How do we write a policy for the community bulletin board at our HOA mailboxes or clubhouse?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 20, 2026

How an HOA board writes a bulletin board policy: legal meeting notice posting in TX, FL and CO, who may post, time limits, removal, and sample wording.

Part of the HOA board handbook: residents and communication.

The short answer

Split the board in two. One locked section holds official association notices and nothing else. The other side is open to residents under a short written policy: date every posting, take it down after 30 days, no anonymous notices, no personal information about other people, and a director clears the board once a week. Adopt the policy by board resolution, post a copy on the board itself, and apply it the same way to every flyer no matter who wrote it or what it says. The official side matters more than most boards realize, because in Texas, Florida and Colorado a posted notice can be one of the ways the association gives legally required notice of meetings. Rules vary by state and by each community's governing documents, and this guide is general education, not legal advice.

Know which notices the law lets you post

Texas Property Code section 209.0051(e) lets a property owners' association give notice of a board meeting either by mailing it 10 to 60 days ahead, or by posting it at least 144 hours before a regular meeting and 72 hours before a special meeting and also emailing every owner who has registered an email address. The posting has to be in a conspicuous manner reasonably designed to give notice to members, in a place on the association's common property (or, with the owner's consent, on conspicuously located private property in the subdivision), or on an association website. A bulletin board at the mailboxes is the usual choice. Florida section 720.303(2)(c) says notice of every board meeting must be posted in a conspicuous place in the community at least 48 hours ahead, unless the association mails or delivers it at least 7 days ahead, and a meeting where a special assessment or a rule on parcel use will be considered needs at least 14 days' notice, posted as well as sent. Colorado section 38-33.3-308(1) says notice of an owners' meeting must be physically posted in a conspicuous place to the extent that is feasible and practicable, in addition to the mailed notice sent 10 to 50 days ahead. Read your bylaws too, since many name the posting place outright.

Set up the official side so it holds up

Buy a locking case with a glass or acrylic front for official notices, and keep the key with the secretary and one other director. An open corkboard invites someone to pin a yard sale flyer over your meeting notice, and a covered notice is a weak notice. Post the meeting notice, the agenda when your state requires one, the notice of the annual meeting, the current rules, the board roster with an association contact address, and emergency closures. Each time the secretary posts a meeting notice, take a phone photo that shows the notice in the case and keep it in the meeting file with the date and time. If an owner later says the meeting was not properly noticed, that photo and the email log are your proof. When the meeting is over, take the notice down and file it with the minutes so the case never shows stale business.

Decide who may post and what goes up

Keep the community side open to owners and residents, and to the association's committees. Limit each notice to one sheet no larger than 8.5 by 11 inches, with the date it went up written on it and a name or unit number so the board can reach the person who posted it. Allow lost pets, babysitters, garage sales, club meetings, items for sale, and residents' own small businesses, one flyer per business at a time. Commercial flyers from outside companies are where boards get buried, so either ban them or require that a resident sponsor them. Do not let the board sort notices by viewpoint. A flyer opposing the board's budget follows the same 30-day rule as a flyer for the book club. If your community allows political notices, the cleanest rule is a neutral one: same size, same time limit, removed a set number of days after the election. For the separate rules on signs in yards and windows, see our guide on whether an HOA can restrict political or campaign signs.

What comes down, and how fast

Name the things a director removes on sight: anything posted on the official side by someone other than the board, notices with no date, expired event flyers, anything that names another resident's debt, violation or dispute, anything with another person's phone number or photo posted without consent, threats, and obscene material. Everything else comes down on its 30th day. Assign the weekly sweep to one director or a volunteer on a set day, and keep removed items that were pulled for content, not age, in a folder for 60 days with a note of the date and reason. That folder answers the owner who says the board tore down their flyer because of what it said. If a notice accuses someone of a crime or makes a factual claim the board thinks is false, take it down under the policy and do not post a rebuttal. A reply on the association's case makes the dispute bigger and puts the association's name on it.

Policy wording you can adapt

"Community bulletin board policy. The left panel of the bulletin board at the cluster mailboxes is reserved for official notices of the association and may be opened only by the secretary or another director. The right panel is available to owners, residents and association committees. Each notice must be no larger than 8.5 by 11 inches, must show the date it was posted and a name or unit number, and may remain for 30 days or until the date of the event it announces, whichever comes first. Notices for outside businesses must be sponsored by a resident. The association removes without notice any posting that is undated, expired, posted on the official panel, or that contains personal information about another person, threats, or obscene material. The association does not review postings for viewpoint and does not endorse anything posted on the community panel. Questions go to [association email]." Adopt it by motion at an open board meeting: "I move that the board adopt the community bulletin board policy as presented and post it on the bulletin board and with the association's other rules." Put the adopted policy in the records with the minutes of that meeting.

Pair the board with email and the website

A cork panel reaches only the people who walk to the mailbox or the clubhouse, and plenty of owners get their mail on the way in from work and never stop to read. Texas already requires the email to registered owners when you rely on posted notice, and Colorado encourages electronic notice and agendas in addition to printed ones under section 38-33.3-308(2)(b). So treat the bulletin board as one channel of three: the case at the mailboxes, an email to owners, and the same notice on the association website. Put a line at the bottom of every posted official notice that says where to sign up for email notices. For how to build that list and get owners' consent, see our guide on collecting HOA owner emails and consent for electronic notices.

Mistakes boards make

Posting the meeting notice on an open corkboard, where it disappears under a pizza menu by Thursday. Forgetting to photograph the posting, then having nothing but a director's memory when an owner challenges a vote. Leaving last spring's meeting notice up, so residents learn to ignore the case. Removing a critical flyer the same afternoon while a pet-sitting flyer stays for months, which looks like viewpoint control even when it isn't. Letting one director run the board by personal taste instead of the written policy. Putting the case somewhere only drivers pass, or inside a clubhouse that is locked most of the week, which is hard to call conspicuous. And never reading the bylaws, which may already say exactly where notices must go.

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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