Q&A: Board meetings are the chance for owners to express grievances and directors should hear them out

QUESTION: Our homeowners association board constantly discusses issues at meetings that are not on the agenda or not included in the notice of meeting distributed to owners.

But if an owner who attends the meeting tries to speak about issues that are not on the agenda, the board just shuts them down saying, “We do not discuss matters that are not on the agenda; it’s illegal!” Worse, if an attendee asks a question to the board, the manager pops up and says, “The board doesn’t answer questions,” and, “Put it in writing and mail it.”

Owners have even been told to “shut up” while they are speaking. Surely this can’t be right?

ANSWER: The board meeting is not a prop for feigned compliance with the law. It is a mandated corporate event for carrying out the business of the association in the open where owners can attend.

It is understandable that association board meetings can be highly charged, but a certain level of civility should be maintained. It is not right to tell owners to “shut up” while they are speaking at a board meeting — even if they interrupt board members.

Sometimes owners have to wait 30, 60, 90 or more days for a board meeting to take place in order to speak with their directors, so some frustration is to be expected.

Aside from being rude, telling owners to shut up violates Civil Code sections 4925 and 5000, which mandate that boards permit members to speak at meetings for a reasonable period of time, though the board is not required to answer questions or comment.

The agenda is critical because it relays to owners the date, time and place where the meeting will be held, as well as documenting the subjects to be discussed. In other words, the agenda and the “open meeting” have to be purposeful.

If the meeting is a non-emergency, the board may not discuss or take action on any item unless the item was placed on the agenda and distributed to all owners beforehand, according to Civil Code section 4930. That limitation on meeting content exists because otherwise titleholders are left in the dark on the meeting’s purpose.

However, there is nothing in the code section that prohibits an owner or resident who is not a director from speaking about issues not on the agenda. In fact, under this same statute, directors, if they wish, can briefly respond to statements made or questions posed by any person who speaks at a meeting. Directors can even interact with attendees by making comments or asking questions for clarification.

As for the manager’s role at the meeting, they do not even have a legal right to attend a board meeting, let alone speak unless requested by the board. Certainly, no manager has a right to attack homeowners or interfere with an owner’s right to address the board during open forum — and that’s the law.

There are few exceptions to meeting ground rules laid out in Civil Code section 4930, but by the board’s majority vote during a meeting, it can determine that an emergency situation exists. An emergency situation is defined as a circumstance that could not have been reasonably foreseen by the board, that requires immediate attention and possible action by the board and that, of necessity, makes it impracticable to provide notice.

Boards also can take action on items that appeared on a prior meeting agenda as long as that prior meeting was held within 30 days and the board at the time moved to continue action to the next meeting. The board needs to identify the continued item to those in attendance at the next meeting and give owners the right to speak about it.

Zachary Levine, a partner at Wolk & Levine, a business and intellectual property law firm, co-wrote this column. Vanitzian is an arbitrator and mediator. Send questions to Donie Vanitzian, JD, P.O. Box 10490, Marina del Rey, CA 90295 or noexit@mindspring.com