Academy/Membership & Annual Meetings
Annual meeting requirements
What your association is actually required to do every year, and where the exact numbers come from.
Your association must hold a members' meeting every year, at a time, date, and place set by the bylaws. It cannot be skipped just because nothing pressing is on the agenda. Advance written notice is required, but exactly how many days, and what quorum you need to transact business, is set by your state and your own bylaws.
The meeting is not optional
Some boards treat the annual meeting as a formality they can skip in a quiet year. In most states, they cannot. The obligation to meet is written into statute, not left to the board's judgment about whether there is enough business to justify it.
"An association shall hold a meeting of unit owners annually at a time, date, and place stated in or fixed in accordance with the bylaws."
Source: Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, section 3-108, Vermont Legislature
Florida's statute says the same thing in its own words: the association "shall hold a meeting of its members annually for the transaction of any and all proper business." Whether your state imposes this same duty, and what happens if a board skips it, depends on your state statute and your bylaws.
Notice has to go out, but the window is not universal
Before the meeting happens, owners have to be told about it in writing: the time, date, and place. Under one widely used model law, that notice window has both a floor and a ceiling, and can be compressed for an emergency.
"An association shall notify unit owners of the time, date, and place of each annual and special unit owners meeting not less than 10 days or more than 60 days before the meeting date."
Source: Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, section 3-108, Vermont Legislature
That 10 to 60 day window is one model act's number, not a national rule. California alone runs different notice periods depending on whether the meeting is a board meeting, a general membership meeting, or a director election. Read your bylaws and your state's statute before you print the invitation, and see meeting notices for how to find the number that actually applies to you.
Members get a voice, and quorum still has to show up
Owners are entitled to speak at the meeting. One widely used model law guarantees it directly:
"Unit owners shall be given a reasonable opportunity at any meeting to comment regarding any matter affecting the common interest community or the association."
Source: Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, section 3-108, Vermont Legislature
But comment rights do not replace quorum. Enough voting members, in person, by proxy, or by ballot depending on your rules, have to be present before the meeting can transact business at all. The percentage that counts as quorum is set by your bylaws and, in many states, by a statutory default your bylaws can raise or lower. See member quorum for how to find yours.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
The board wants to skip this year's annual meeting since nothing urgent needs a vote. What's actually true?
An owner asks how many days before the annual meeting notice has to go out. What should the board tell them?
Only a handful of owners show up to the annual meeting, not enough to meet quorum. What can the board legally do?
Sources
- Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, section 3-108, Vermont Legislature
- Florida Statutes section 720.306, Florida Legislature
- Can a Quorumless Meeting Set Time for an Adjourned Meeting, Paul McClintock, CP-T
Membership & Annual Meetings
Next, find the exact notice window and quorum number your own bylaws set.
Whether the annual meeting is legally required in your state, how many days of notice it needs, and what counts as quorum all vary by state statute and by your association's own bylaws.