Virtual meetings
Only if your bylaws say so, and the safeguards required after that depend on your state.
Your board can meet by video or phone call, but only if the bylaws specifically authorize it. Once virtual meetings are allowed, the rules diverge sharply by state: some require at least one physical location where members can attend in person, others do not. Check both documents before you schedule one.
The bylaws decide, not convenience
A board that has never met by video before cannot start simply because everyone owns a laptop. Under Robert's Rules of Order, the standard bylaw-based parliamentary authority most associations adopt, the format has to be written into the governing documents first.
"You may hold board meetings by videoconference or teleconference (including over the Internet) only if your bylaws specifically authorize you to do so."
Source: Frequently Asked Questions, Robert's Rules Association
If your bylaws are silent, a video meeting is not a smaller version of a real meeting, it is not an authorized meeting at all. Fix the bylaws, or hold the meeting in person, before you try either.
Whatever the format, everyone has to actually hear everyone
Once video meetings are authorized, the baseline safeguard does not change: every director has to be able to hear every other director in real time, and the board needs rules for how someone gets recognized to speak, submits a motion in writing, and how votes get verified without a show of hands in a room.
The open-meeting right survives the shift to remote format too. A board that owes its members an open meeting still owes them one when the meeting moves online, the members just need a way to actually listen in.
The physical-location question is a genuine three-way split
Some states require a video board meeting to name at least one physical room where members can show up in person, staffed by a director; others let the whole meeting happen online with no physical option at all. Check your own state's common-interest-community statute and your bylaws, do not assume either rule.
"Participation by directors in a teleconference meeting constitutes presence at that meeting as long as all directors participating are able to hear one another."
Source: California Civil Code §4090, California Legislature
Washington's statute goes the other way for board meetings generally held under its common-interest law, allowing a meeting to be held entirely by phone, video, or similar process as long as the notice explains how, and participants can hear the discussion and vote by roll call, with no physical room required.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
Your HOA's bylaws never mention videoconferencing. Can the board hold its regular meeting by video call anyway?
Your association is in a state whose statute requires a physical meeting location even during a video board meeting. What must the notice include?
The board holds its regular meeting entirely by phone. Two directors dial in from home while the rest attend in person. What must still be true for the open-meeting right to hold?
Sources
- Frequently Asked Questions, Robert's Rules Association
- California Civil Code, Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, California Legislature
- Florida Statutes §718.112, Condominium Act, Florida Legislature
- Revised Code of Washington §64.90.445, Washington State Legislature
Technology
Next, check whether your bylaws or your state's statute set the notice period for the meeting you're planning: see Meeting notice requirements.
This is general education, not legal advice. Meeting rules vary by state and by your association's own governing documents. Confirm your specific requirements with your bylaws, your state's common-interest-community statute, and a licensed attorney before acting.