HOA Board Meeting Opening Statement Script

Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA
Founder & Managing Shareholder

Script
Published October 3, 2026
Reviewed by Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA, October 3, 2026
Florida Statutes as of July 1, 2026
Applies to: Condominiums · HOAs · Cooperatives
Written for: Community association managers and board members

A board chair who opens a contentious meeting the same calm way every time sets the tone for everyone. Read this script aloud, adapted to your association's written speaking rules. Florida condominium, HOA and cooperative owners have a statutory right to speak on designated agenda items and to record board meetings (§ 718.112(2)(c); § 720.303(2)(b); § 720.306(10); § 719.106(1)(c), Fla. Stat.). The script explains the board's written rules for exercising those rights; it doesn't limit them.

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Opening statement

Good evening. I'm [name], president of the [association]. Thank you
all for coming. I know tonight's agenda includes [topic], and I know
many of you have strong feelings about it. The board wants to hear
from you.
So that everyone gets a fair turn, here is how owner comments will
work tonight, under the rules the board adopted on [date]:
- Owners may speak on each item on the agenda. If you'd like to speak,
  please sign the sheet at the door [or raise your hand when I call
  for owner comments on that item].
- Each owner may speak for up to [3] minutes per item. [Name] will
  keep time and will let you know when you have 30 seconds left.
- Please address your comments to the board, one speaker at a time,
  and please keep comments about issues, not individuals.
- The board will listen to all comments before it discusses and votes.
  Directors may not answer every question tonight. Questions we can't
  answer tonight will be answered in writing by [date].
This meeting is being recorded [by the association], and owners may
record it as well [condominiums: using equipment that doesn't make
distracting sound or light, from (location)].
If the discussion gets too heated to continue productively, I may call
a short recess so we can all take a breath. Thank you for helping us
keep this meeting respectful.

If a speaker goes over time

Thank you, [name]. Your time is up. If you have more to add, please
send it in writing to [address] and the board will consider it.

If a speaker interrupts or won't yield

[Name], I want you to be heard, and you will be when we reach owner
comments on that item [or: your time on this item has ended]. I'm
asking you once to please let the meeting continue.

Calling a recess

I think we could all use a short break. The board will recess for
[10] minutes and resume at [time]. Thank you.

Closing

Thank you all for coming and for your comments. Questions that weren't
answered tonight will be answered in writing by [date], and the
minutes will be available [where]. The next board meeting is [date].

Notes for the chair

Use only rules the board has adopted in writing. If the association has no written speaking rules, don't announce a time limit. See our sample owner speaking rules resolution.
Apply the rules the same way to every speaker, including owners who agree with the board.
Listen fully. Face the speaker, put the phone down, and avoid visible reactions.
Don't debate each speaker. Thank them and move on: "Thank you; the board has heard your concern."
Removing someone or calling law enforcement is a judgment call for the chair, ideally made with counsel's advice in advance. Call 911 if anyone is in danger. See a disruptive owner at a board meeting.

Talk to association counsel

If you expect a meeting to be contentious, a short call with counsel beforehand about the rules and the chair's options is worth it. Call Hamilton Mikes, P.A. at 239-594-7227 or reach us through our contact page.

Statutes and authorities referenced

§ 718.112(2)(c), Fla. Stat. (condominium owners' right to speak on designated agenda items; reasonable written rules; recording)
§ 720.303(2)(b), Fla. Stat. (HOA members' right to speak on designated agenda items; reasonable written rules)
§ 720.306(10), Fla. Stat. (HOA parcel owners may record meetings)
§ 719.106(1)(c), Fla. Stat. (cooperative owners' right to speak on designated agenda items; recording)

About this article. This article is published by Hamilton Mikes, P.A. for general educational purposes. It is not legal advice, it is not a legal opinion, and it is not a substitute for advice from a lawyer who has reviewed your association's governing documents and the facts of your situation. Reading it, downloading it, or corresponding with the firm about it does not create an attorney-client relationship. No such relationship arises until the firm and the client have signed a written engagement agreement. Please do not send confidential or time-sensitive information to the firm until a conflicts check has been completed and an engagement is confirmed in writing; information sent before that point may not be treated as privileged.

Scope and currency. This article addresses Florida law as applied to Florida community associations, and the firm is licensed to practice in Florida only. Nothing here should be taken as a statement of the law of any other jurisdiction. Florida's community association statutes have been amended in every regular session since 2021, and subsection numbering has moved more than once in that period. Each article states the edition of the Florida Statutes it was written against. The law may have changed after that date, an appellate court may have construed a provision differently, and an administrative rule or a local ordinance may impose requirements this article does not address.

Your governing documents control. Much of what governs a Florida association is not in the statutes at all. Declarations, articles of incorporation, bylaws, rules, plats and recorded amendments differ from community to community, and on many questions they set the rule while the statute sets only a floor or a default. A procedure that is correct in one association may be a breach of the documents in the association next door. No general article can tell you which is which for your community.

Why general information is not advice. Legal questions are resolved by applying the law to particular facts as a judge, jury, arbitrator or hearing officer finds them. An outcome that appears clear in the abstract frequently turns on the documents, the chronology, the board's own prior conduct, and the procedural posture, none of which an article can anticipate. A lawyer supplies what information cannot: the judgment to identify which facts matter, the experience to know how a court or the Division is likely to treat them, the ability to choose among the courses of action actually available, and the advocacy to carry the association's position through negotiation, hearing or trial.

For community association managers. A community association manager may not give legal advice to the association. When a question requires interpreting a statute or the governing documents, the board should consult association counsel.

The standard of care, and the protection the statute attaches to counsel. A director of a Florida community association is held to the standard in section 617.0830, Florida Statutes: to act in good faith, in a manner the director reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the corporation, and to discharge the duties of the office with the care an ordinary prudent person in a like position would reasonably believe appropriate under similar circumstances. That standard is measured against the decision the board actually faced, on the record actually before it. The same statute supplies the protection that goes with the duty. Under section 617.0830(4) and (5)(b), a director who has no knowledge making reliance unwarranted is entitled to rely on information, opinions, reports and statements prepared or presented by legal counsel retained by the association as to matters the director reasonably believes are within counsel's professional competence. The Legislature has written the prudent course into the statute. A board that obtains advice on its own documents and its own facts, and acts on that advice, is standing on ground the statute expressly protects. Nothing on this website confers that protection. General information, however carefully prepared, is not advice on your declaration, your amendments, your board's history or your dispute, and a director who relies on it in place of counsel forgoes a statutory protection that was available for the asking.

Personal exposure is real. Service on an association board is usually uncompensated, but volunteer status is not itself immunity. Under section 617.0834, Florida Statutes, a director or an officer is not personally liable in monetary damages for a statement, vote, decision, or failure to act in that role unless two things are both true: the director or officer breached or failed to perform the duties of the office, and that breach was a violation of the criminal law, a transaction from which the director or officer derived an improper personal benefit, conscious disregard or willful misconduct in a proceeding brought by or in the right of the corporation, or recklessness or bad faith in a proceeding brought by anyone else. That protection turns on how the director acted, not on whether the director was paid. Chapters 718, 719 and 720 add consequences of their own, including removal from office, civil penalties assessed against the individual for certain willful and knowing violations, and in defined circumstances criminal liability. Whether any of that reaches a particular director depends entirely on the facts and on the director's conduct. The practical point is narrower and more useful: the decisions that generate this exposure — levying an assessment, enforcing a covenant, denying a transfer, withholding a record, entering a unit, terminating a contract, signing for construction work — are precisely the decisions on which general information is least adequate, and on which counsel costs least relative to what is at stake.

No guarantee; prior results. The firm makes no representation or warranty that the information in this article is complete, current or applicable to any particular matter, and disclaims liability to any person for any action taken or not taken in reliance on it. Any description of prior results does not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any other matter; every case turns on its own facts, documents and record.

Do not act on this article alone. If your association faces a decision of consequence, obtain advice from a Florida-licensed attorney who has read your governing documents and the relevant record before the board votes, signs, sends or forecloses. Hamilton Mikes, P.A. represents community associations throughout Southwest Florida and can be reached at 239-594-7227.

Chair's Opening Statement for a Heated Board Meeting: A Script for Florida Condo and HOA Boards

Opening statement

If a speaker goes over time

If a speaker interrupts or won't yield

Calling a recess

Closing

Notes for the chair

Talk to association counsel

Statutes and authorities referenced

Speak with a Florida community association attorney

Chair's Opening Statement for a Heated Board Meeting: A Script for Florida Condo and HOA Boards

Opening statement

If a speaker goes over time

If a speaker interrupts or won't yield

Calling a recess

Closing

Notes for the chair

Related resources

Talk to association counsel

Statutes and authorities referenced

Speak with a Florida community association attorney