Residential co-op, condo, and HOA board members volunteer to help manage day-to-day life in their building or community, allocating their time to actively participate in decisions that affect the place they call home. They oversee crucial areas like financial management and budgets, building maintenance, planning, and contracting, but at the end of the day, they are also your neighbors and fellow shareholders. 

Finding the right people to serve on a board requires residents to step up and get involved, which is why the election process is so important. Board elections provide all shareholders with the opportunity to nominate and elect candidates they believe will best serve the building, vote, and select the right people to represent the entire community. 

Engaging Residents

Wendy Levinson, vice president of a board in Riverdale, New York, says it’s important for people to understand they don’t need prior expertise to serve on a board. “A lot of it is common sense, and you learn as you’re on the board,” she says, “when I joined, it was because someone on the board asked me. I had asked a few thoughtful questions during previous board meetings, and they wanted someone engaged to join.” 

As for what makes an ideal board member, Levinson said the best boards have a diverse mix of people, from new residents to seasoned board members of different ages, professions, and community concerns. “It’s nice to have someone representing each group in the building,” she says, adding that “it’s important to have across-the-board representation. Ideally, board members bring different things to the table from their skill set to their interests.” Blending fresh ideas with institutional knowledge provides a well-grounded, well-rounded platform for decision-making. 

Getting that ideal mix can be challenging, however. This is because unless there’s an immediate concern or contentious issue facing a community, resident engagement in community administration is typically low. People are busy after all, and board service is a notoriously thankless task. However, Levinson notes that increases in insurance premiums, new local laws, expiring contracts, and mandatory upgrades of things like gas detectors have prompted more people to attend their annual meetings.“It really depends on what’s going on at the time,” she says. She recalls a meeting that occurred during Local Law 11 facade-related maintenance, where work was being done on the side of a building that faced a much-used playground. “The playground was going to have to be closed for safety,” Levinson says, “and everyone showed up to the meeting because they didn’t want the closure to happen during a school break. They had real concerns, so they reached out to the board by email and showed up to the meetings.” 

Levinson goes on to note that financial concerns also drive up participation. “We have seniors on fixed incomes in our 120-unit building, and we also have young families with a lot of expenses, so we try to keep maintenance increases to a minimum,” she says, adding that giving notice ahead of time, whether through monthly newsletters or management updates, helps keep everyone in the building informed.

Choosing the right-sized meeting venue also encourages participation and invites shareholders to get involved not only in the governance of the building, but also in its social aspects. “People are really looking for more social opportunities,” she says, “whenever we do a social gathering, it helps everyone get to know each other. Because I’m on the board, I know more people, but it also makes a difference when you provide that opportunity for them to get together.”

Boards Follow Governing Documents 

Beyond engagement, boards also need to make sure they’re following the rules and regulations outlined in their bylaws and governing documents for their particular building. “Board elections are required under the governing documents, and that’s a best practice for boards to ensure they’re complying. It’s also important because it’s equitable. You want everyone to have an opportunity to have a voice,” says Christina Forbes, Manhattan Condo/Co-op Division president at FirstService Residential property management.

According to Richard Brooks, a partner with Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks, a law firm located in Braintree, Massachusetts, “governing condominium documents require an election—not state law. It’s the democratic society we live in, so the unit owners get to decide who will run their organization. We refer to it as a mini-municipality. We all elect a governor and our city representatives. This is a smaller entity with similar functions—they gather money through taxes and provide services to a group. It’s similar to how a town operates, so all shareholders get to choose who will best run the place you live in.”

Elections are conducted through a ballot system, which in Massachusetts also allows for electronic voting. “Even though it’s allowable,  the best way to do it is in person so you can see everyone in person, shake the candidate’s hand, talk to them face to face,” he stresses.

Forbes adds that because board elections are required under the governing documents, it’s a best practice for boards to ensure they’re complying. “The bylaws of a co-op will dictate the outline and requirements of an annual meeting,” she says, “If this isn’t followed, shareholders can call for a special meeting.”

Meeting the Candidates 

Once a board has decided on an annual meeting date and determined whether the meeting will be held in person or virtually, it’s time to give notice to all shareholders. Forbes advises boards to send out a save the date notice. “This is the time to solicit candidates, indicate how many seats are open, and outline the board terms,” she suggests, “They should request a one-page biography of each candidate, which would be included with the notice of meeting.” 

As for who is eligible to serve, Brooks says the main thing is to make sure the candidate is a “natural” person: “We take this to mean a living being versus a corporation or trust.” Most governing documents require you to be a building owner or live at the property. “If it doesn’t say that, anyone who has a stake in the building is eligible to be on the board,” notes Brooks. 

Forbes suggests that if you’re interested in running for a board seat, you may want to attend a candidates’ night if it’s offered. Candidates will have an opportunity to answer specific questions. “For buildings that don’t hold a special night, during the meeting, the current board can allow candidates to speak for a brief few minutes,” she says, 

“to give shareholders a chance to learn about them.” 

The Voting Process

After nominating and meeting the candidates for election, it’s time for a vote—but that can only happen if a quorum is met. Forbes notes that if a quorum isn’t reached, it becomes an informational meeting, and the vote is adjourned to another date. “The management’s responsibility, unless there is an outside third-party company conducting the balloting, is to tally the proxies for quorum purposes and to compile which candidate is indicated,” she says. As long as a quorum is met, the vote can occur. 

Most places vote by secret ballot, says Brooks. “We don’t let the public look at the ballots because of privacy concerns. If the management company is handling the balloting and it’s contentious, sometimes they ask the attorneys to handle it.” The management company typically adds up the results and announces them. Brooks says, “In Massachusetts, almost all buildings vote based on the percentage interest in the condominium. If you have a bigger unit, you get a bigger say, but you also have to pay more in condo fees, so it all goes hand in hand.”

Forbes cautions that the election results can be a point of contention. “Sometimes people want to see exact numbers rather than who was elected to the board. You wouldn’t share how people voted, because that’s confidential and wouldn’t be disclosed,” she states. “We don’t share that information even with the board — they’re shareholders as well. We don’t want to give them information we wouldn’t share with the entire building.” 

“If anything is contested, it usually has to do with the budget, a big condo fee increase and people don’t feel money is being spent wisely,” adds Brooks, “Oftentimes, shareholders usually don’t have all of the information so they don’t fully understand the fee increases. We usually tell boards to call a special meeting to get more information out.” 

Being a board member means understanding it’s an investment, and they want to volunteer their time. “It’s not easy to find people. Not everyone wants to go to meetings, or has the time,” notes Brooks. Forbes agrees that getting residents to run for the board is a significant challenge, noting that over the years, as primary residency rules have relaxed and technology has improved, it has become increasingly difficult to recruit people to volunteer for boards. “We have board members who live all over the world. It’s more of a challenge—we’re all busier people nowadays,” she says. “There’s a perception of how a building is governed and getting on the other side of the table can be eye-opening.” 

Board elections enable all residents to use their voice—and their skills—to help improve their community. Following clear governing documents guarantees the building is well-managed and the shareholders are engaged, informed, and represented. 

Kate Mattiace is Associate Editor of New England Condominium.