Most board members, and even homeowners, have heard the word “quorum”. However, many don’t understand it or its importance for doing HOA business. In case you’re not familiar with the definition, a quorum is a minimum number of board members and residents in attendance at an HOA meeting. Unless the quorum is reached, meeting business cannot begin.  That means board member elections can’t happen at annual meetings and owner assessments are on hold until budget meetings reach quorum.  These meetings have to be rescheduled until quorum is reached, and often reaching quorum is harder with each subsequent meeting.

While the number required for quorum varies by community, almost all communities will struggle to reach quorum at some point.  Since business can’t take place without a quorum, an HOA board should consider the following tips to avoid the frustration of a hosting a meeting that’s dead in the water before it even started.

  1. Give your community proper notice of upcoming meetings. Your board can’t expect to reach quorum if you never notified owners or if you only give them a few days notice. Send out a newsletter, post reminders on your website, and/or set up a Facebook event/group. People are busy, and often times they need several reminders to make a HOA meeting.
  2. Make meetings quick, efficient and fun! Consider offering pizza and drinks or snacks. It’s amazing what an offer of free food can do for attendance! And remember, if your community shows up for a meeting and it drags on for hours and people are rude or aggressive, your next meeting’s attendance numbers will suffer.
  3. Most importantly, educate residents on the importance of reaching quorum and talk about the option of proxy for those who cannot make it. This allows owners to vote, count toward quorum, and be across the country at the same time! Proxies are a valuable tool for associations, so make sure to educate owners and use them whenever possible.

By being organized, communicating well with owners, and making things as straightforward as possible, your board is already one step closer to reaching quorum. If you are unsure how to reach quorum, or continue to have struggles, contact us at Spectrum! We’d be happy to help get your community back on track and reaching quorum!