Scott Brady is co-owner and principal of Progressive Association Management, a CACM-member HOA management company serving 228 communities and nearly 15,000 homeowners throughout Southern California. Since founding the association management division in 2020, Scott has grown the company into the fastest organically growing association management firm in California by limiting manager workloads, providing full back-office support, and holding every team member accountable to documented daily service standards. |
Serving on a homeowner association board can be genuinely rewarding, both personally and for your community. Making smart decisions alongside fellow board members can preserve and even increase property values, which benefits every owner in the association. That is a noble calling. But it isn’t always easy, and before you run for office, it helps to understand what the role actually requires.
What It Takes to Be an Effective Board Member
Here are five key attributes that can make your experience on the board a positive one.
Time
To be an effective board member, you have to dedicate real time to the role. For a community with 50 to 200 owners, that should be a manageable commitment of about 2 to 4 hours a month. A good board member is a prepared one. That means reviewing the agenda, reading the board packet prepared by the management company, and taking notes ahead of the meeting. Coming in with questions, or better yet, submitting them before the meeting, leads to more productive discussions for everyone.
Talent
Every board member brings a different skill set and personal perspective to the table. Whether it is your professional background, your history in the community, experience on other boards, or simply your relationship with your neighbors, you have something valuable to contribute. You are both a board member and an owner, which means you interact with other residents regularly and can listen and respond to their concerns. Your constituents are the other owners, and they are counting on you to make decisions in the best interest of the community.
Receptiveness to Learning
Unless you have years of board experience or a background in association management, there will be a learning curve. The fiduciary duty of an HOA board member is a legally and ethically binding obligation to act in the best interest of the entire community, prioritizing the association’s well-being above personal gain. This responsibility breaks down into three core pillars: a duty of loyalty, a duty of care, and a duty of obedience to the corporation.
You don’t need to be an expert in the Davis-Stirling statutes, but you do need to understand and follow them. It is also important to understand that board meetings exist for the board to make decisions, not as an open forum. Owners have the right to speak briefly, usually at the start of the meeting, and to listen to deliberations, but they do not have the right to argue every agenda item with the board.
Trust, but Verify
As a board member, you will work with a team of professionals hired to help run the community. This typically includes a management company, an attorney, an insurance broker, a reserve study specialist, and a CPA. You should rely on their expertise and resist the urge to micromanage. If you are not satisfied with the quality of their service, you have the right to find someone better. But trusting your service providers does not mean putting things on cruise control. You should verify their work, and most importantly, review the monthly financials and look closely at any large deviations from expected expenses.
The Business Judgment Rule holds that you don’t always have to make the perfect decision, just the best decision a reasonable person would make with the information available. Always aim to get the best information you can.
Patience
In any community, large or small, you will encounter difficult owners and occasionally difficult board members. If research suggests that over 23% of adults experience some form of mental or emotional challenge at any given time, the odds are that someone in your community is dealing with personal, financial, or emotional difficulties. They may not always be reasonable, and they may take their frustrations out on you.
Patience is essential. You cannot control what people think or say about you, but you can control how you respond. Some neighbors simply do not get along, and they may expect the board to solve problems that are ultimately theirs to resolve. Not every dispute has a board-level solution, and knowing when to step back is part of the role.
The Bottom Line
Serving on an HOA board is not always easy, but for those willing to put in the time and effort, it can be a genuinely gratifying experience. Knowing that your decisions are helping fellow owners enjoy their community and protect the value of their homes makes the work worthwhile. Have questions about what effective association management looks like? We’re here to help.
