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Making and seconding a motionLesson 1 of 33

Academy/Motions & Parliamentary Procedure

What is a motion?

Every board decision starts here, or it never actually happens.

A motion is the formal proposal that puts a specific action in front of the board: repave the lot, approve the invoice, adopt the policy. Nothing becomes board business until someone states it as a motion. Once made, it is normally seconded, opened for debate by the chair, and voted on.

01

Nothing is board business until it is a motion

Directors can discuss the roof, the pool contract, or a neighbor's fence complaint for an hour without the board deciding anything. Discussion does not get voted on. A motion, a formal proposal that the board take a specific action, does. Until one director puts an idea into motion form, it is just talk, and talk cannot be adopted, rejected, or written into the minutes as a decision.

That is true even if every director in the room agrees with the idea. Agreement without a motion is not a decision, it just does not get recorded that way.

02

What a motion actually sounds like

A motion names the action and nothing else. "I move that we approve the $4,200 roof repair bid from Acme Roofing" is a motion. "I think we should really look into the roof at some point" is not, it is a comment, and the board can talk about it forever without ever having something to vote on.

"Someone should really deal with the parking lot" invites nodding. "I move that the board authorize up to $6,000 for parking lot repaving, contractor to be selected by the maintenance committee" invites a vote. The words "I move that" are the signal. They turn a suggestion into something the board must formally act on.

03

What happens once it is on the table

A motion usually needs a second, another director signaling it is worth the board's time, though small boards often handle this loosely. The chair then restates it for the group, a step covered in Stating the question, which is what actually opens the floor to debate. Once discussion ends, the board moves to a vote. Every one of those steps exists because a motion, and only a motion, put something in front of the board to act on.

04

Where the rules for motions come from

Robert's Rules is not the top of the pyramid, it is the bottom. If your state's HOA or nonprofit corporation statute addresses board meeting procedure, that controls first. Check your state's statute before assuming Robert's Rules applies. After that comes your declaration (the CC&Rs), then your bylaws, then any board resolutions or rules already on the books. Robert's Rules of Order only fills the gaps nothing above it addresses, and only because most governing documents adopt it by reference.

"Most community association documents require the board to use parliamentary procedure at annual and special meetings."

Source: Parliamentary Procedure: Why Robert's Rules HOA Meetings, CAI / HOAresources

If your bylaws do not name a version, the association still needs to pick one and use it consistently.

Check yourself

Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.

During discussion, a director says, "Maybe the board should think about repaving the lot sometime." What is this, in parliamentary terms?

Two directors chat before the meeting about maybe raising dues next year. Later, one says in the meeting: "I move that we raise the annual assessment by 5 percent effective January." What changed?

The HOA's bylaws say nothing about how a motion must be phrased. What fills that gap for this board?

Sources

Related elsewhere in the Academy

Motions & Parliamentary Procedure