I just got elected, what now?

You just became a fiduciary

A fiduciary duty means you now have to put the association's interests ahead of your own. Under the nonprofit corporation law most HOAs are organized under, a director must act in good faith, exercise reasonable care, and reasonably believe their action serves the corporation's best interests.

"In good faith," "With the care an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances," and "In a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the corporation."

Source: Florida Statutes §617.0830, Florida Legislature

This exact wording comes from Florida's nonprofit corporation statute. Your state's nonprofit corporation act states the same three ideas, good faith, care, and best interests, in its own words, so check your own statute rather than assume this language.

The rules that bind you outrank your bylaws

Your authority runs through a stack of documents that don't carry equal weight. State statute sits on top and applies whether or not your bylaws mention it. Below that, the CC&Rs and articles of incorporation establish why the association exists; the bylaws govern how the board itself operates; and rules the board adopts sit at the bottom, the layer easiest to change on your own.

The exact order and how each layer can be amended depends on your state's statute and your own governing documents. Have the association's attorney confirm this structure before you act on it.

One rule from that stack matters in your very first meeting: nothing can be voted on without a quorum.

"It is never permissible to transact substantive business in the absence of a quorum."

Source: Robert's Rules of Order, Frequently Asked Questions, Robert's Rules Association

The number of directors that makes a quorum is set by your bylaws or your state's statute, not by Robert's Rules itself, so find that number before your first meeting rather than assume it.

You may already be on a deadline

Some states put a clock on new directors. Florida requires newly elected directors to complete an approved education course within 90 days. Nevada instead requires a written certification, also within 90 days, that the director has read the governing documents and the state's association statute. Most states impose neither requirement, so check your own state's statute rather than a neighboring one.

"a certificate of having satisfactorily completed the educational curriculum administered by a department-approved education provider"

Source: Florida Statutes §720.3033, Florida Legislature

Where a deadline like this exists and you miss it, the consequence usually lands on you personally, not on the board. In Florida, a director who misses the certificate deadline is suspended from the board until they comply, but the votes that director already cast are not undone by the omission. The two consequences are separate.

What protects you once you're voting

You will make decisions that look wrong in hindsight. That alone does not create personal liability.

"where a duly constituted community association board, upon reasonable investigation, in good faith and with regard for the best interests of the community association and its members, exercises discretion within the scope of its authority under relevant statutes, covenants and restrictions to select among means for discharging an obligation to maintain and repair a development's common areas, courts should defer to the board's authority and presumed expertise."

Source: Lamden v. La Jolla Shores Clubdominium Homeowners Assn., Supreme Court of California

This is a California Supreme Court holding on the business judgment rule. Other states apply their own version, but the core idea, that investigation and good faith matter more than how the outcome turns out, travels widely. Confirm how your own state's courts apply it.