Association Meeting Minutes Checklist

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

Minutes are the association's evidence that a decision was validly made. They are not a transcript and they are not a newsletter. The statutes say very little about what minutes must contain, and the little they say is the part boards most often omit: each director's vote. Everything else on this list is either a record-keeping rule or a practice that keeps the minutes from being used against the association.

Download the PDFThe PDF is a designed, printable copy for the board packet, the bulletin board or your meeting portfolio. On screen, you can tick the boxes below; nothing you tick is saved or sent anywhere.

Use this with the board meeting checklist, which covers the notice and agenda side of the same meeting, and with your association's minutes practice. The secretary should be able to work down this list with the draft in front of them.

The opening: who, when and how

Name the association, the type of meeting, and the date, time and place."Board meeting" is not enough where the association also holds committee and members' meetings. Say which.
Record each director present and how that director appeared: in person, by telephone, or by video.Chapters 718 and 719 both provide that a board or committee member participating by telephone or real-time videoconferencing counts toward a quorum and may vote as if physically present. The minutes should show the method so the quorum can be reconstructed later.§ 718.112(2)(b); § 719.106(1)(b)5.
Record each director absent, by name.
State that a quorum was present, and the number constituting it.
Record the confirmation that notice was given: posted where and when, mailed when, and by whom.This single line is what answers a challenge two years later. Without it the association has to prove notice from memory.
For a condominium meeting on a 14-day item, record that the affidavit of compliance was executed and filed with the official records.§ 718.112(2)(c)1.
Record the time the meeting was called to order and, at the end, the time of adjournment.
Name the person recording the minutes.

Every motion, every vote

Record the exact wording of each motion as it was moved.Paraphrase is where disputes start. If the motion approves a contract, name the contractor, the scope and the dollar figure.
Record who moved it and who seconded it.
Record the vote or abstention of each director present, by name.This is the one content requirement the statutes actually impose on condominium and HOA minutes. "Motion carried" alone does not satisfy it.§ 718.111(1)(b); § 720.303(3)
Do the same for a cooperative board meeting even though Chapter 719 does not appear to say so expressly.A primary-source read of § 719.106 found no express vote-recording sentence. Record it anyway. The evidentiary value does not depend on the statute.
Record a failed motion and its vote, not only the motions that passed.A board that only minutes its successes cannot later show it considered and rejected an alternative.
Record a written statement of agreement or disagreement submitted by a director who did not attend, and note expressly that it is not a vote and does not count toward the quorum.§ 718.112(2)(b)4.
Record an emergency addition to the agenda, the count showing a majority plus one, and the statement that the action will be noticed and ratified at the next regular board meeting.Condominiums and cooperatives only. Chapter 720 has no such mechanism.§ 718.112(2)(c)1.; § 719.106(1)(c)
At the next regular meeting, record the ratification itself as a separate motion and vote.

Conflicts, recusals and closed sessions

Record the conflict disclosure in the director's own terms, the recusal, and whether the director left the room.§ 718.3027; § 720.3033(2); § 617.0832
Record the vote of the remaining disinterested directors separately, so the tally is readable without the conflicted director.
Attach the written conflict disclosure to the minutes rather than summarizing it.
For a closed session, record in the open minutes that the board went into closed session, the time, the statutory ground, and who remained.The two grounds are a meeting with the association's attorney regarding proposed or pending litigation held to seek or render legal advice, and a meeting to discuss personnel matters.§ 718.112(2)(c); § 719.106(1)(c); § 720.303(2)(b)
Do not minute the substance of a privileged closed session.Minutes summarizing counsel's advice are discoverable in the same way any other record is, and a summary in the minutes can waive privilege over the advice itself.
Record the time the board returned to open session, and take any vote there.
Where a personnel matter was discussed, keep names out of the open minutes.Employee personnel records are outside what owners may inspect under all three chapters. Putting the content in the minutes puts it into a record owners can inspect.§ 718.111(12)(c)5.; § 719.104(2)(c); § 720.303(5)(g)1.-9.

What to leave out

Leave out the debate. Minutes record what the board decided, not what each director argued.A director who insists their objection appear is entitled to have their vote recorded against the motion. That is the mechanism the statute gives them.
Leave out characterizations of people, opinions about the merits of a dispute, and anything that reads as a finding of fact against an owner.
Leave out owner names in violation and enforcement matters.Refer to "the owner of Unit 214" or "a parcel in the Live Oak section." The minutes are an inspectable record, and naming an owner alongside an alleged violation creates exposure the board gains nothing from.
Leave out delinquency detail naming owners.Report aggregate numbers in the minutes and keep the itemized delinquency report in the packet.
Leave out personal identifying information: social security numbers, driver license numbers, account and credit card numbers, and the like.§ 718.111(12)(c)5.; § 719.104(2)(c); § 720.303(5)(g)1.-9.
Leave out medical information and anything relating to a request for accommodation.These records sit outside owner inspection. The minutes should reflect that a request was considered and the outcome, without the underlying facts.
Leave out attorney-client communications and anything marked privileged.
Do not write minutes as a narrative of the manager's report. Record the report was given and any action taken on it.

Approval, corrections and signatures

Draft the minutes within a few days while the meeting is fresh.
Circulate the draft to directors only, marked draft, before the next meeting.
Put approval of minutes on the noticed agenda of the next meeting.Approval is board action. It belongs on the agenda like any other item.
Correct minutes by motion at the meeting where they are approved, and record the correction in that meeting's minutes.Do not silently edit an approved set. The audit trail is the point.
If an error surfaces after approval, correct it by a new motion at a later meeting rather than reissuing the earlier document.
Have the secretary sign and date the approved minutes, and note the date of approval on the face of them.No chapter requires a signature. It is what makes the document usable as evidence.
Keep the notice, agenda, sign-in sheet, affidavits and any handout with the approved minutes as a single meeting file.

Retention and posting by chapter

	Condominium (Ch. 718)	HOA (Ch. 720)	Cooperative (Ch. 719)
Vote or abstention recorded	Required, § 718.111(1)(b)	Required, § 720.303(3)	No express provision found
Minutes retention	Permanent from inception	At least 7 years	At least 7 years
Authority	§ 718.111(12)(a)6.; (12)(b)	§ 720.303(4)(a)	§ 719.104(2)
Video conference recording	Official record; at least 1 year after posting	No statutory provision	No statutory provision
Website or app posting	25 or more units, within 30 days	100 or more parcels	None
Records request response	10 working days	10 business days	10 working days

Keep condominium minutes permanently.Minutes of all meetings of the association, the board, any committee and the unit owners sit within the group of records that must be permanently maintained from the inception of the association. They are not on the 7-year clock.§ 718.111(12)(a)6.; § 718.111(12)(b)
Keep HOA and cooperative minutes at least 7 years, and check the governing documents for a longer period.§ 720.303(4)(a); § 719.104(2)
For a condominium meeting held by video conference, keep the recording as an official record and, once minutes are approved, for at least 1 year after the date the recording is posted.§ 718.111(12)(a)6.
Post approved minutes to the association website or application where posting is required, within 30 days of creation.Condominiums with 25 or more units and no timeshare units, and HOAs with 100 or more parcels. Cooperatives have no posting obligation at all.§ 718.111(12)(g); § 720.303(4)(b)
Produce minutes on a records request within the correct window for your chapter.Condominium and cooperative: 10 working days. HOA: 10 business days, and the HOA rebuttable presumption arises only where the request came by certified mail, return receipt requested.§ 718.111(12)(c); § 719.104(2); § 720.303(5)
Keep cooperative structural and life safety inspection records and structural integrity reserve studies on their own longer clock.Chapter 719 sets 15 years for structural integrity reserve studies and for inspection reports. Chapter 718 does the same at § 718.111(12)(a)11.d. and (12)(a)15.§ 719.104(2); § 718.111(12)(a)11.d.; § 718.111(12)(a)15.

Statutes and authorities referenced

§ 718.111(1)(b), Fla. Stat. (condominium: each director's vote or abstention recorded in the minutes)
§ 720.303(3), Fla. Stat. (HOA: form of minutes and each director's vote or abstention)
§ 718.111(12)(a)6., § 718.111(12)(b), Fla. Stat. (minutes as an official record; permanent retention)
§ 720.303(4)(a), § 719.104(2), Fla. Stat. (HOA and cooperative official records and 7-year retention)
§ 718.111(12)(g), § 720.303(4)(b), Fla. Stat. (website posting thresholds)
§ 718.111(12)(c), § 719.104(2), § 720.303(5), Fla. Stat. (records requests and rebuttable presumptions)
§ 718.111(12)(c)5., § 719.104(2)(c), § 720.303(5)(g)1.-9., Fla. Stat. (records not accessible to owners)
§ 718.112(2)(c)1., § 719.106(1)(c), Fla. Stat. (emergency agenda items and ratification)
§ 718.112(2)(b)4., Fla. Stat. (written agreement or disagreement by an absent director)
§ 718.3027, § 720.3033(2), § 617.0832, Fla. Stat. (conflicts of interest)

Contact Hamilton Mikes

Hamilton Mikes reviews minute books for Southwest Florida boards and managers, drafts minute templates that satisfy the vote-recording rule, and advises on what belongs in an inspectable record and what does not. Call 239-594-7227 or visit our Official Records page.

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.

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.

Meeting Minutes Checklist: What Florida Association Minutes Must Record and What to Leave Out