Board liaison roles
One director stays close to one committee. Here is what that director can, and cannot, do on the board's behalf.
A board liaison is a director, most often a director-at-large, assigned to stay connected to one committee: attending its meetings, tracking its progress, and reporting back to the full board. A liaison can carry information both ways, but cannot approve a committee's recommendation alone. Only the board, voting together, can adopt it.
What a liaison actually does
Many boards assign one director to stay close to a single committee: architectural review, landscaping, social, whatever the association has formed. That director is often a director-at-large, since that role has no fixed duties of its own and can flex to fill this need. The liaison sits in on the committee's meetings, asks questions, and carries two things back to the board: what the committee is working on, and how the committee's work matches what the board asked for.
"[A member-at-large will] work with the committee to review their progress and status" and "update the board on what the committee is working on."
Source: HOA Member At Large: Roles & Responsibilities, Vinteum
One vote, not one vote plus authority
Being the liaison does not give a director any power the other directors lack. A liaison cannot approve a committee's recommendation, commit association funds, or direct a vendor or the manager on their own. The same limit applies to every director acting alone, liaison or not: authority to act for the association belongs to the board as a body, not to any one director.
"It's the board that generally has the duty to act. The board can assign responsibility to a managing agent, but no individual board member can direct the managing agent."
Source: Individual HOA Board Members: Your Authority is Limited, Pavese Law Firm
Whether your bylaws give a liaison any standing authority beyond reporting, such as approving small committee expenses, varies by association. Check your bylaws and any committee charter before assuming a liaison can sign off on anything.
Why liaisons help, and what they don't fix
A liaison exists mainly to keep information moving both directions. Committees that feel disconnected from the board, and homeowners who feel unheard, are one recognized driver of board and volunteer disengagement.
"There's always a risk that homeowners become apathetic, especially if they feel like their presence and voice aren't acknowledged by the association. This, in turn, could lead to HOA dysfunction."
Source: How To Get Rid Of Apathy In The HOA, Cedar Management Group
Treat a liaison assignment as one practical habit for keeping committees and the board in sync, not as a legal requirement or a cure for every attendance problem. Low participation is not always apathy; it can just mean people are busy.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
The landscaping committee's liaison comes back from a meeting excited about the committee's plan to replace the irrigation system. What should the liaison do next?
The board wants to know what happened at last month's finance committee meeting. Who is responsible for bringing that update to the board?
Attendance at HOA meetings has been dropping for months. Which practice does this course's research point to as a reasonable way to address disengagement?
Sources
- HOA Member At Large: Roles & Responsibilities, Vinteum
- Individual HOA Board Members: Your Authority is Limited, Pavese Law Firm
- How To Get Rid Of Apathy In The HOA, Cedar Management Group
- Differences Between HOA Board of Directors vs. Officers, NowackHoward
Board Roles
Want to know what happens when the director filling this role has no fixed title at all? Read What does a director-at-large do?
Whether your association uses liaisons at all, who may serve as one, and what authority (if any) a liaison holds beyond reporting back to the board vary by your bylaws and committee charter.