Your first 30 days as a board member

Get your paperwork

Ask your manager or the outgoing board for the association's governing documents: the declaration (also called the CC&Rs), the bylaws, and the articles of incorporation. Then ask for the official records, the defined set of documents an association is required to keep, which typically includes minutes, financial statements, contracts, and insurance policies.

How long records must be kept, and how fast a request for them must be answered, is set by your state. Florida, for example, requires records to be kept for at least 7 years and produced to a member within 10 business days of a request. Your state's numbers may be different, so ask your manager or the association's attorney what applies to you.

Learn how your board's meetings actually work

Before you cast a vote, know two numbers: your board's quorum, the minimum number of directors who must be present to do business, and how much notice a meeting requires. Quorum is a hard stop. If it isn't met, nothing the board does at that meeting counts, no matter how obvious the outcome would have been.

"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

Once a quorum is established, it stays in effect even if directors step out, unless someone actually points that out to the group. How much advance notice a meeting requires, and whether the notice must list the agenda, is set by your state and bylaws. Florida requires 48 hours' posted notice or 7 days' mailed notice naming the agenda items; your bylaws or state statute will set a different number, so look it up rather than assume.

Check whether you need to certify anything

Some states require a new director to certify something within a set window after election, and the requirement varies widely. Florida requires new directors to complete an approved education course within 90 days, with continuing education after that. Nevada instead requires directors to certify in writing, within 90 days, that they have read and understand the governing documents and the state's statute. Most states impose no equivalent requirement at all. Ask your manager which, if any, applies to you and put the deadline on your calendar now.

Where a certification deadline exists and is missed, the consequence generally falls on the individual director, not on the board's prior decisions. In Florida, a director who misses the deadline is suspended until they comply, but the statute is explicit that the missing certificate does not affect the validity of any board action already taken.

Know the standard you're held to

You will not be personally exposed for a decision that turns out badly if you made it the right way. Directors generally must act in good faith, with the care an ordinarily prudent person would use, and in a manner they reasonably believe serves the association, part of the fiduciary role of a director. Courts applying this standard defer to a board that investigated a problem and decided in good faith, within its authority, even if the outcome later looks wrong.

"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... courts should defer to the board's authority and presumed expertise."

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

The exposure comes from skipping the investigation or acting outside the board's authority, not from a decision simply not working out.