Board Meeting Checklist: Noticing, Running and Recording a Meeting That Holds Up

Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA
Founder & Managing Shareholder

• Checklist
• Published September 26, 2026
• Reviewed by Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA, September 26, 2026
• Florida Statutes as of July 1, 2026
• Applies to: Condominiums · HOAs · Cooperatives

Most board decisions that get unwound are not unwound because the board decided the wrong thing. They are unwound because the meeting was not noticed correctly, the agenda did not say what was going to happen, or the minutes do not show what the board actually did. This checklist covers one meeting from the notice deadline through the minutes.

Work through it in order. The citation under an item tells you where the requirement comes from, so a manager can check it against your own declaration and bylaws, which may be stricter than the statute. Items marked for one chapter only are labeled.

Before the notice goes out

• Confirm which kind of meeting this is — regular board, special board, committee, or members' meeting. The notice rules are different for each.A committee that takes final action or makes a budget recommendation follows the board meeting rules.
• Check the declaration and bylaws for a longer notice period or an additional method of delivery than the statute requires.The documents can be stricter than the statute. They cannot be looser.
• Identify anything on the agenda that triggers a longer notice period.Special assessments and rules regarding unit or parcel use: 14 days. § 718.112(2)(c); § 720.303(2)(c); § 719.106(1)(c)
• For a condominium special assessment, confirm the notice will state the estimated cost and a description of the purpose.§ 718.112(2)(c)3.
• Confirm the posting location is the one the association has designated, and that it is conspicuous on the property.48 hours' continuous posted notice for a board meeting
• Confirm which owners have consented to electronic notice, and that the consent is in the form the chapter requires.HOA consent must be in writing — § 720.303(2)(c). The condominium and cooperative provisions require consent but do not say it must be written.
• If the meeting will be held by video conference, confirm the notice carries the access link, a dial-in number and the physical location where owners may attend.Verify the current subsection with counsel before relying on the video-conference provisions; the numbering is contested.

The agenda

• Write the agenda specifically enough that an owner reading it knows what the board will decide."Old business" and "new business" are not notice of anything.
• List every item on which the board intends to vote.A decision on an item that was not on the agenda is the single most common notice defect.
• Include an opportunity for owners to speak on designated agenda items.Owners have a statutory right to speak on designated items, subject to reasonable rules
• Mark any item the board intends to take up in a closed session, and the ground for closing it.Closed sessions are limited to attorney-client discussion of proposed or pending litigation and to personnel matters.
• Attach or reference the documents the board will be asked to approve, so directors are not seeing a contract for the first time at the table.

Assembling the packet

• Financial statements and the current delinquency report.
• Any contract or proposal to be voted on, in final form, with the certificates of insurance.
• Bid documentation where the expenditure crosses the competitive-bid threshold.Condominium and cooperative 5% of the total annual budget including reserves; HOA 10%. § 718.3026(1); § 719.3026(1); § 720.3055(1)
• Any conflict-of-interest disclosure that must be listed on the agenda and attached to the minutes.§ 718.3027; § 720.3033(2); § 617.0832
• Counsel's memorandum, if any, marked privileged and circulated only to directors.Forwarding it to an owner, or discussing it in an open session, can waive the privilege for everyone.
• The minutes of the last meeting, for approval.

At the meeting

• Confirm a quorum of the board and record who is present and how.A director appearing by telephone or real-time video counts toward the quorum and may vote; confirm the current subsection before citing it.
• Note the time the meeting was called to order.
• Confirm the notice was posted and mailed as required, and record that confirmation.This one line in the minutes is what answers a challenge two years later.
• Take items in the order noticed, or state on the record why an item is being moved.
• If an emergency item must be added, confirm the vote threshold and note that it will be ratified at the next regular meeting.Majority plus one under § 718.112(2)(c)1. and § 719.106(1)(c). Chapter 720 has no equivalent provision.
• Allow owner comment on designated items before the vote, not after it.
• For each motion, record the mover, the second, and the vote of each director including abstentions.Each director's vote or abstention must be recorded
• Where a director has a conflict, record the disclosure, the recusal and the vote of the disinterested directors.
• Close the session properly if going into a closed meeting, state the ground, and note who remained.
• Note the time of adjournment.

After the meeting

• Draft the minutes within a few days while the meeting is fresh.Minutes record what was decided, not what was said. Do not summarize debate.
• Keep the notice, the posting photograph or affidavit, the agenda and the sign-in sheet with the minutes.
• File the minutes as an official record and retain them for the period your chapter requires.§ 718.111(12); § 719.104(2); § 720.303(4)
• Post the approved minutes to the association website or app if your association is required to maintain one.Condominiums with 25 or more units, § 718.111(12)(g); HOAs with 100 or more parcels, § 720.303(4)(b). Chapter 719 has no posting requirement.
• Calendar anything the board deferred, so it appears on a later agenda rather than disappearing.
• Send counsel any item the board decided to refer, with the relevant packet material.

The ten-second test before you adjourn

• Was every decision we made on the agenda we noticed?
• Does the record show the notice was given?
• Does the record show each director's vote?
• Did anyone with a conflict vote on it?
• Is there anything we decided that needed an owner vote instead?

Contact Hamilton Mikes

Hamilton Mikes advises Southwest Florida boards and managers on meeting procedure, agendas and the records that support a board decision, and reviews governance policies against the current statutes. Call 239-594-7227 or visit our Corporate Governance page.