How do we write an HOA board meeting agenda?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 31, 2026

How an HOA board writes a meeting agenda: what to list, how to word action items, notice deadlines in Texas, Florida and Colorado, and a sample agenda to copy.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

List every item the board might vote on, word each one so an owner can tell what may be decided, and send the agenda with the meeting notice by the deadline your state and bylaws set. Put owner comment before the votes, keep executive session items general, and leave out "other business" as a place to make decisions. In several states the agenda limits what the board can lawfully do at the meeting, so a sloppy agenda can undo a good decision. This guide covers how to build one. The rules vary by state and by your own bylaws, and this is general education, not legal advice. When a vote matters, such as a special assessment, have the association's attorney check the notice first.

What Texas, Florida and Colorado require

Texas Property Code section 209.0051(e) requires notice of the date, hour, place and general subject of every regular or special board meeting, including a general description of anything the board will take up in executive session. The board can mail the notice 10 to 60 days before the meeting. The other option is to post it on common property or the association website and also email it to every owner who registered an email address, at least 144 hours before a regular meeting and 72 hours before a special one. If the meeting is by video or phone, subsection (c-2) requires the notice to tell owners how to join. Subsection (h) lists 15 decisions the board may make only in an open, noticed meeting, among them fines, assessment increases, special assessments, the budget, borrowing, filling a board vacancy and electing officers. Florida section 720.303(2)(c) says board meeting notices must specifically identify agenda items and be posted conspicuously in the community at least 48 hours ahead, or mailed or delivered at least 7 days ahead, except in an emergency. The board cannot levy an assessment unless the notice says assessments will be considered and describes them. A meeting on a special assessment or on amendments to rules about parcel use needs written notice mailed, delivered or emailed to owners and posted at least 14 days before. Owners have the right to speak on every designated item. Colorado section 38-33.3-308(2)(a) requires board agendas to be made reasonably available to all members, and subsection (2.5)(b) lets owners speak on an issue before the board votes on it. The Colorado statute sets no notice period for board meetings, so the period comes from your bylaws. Other states have their own versions. Check yours before you copy a template.

A sample agenda to copy

Most small boards do well with the same order every month, so owners learn where to find things. 1. Call to order, roll call and confirmation of quorum, noting who is attending by video. 2. Approval of the agenda. 3. Owner comment, with the time limit stated. 4. Consent agenda: minutes of the last meeting and routine reports. 5. Treasurer's report: operating and reserve balances, delinquency totals by account number, not by name. 6. Committee reports. 7. Unfinished business, the items carried over from last month. 8. New business, one numbered line per decision. 9. Executive session, with a general description of each matter. 10. Report out of executive session. 11. Next meeting date and adjournment. Approving the agenda at the start is more than ceremony. Under Robert's Rules, a proposed agenda becomes the meeting's order of business only once the body adopts it, and that vote is the moment to catch a missing item. If your bylaws let owners comment on each item instead of in one block, as Florida's statute contemplates, put a short comment window under each action item and drop the general slot.

Word each item as the decision

"Pool" tells an owner nothing. "Vote to approve a contract with [vendor name] for pool resurfacing, not to exceed $18,400, paid from the reserve fund" tells them what may happen, how much it costs and where the money comes from. That is the standard to hold every action item to. Name the vendor, the amount and the fund. For a rule change, give the rule's number and attach the draft. For a budget amendment, say which line moves and by how much. For a special assessment in Florida, the notice has to state that assessments will be considered and their nature. Wording like this works for that kind of item: "Consideration of a special assessment of $650 per lot, payable in two installments due March 1 and June 1, to fund replacement of the north entry retaining wall. The board may vote on this item." Attach the documents the board will rely on, such as the bids, the draft rule or the reserve study page, to the board packet, and say on the agenda where owners can read them. Keep owner names out of the public packet.

Use a consent agenda for routine items

A consent agenda bundles routine items into a single vote: approval of last month's minutes, acceptance of the manager's report, ratification of a payment the board already approved. It shortens the meeting and keeps the discussion for things that need it. Any director can ask to pull an item off the consent agenda for separate discussion, and the chair should say so before the vote. Keep new spending, contracts, fines and anything on the Texas section 209.0051(h) list out of it. A motion you can read aloud: "I move to approve the consent agenda as presented, consisting of the minutes of the March 12 meeting, the February financial statements and the landscaping report." If a director pulls an item, the motion becomes "as presented, except item 4c," and item 4c moves to new business.

Executive session items

Describe the matter, not the person. "Executive session: a collection referral for one account, and contract negotiations with the landscaping vendor" meets Texas's general-description requirement without exposing anyone. Texas lets the board meet privately on personnel, pending or threatened litigation, contract negotiations, enforcement actions, attorney communications and matters involving an owner's privacy. Afterward the board must summarize any decision orally in the open meeting, including a general explanation of expenditures approved, and put that summary in the minutes. That is why the sample agenda has a report-out line. Colorado limits closed sessions to the six categories in section 38-33.3-308(4), requires the chair to announce the general matter before going in, and bars adopting any rule in executive session. Florida allows closed meetings only with the attorney about proposed or pending litigation and for personnel matters. Our guide on minutes for an HOA executive session covers how to record what happens behind the door.

A timeline for a regular meeting

Work backward from the meeting date and set one internal deadline that satisfies the strictest rule you face. For a Thursday evening meeting: 21 days out, the secretary emails directors asking for agenda items and reminds owners how to request one. 15 days out, the treasurer and chair settle the list of action items, and if a Florida special assessment or parcel-use rule is on it, the 14-day notice goes out the next day. 11 days out, a Texas board that mails notice mails it, inside the 10 to 60 day window. 8 days out, a Florida board that mails instead of posting sends it, a day ahead of the 7-day minimum. By Friday evening of the week before, at least 144 hours ahead in Texas, the notice is posted on the website or common area and emailed to registered owners, with the video link if there is one. 48 hours out, the Florida posting is up if the board posts. 2 days out, directors receive the packet. Keep a dated copy of each notice, a photo of the posting and the email send log. If anyone challenges a vote, that file is your proof.

Mistakes that undo board votes

Voting on an item that was never on the agenda is the most common one. In Florida the notice must specifically identify items, and in Texas the subsection (h) decisions cannot be made without notice, so a special assessment approved under "new business" is open to challenge. Move it to the next meeting instead. Hiding a budget change inside the treasurer's report is the same mistake in a different form. Give it its own line. Other errors come up often. A Texas board holds a video meeting but leaves the link out of the notice. A Florida board decides something by email, which section 720.303(2)(a) forbids. A Colorado board calls the vote before letting owners speak on the issue. And a Florida board sits on an owner petition: when 20 percent of the voting interests petition to address an item, the board must take it up within 60 days, with 14 days' notice. Finally, publish a simple way for owners to suggest items, with a deadline. Owners who know the process are less likely to spring new business on the board from the floor. Our guide on how owners can get an item on the HOA agenda is a good page to link from your newsletter.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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