss an individual owner’s violation, account or dispute in public. Move those conversations to a private channel.
- Social media does not replace official notice. Meeting notices and other required communications still have to be delivered the way your governing documents and state law require.
Use Surveys Properly
Surveys give quieter owners a voice, including the many who will never speak at a meeting. Use them sparingly. Once or twice a year is enough for most communities, and no more than quarterly. People stop answering if you ask too often or if nothing ever comes of their answers.
Several free online survey tools make it easy to build a short questionnaire and email it to owners. Offer a printed version as well, so everyone can respond in a way they are comfortable with. Letting people answer anonymously usually gets you more candid feedback.
Ask about priorities and preferences. A good survey question might be: “Which do you feel is most important to improving our community: a larger clubhouse, a new playground, or more lighting in the common areas?” That tells you what most homeowners want.
Do not ask owners whether a needed repair should be done or which contractor to hire. Those decisions are the board’s responsibility. Value owners’ ideas, but remember that the board has the duty to make the final decision on behalf of the community.
Two more points. Tell owners up front that a survey is advisory and is not a vote. Elections, amendments to the governing documents and other matters that require owner approval have their own formal voting procedures. And publish the results, along with what the board plans to do about them.
Giving HOA Community Members a Voice at Open Meetings
Regular board meetings should be open to the association’s members. That does not mean the board can never meet privately. State open-meeting laws and governing documents typically allow a closed or executive session for a short list of sensitive subjects, such as legal matters, personnel issues and contract negotiations. Everything else belongs in the open, where owners can watch the board work, ask questions and give their opinions. California spells out these duties in statute, and we summarize them near the end of this article.
Prepare an agenda for every meeting and send it to all owners in advance. If they know you will be discussing next year’s plans for the new pool and they have questions, they can arrange to attend. Our article on how to get community members to HOA meetings has more ideas for raising turnout.
Set aside time at each meeting for an open forum. Fifteen minutes with a time limit per speaker works for many communities. Some boards hold the forum at the start, so owners can comment before the board votes instead of after. If someone has a question that cannot be answered quickly, arrange for a board member to follow up later. You might also offer “office hours,” a regular window when owners can drop by or call to talk through a concern. For the mechanics of agendas, minutes and executive sessions, see our article on board meetings and how they break down.
Have a Community Liaison
Designating one board member as a liaison, or point of contact, makes it easier for owners to speak up. They do not have to work out which board member to call about which topic. Make sure the liaison can either answer the question or pass it to the right person, and that the owner hears back either way. In a managed community, the manager often fills this role day to day, with a board member as the backup.
Bring Community Members Together
Owners who have never met a board member find it hard to believe the board hears them. Neighborhood events, with board members attending, help. An evening mixer, a family picnic in the summer or a holiday party in the community center lets owners get to know the board outside its official duties, and people speak more freely to someone they know.
Consider a “Welcome to the Neighborhood” night twice a year so the board and residents can meet new homeowners in an informal setting. Our article on building community in your HOA has more on events and welcoming new residents.
Recruit Community Members for Committees
Committee work gives owners a voice and a hand in the result. When the board does everything itself, owners feel out of the loop, and the less they feel heard, the less they contribute. Whenever a project can be handed to others, recruit homeowners for it. Planning the next community event or recommending a color palette for the common areas are good places to start.
Choose different people for different committees so you hear from as many owners as possible, and be clear about whether a committee decides or recommends. Our article on how to set up and run committees covers charters, membership and reporting back to the board.
Recognize Their Voice
The board cannot put every suggestion into action, but it can recognize each one.
- Thank each owner who offers a suggestion, with a short note or an email.
- Publish survey results in the newsletter and on your online channels.
- When you act on a suggestion, give credit to the person who raised it, with their permission.
- When the answer is no, explain why.
Owners who see their input acknowledged keep offering it, and owners who keep offering it are the ones who later volunteer, vote and run for the board.
In California: Open Meeting Rules
California’s Davis-Stirling Act makes several of these practices mandatory for common interest developments:
- Members may attend and speak. Any member may attend board meetings, except executive sessions, and the board must permit any member to speak at any meeting of the association or the board, except executive sessions. The board sets a reasonable time limit for member comments (Civil Code section 4925).
- Notice and agenda. The association generally must give notice of the time and place of a board meeting at least four days before the meeting, or at least two days before a nonemergency meeting held solely in executive session, and the notice must contain the agenda. Governing documents may require a longer notice period (Civil Code section 4920).
- Items not on the agenda. With limited exceptions, such as emergencies, the board may not discuss or act on an item that was not on the agenda. Owners may still speak about it, and directors may briefly respond, ask a clarifying question or have the matter placed on a future agenda (Civil Code section 4930).
- Executive session. The board may meet in executive session to consider litigation, matters relating to the formation of contracts with third parties, member discipline, personnel matters, or to meet with a member, at the member’s request, about the member’s payment of assessments. Anything considered in executive session must be generally noted in the minutes of the next open meeting (Civil Code section 4935).
For more on daily life in a community association, see our section on living in an HOA.
The Law Behind This Article
Every legal point in this article comes from the official text. Each link below opens it in a new tab.
Civil Code sections: 4920 · 4925 · 4930 · 4935
This article is general educational information, not legal advice. Laws vary by state and your association’s governing documents control many of these questions, so check with your association’s attorney or another qualified professional about your situation.