Questions to Ask Potential HOA Board Members
Most owners know the people on an HOA or condo board ballot only as neighbors, so these questions are for candidate night, a nominating committee's interviews or a written questionnaire sent out with the ballot. They run in the order the conversation tends to take: why each person is running and the time they have, then dues, reserves and assessments, how rules are enforced, the manager, vendors and personal ties, openness with owners, and disputes between neighbors. Pick the few that fit what your community is arguing about this year and put the same ones to every candidate.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Why and Time
Why are you running for the board this year?
Why ask it
Most candidates run because of one thing: a fine they got, a dues increase, a neglected pool. That is a fair reason to start, so ask what they would do with the seat once that one thing is settled. Someone with nothing past the grievance may lose interest halfway through the term.
Looking five years out, what worries you most about this community?
Why ask it
Aging roofs, the insurance bill, the handover from a developer, committee seats nobody will fill: the pick shows whether they have looked past their own front door. Hold it against the budget and the reserve study if you have read them. A worry that appears in neither is either a sharp catch or a hobby horse, and one more question tells you which.
What has the current board done well, and what would you have done differently?
Why ask it
Challengers find the second half easy and sitting directors the first, so make each of them answer both. Credit given to a board they are running against suggests this person can work with the directors who stay on. For the 'differently' half, a named decision and the month it was made beat 'communication'.
How much time can you give the board in a typical month, counting the reading between meetings?
Why ask it
Tell them the real load first if you know it: the regular meeting, the packet beforehand, emails from the manager, the occasional walk-through with a contractor. A job with heavy travel or a second home elsewhere can be workable when the board meets by video, so ask how they would attend from away.
What have you done that is close to this work: run a budget, sat on a committee, managed a building project, negotiated a contract?
Why ask it
No profession is required, and a retired teacher who shows up prepared beats an absent accountant. The useful part of the answer is one concrete job they could take on in the first year, such as reading the insurance renewal or chasing three roofing bids.
Have you read the CC&Rs, the bylaws and this year's budget from start to finish?
Why ask it
Nobody enjoys them, and the honest answer is often 'most of it'. What you are checking is whether their plans fit what the documents let a board do, since a promise to scrap a rule written into the declaration may need a vote of the owners and not just of the board. Follow with the first thing they would change here and whether the board alone can change it.
Which board meetings have you sat through, and what did you think of how they were run?
Why ask it
Attendance is the cheapest homework there is, and plenty of first-time candidates have skipped it. That is fixable: invite them to the next meeting before the vote. From those who have gone, an opinion on the agenda, the owner comment time or how long the night ran tells you what kind of meeting they would want to sit in.
How long have you owned here, and do you live in the community or rent your home out?
Why ask it
An owner who lives elsewhere can serve well, but they see the property through a tenant's emails. Who may serve comes from your bylaws and sometimes from state law, so look that up before the forum and keep the question about perspective, not about disqualifying anyone.
Which officer job or committee would you take on: treasurer, secretary, architectural review, landscaping?
Why ask it
In many associations the directors choose the officers among themselves after the election, so nobody can promise themselves the treasurer's chair, but a preference shows where their effort will go. If every candidate wants to be president and none will keep the minutes, owners should know that before they vote.
If you are elected, do you expect to stay for the full term, or are you planning to sell or move?
Why ask it
Nobody can promise a whole term of their life, so 'as far as I know, yes' is a good answer. A house going on the market in spring is a reason to ask how a vacancy would be filled, because in some associations the remaining directors appoint the replacement and owners get no say over that seat until the next election.
Money
Under what circumstances would you vote to raise dues?
Why ask it
'Never' is the answer to worry about, because insurance, water and labor bills rise whether or not the board lets dues follow. Ask what they would cut instead, and they will either name a line in the budget or change the subject.
Have you read the latest reserve study, and do you think we are putting enough away?
Why ask it
A reserve study lists the roofs, paving, elevators and other large items with a rough date and price for each, and a candidate who has read yours can say which item worries them. If the association has never had one, ask whether they would commission a study and what they would do with the result.
When is a special assessment the right answer, and when is it a failure of planning?
Why ask it
A storm or a burst pipe can force one on any board. One levied for a roof everyone knew was twenty years old is a different story, and a candidate who can tell the two apart understands reserves. Then ask how much notice and what payment options they would want owners to have.
Which line of this year's budget would you look at first, and what do you think is wrong with it?
Why ask it
This only works on a candidate who has opened the budget, so it doubles as a test of homework. Good answers are specific and modest, like rebidding the landscape contract or questioning a legal line that doubled. If the answer is 'waste', ask where.
Is there a repair or replacement you think this community has put off too long?
Why ask it
People who walk the property can name it: the cracked pool deck, the retaining wall, the gutters on building four. Ask what another two years of waiting would cost. Someone who only knows their own street or stack may need a walk around the grounds before voting on the whole budget.
Would you ever borrow money for the association, and for what?
Why ask it
A loan spreads a large repair over years instead of billing owners all at once, and it adds interest and a lender's conditions. There is no single right view. What you can ask of any candidate is to put the loan, the assessment and the dues increase side by side and show owners all three numbers.
What should the board do about owners who are behind on their dues?
Why ask it
Unpaid dues are made up by everyone else, so 'leave them alone' is not kind to the neighbors who pay. A fair answer is one written policy applied to every account alike, with a payment plan offered before lawyers. What an association may do to collect is set by state law and your documents, so ask the manager or the association's attorney how it works where you are.
What would you want to know before the board renews the association's insurance?
Why ask it
Few owners think about the master policy until there is a claim, and in a condo building it can be one of the larger lines in the budget. Nobody expects an expert. Starting the renewal early, having the agent explain the deductible at an open meeting and checking what owners were last told to insure themselves would all be sound first moves.
Who should be able to sign checks or move the association's money, and who looks at the bank statements?
Why ask it
Money goes missing in small associations through error, and now and then through theft, when one person holds the checkbook. Two approvals on every payment, a bank statement seen by more than one director each month and reserves kept apart from operating cash are simple habits. Notice whether the candidate raises any of them unprompted.
Would you support an outside audit or review of the books, and how often?
Why ask it
Whether one is required can depend on state law, the bylaws and the size of the budget, so find out what applies to yours. Where it is optional, cost is the usual objection. A sitting treasurer who resists anyone checking the books has earned a second question.
Rules
Which of our rules do you think is enforced too hard, and which not enough?
Why ask it
Everyone has an example, and theirs tells you what they notice: parking, bins, rentals, dogs. Then ask whether they would change the rule or only stop enforcing it. Ignoring a written rule and repealing it are not the same thing, and owners deserve to know which one is on offer.
Should a first violation bring a fine, a warning or a knock on the door?
Why ask it
Most owners fix a problem once somebody tells them, so a friendly notice first costs little. Your documents and state law may already fix the steps, including a hearing before any fine, and no candidate can promise to skip them. Get the current procedure from the manager and compare it with what you hear.
Have you ever received a violation notice here, and how did it go?
Why ask it
Put it to every candidate so it does not land as an accusation. A past notice is no mark against anyone, and a person who has been through the hearing process often has the best ideas for fixing it. The story to be wary of ends with 'so I am running to get that rule off my back'.
Should the budget ever count on money from fines?
Why ask it
Look at this year's budget before you ask, since some associations carry a line for fine income and some do not. Once a board relies on that money it has a reason to send more letters. Fines are there to get the fence mended, and the answer shows whether this person sees them that way or as revenue.
Would you want violations found by regular inspections or only when a neighbor complains?
Why ask it
Inspections treat every lot alike and can make a community feel watched. Complaints are quieter, and they let the most irritable neighbor decide who gets a letter. It is a real trade, so a candidate who weighs both and picks one is giving a better answer than one who says 'common sense'.
Where do you stand on rentals and short-term rentals in this community?
Why ask it
Rental limits split owners sharply, because an investor and the person living next door to a weekly rental want opposite things. Find out which of those the candidate is. Changing a cap may mean amending the declaration, so ask how they would put it to the owners.
What would you change about how architectural requests are decided here?
Why ask it
Slow or uneven approvals breed resentment: one owner's fence is waved through while the next waits a season. Useful ideas include a written checklist, a deadline the committee holds itself to and reasons given with every denial. If the candidate has filed a request of their own, ask how it went.
When a rule no longer fits how people live here, such as one on work vans, home businesses or charging cables, how should it be changed?
Why ask it
Rules written decades ago now meet home offices, delivery vans and electric cars. A survey, an open agenda item and whatever vote your documents call for are the fair routes, and the reply shows whether this person plans to ask owners first or act first. In some places the law limits what an association can restrict, so the board should check before rewriting anything.
What would make you grant an owner an exception to a rule?
Why ask it
Hardship, disability and a rule that makes no sense on one odd lot are the usual cases, and some requests carry legal duties that belong with the association's attorney, not with a show of hands. The detail that matters is whether exceptions would be written down with their reasons. Unrecorded favors are how a board ends up accused of playing favorites.
Vendors and Ties
Is the management company earning its fee, and how can you tell?
Why ask it
Owners tend to judge a manager by one unanswered email, while a director has to judge by the contract: what the company is paid to do, how promptly it reports, and whether the board has given it clear instructions. Few candidates have read the management agreement, so one who quotes it has done unusual homework. If your community manages itself, ask who does that work now and how long they can keep it up.
How do you see the split between the board's job and the manager's job?
Why ask it
Broadly, the board decides and the manager carries out, though your contract draws the actual line. Two failures are common: a director who phones the landscaper with instructions of their own, and a board that lets the manager decide everything. Ask which of those this community is closer to.
Would you rebid the management contract or the larger vendor contracts, and when?
Why ask it
Fresh bids every few years keep prices honest, and changing managers has its own price in lost records and a slow first quarter. Ask which contract they would test first, how many bids they would want and whether owners would see the comparison. 'Fire them all' and 'never change' both deserve a follow-up.
When would you want the association's attorney involved, and when would you hold off?
Why ask it
Legal fees come out of dues, so calling counsel over every neighbor letter is expensive, and guessing on a collections or fair housing matter can cost far more. A sensible candidate names the kinds of decisions they would not make without advice. Be careful with one who plans to act as the board's lawyer because they happen to be one.
Do you, your family or your employer do any paid work for the association, its manager or its vendors?
Why ask it
In a neighborhood the answer is sometimes yes: a landscaper who lives on the next street, a brother-in-law who paves. Saying so up front is the test, followed by stepping out of the discussion and the vote. Find out whether your association has a written conflict of interest policy, and whether the candidate knew.
When what is good for your street or building is not what is good for the whole community, how will you vote?
Why ask it
The usual case is a repaving or roofing schedule that puts the candidate's own building first. A director sits for the whole association, and what that duty means in law is a question for the association's attorney. At a forum it is enough to hear that they have noticed the tension, so ask for an example where their own home would come out behind.
Are you running alongside anyone, and are you related to or close with a current director?
Why ask it
Two neighbors who agree on the budget may well campaign together, and nothing is wrong with that. The arithmetic is what owners should see: on a five-seat board, three friends can decide everything. Whether two people from one household may serve at once depends on your documents, so check before the forum.
Are you in a dispute with the association right now: unpaid dues, an open violation, a claim or a lawsuit?
Why ask it
Some associations bar owners who are behind on dues from serving and others do not, so read your bylaws before the forum. A live dispute does not make someone a bad neighbor, but a director cannot sit on both sides of it. The follow-up is which discussions they would leave the room for.
Would you accept anything from a vendor: a meal, a discount on work at your own home, tickets?
Why ask it
Small favors are where trouble starts, and most volunteers have never thought about it until a contractor offers to seal their driveway while the crew is on site. A plain 'no, and I would tell the rest of the board' settles it. Hesitation here is a prompt for the board to write a gift rule.
Openness
How should owners hear what the board decided: minutes, an email after each meeting, a newsletter, a portal?
Why ask it
Pick whichever your community lacks and ask about that. The commitment to listen for has a date in it, such as draft minutes posted within two weeks. If the candidate offers a private social media group, ask who moderates it and what happens to owners who are not on it.
What belongs in a closed session, and what should always be discussed in front of owners?
Why ask it
Open meeting rules for associations differ by state and by document, so find out what yours require. Legal advice, individual owners' accounts and violations, and personnel are the topics boards most often close. A budget, a contract award or a rule change settled behind closed doors is what to push back on.
If an owner asks to see the financial statements, contracts or bids, what should happen?
Why ask it
Owners generally have some right to inspect records, with limits and a procedure that come from the law and the bylaws, so ask the manager how a request works today. The telling part is tone. 'Send it within the week' and 'why do they want it' come from two different kinds of director.
How would you give owners a say before a big decision, such as a major project or a new rule?
Why ask it
Comment time at a meeting reaches the dozen people who attend. A short survey, a draft posted for a few weeks or a town hall on a single topic reaches more, and each takes work that somebody has to volunteer for. Ask which one they would run themselves.
How would you report bad news to owners, like a failed inspection or a cost overrun?
Why ask it
Early and in writing, with the figure attached and the plan next to it, is the standard to hold them to. Boards that wait for the annual meeting tend to find the story has already spread with worse numbers. Ask for a time they had to deliver bad news anywhere, at work or in a club.
How will owners reach you, and how fast should they expect a reply?
Why ask it
Directors are volunteers with jobs, and one who promises to answer every text at ten at night will be worn out by spring. A shared board address, a stated reply time and a line about what goes to the manager instead make a healthier setup. It also keeps association business out of personal inboxes.
Disputes
Two neighbors are fighting over noise, a tree or a parking space, and both email you. What do you do?
Why ask it
The first move should be a sorting one: is a rule of the association being broken, or is this between the two of them? Where a rule applies, the complaint goes through the same written process as any other. Where none does, a director can suggest the neighbors talk or try mediation, and should not appoint themselves judge.
A friend on your street gets a violation letter and asks you to make it go away. What do you say?
Why ask it
Nearly every director gets this request sooner or later, and 'I will take care of it' is the very thing owners resent in a board. A good reply explains the hearing or appeal to the friend and then stays out of the decision. Follow with the harder version, where the letter is addressed to a fellow director.
In a closed session you learn that a neighbor is behind on dues or facing a violation. Who can you tell?
Why ask it
'Nobody, and that includes my spouse' is the answer to hope for, and a pause before it is worth noticing. Where everyone knows everyone, a director who repeats an owner's balance at the mailboxes does damage that an apology will not undo. If your board has no confidentiality pledge for directors to sign, suggest one to whoever wins.
How do you behave when a meeting gets heated or an owner starts shouting at the board?
Why ask it
Ask for an occasion from work, a team or a family gathering, because everybody claims to stay calm. Time limits for speakers, a chair who repeats the concern back and a promise of a written reply are practical tools. A candidate known for shouting from the floor should be asked this kindly and directly.
What should the board do when an owner is hostile to the manager, a vendor or a volunteer?
Why ask it
Managers and committee volunteers quit over this, and replacing them costs the community. Listen for a written conduct policy, conversations moved to email and public backing for the people doing the work. Reaching for the fine schedule to get even is the wrong tool, and it shows how the candidate handles being disliked.
The board votes against something you campaigned on. What happens next?
Why ask it
A board acts by majority, and how a director loses matters as much as how they vote. Accepting the outcome while asking for it to be looked at again on a set date is reasonable. Taking the argument to the community's social media page the same night makes the rest of the term harder for everyone at the table.
Getting straight answers from HOA board candidates
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Homework before candidate night
Read three documents first
The current budget, the latest reserve study if one exists and the last few sets of minutes. Twenty minutes with those turns 'what about dues' into 'the insurance line went up sharply, what would you do about it'. The manager or the board secretary can tell you where they are kept.
Get the election rules in writing
How many seats are open, how long a term runs, who is eligible and whether voting is by mail, online or in the room all come from your bylaws and local law. Ask the manager or the election committee for the rules in writing. A question about slates or proxies lands better when you know what is allowed.
Pick a handful tied to this year's argument
At most forums an owner gets one question, if that. Choose the ones that fit what your community is facing, whether that is a roof, a rental cap or a manager nobody can reach, and save the rest for a hallway conversation or an email to the candidates.
Word it so it cannot be dodged
Name the building, the contract or the dollar figure. 'Would you rebid the landscaping contract when it ends in March' gets an answer. 'How do you feel about vendors' gets a speech.
If you are the one organizing it
Give sitting directors no head start
Send the questions to all the candidates a week ahead, or to none of them. Give each the same time to answer and rotate who speaks first. Directors standing for another term get no extra minutes to defend the record, and the association's newsletter or email list should carry every candidate's statement or nobody's.
Let someone neutral hold the microphone
A sitting director whose name is on the ballot should not moderate. A past board member who is not running, or an owner both camps respect, can keep time and read written questions from the floor. The manager is hired by the current board, so check that the challengers are comfortable before handing the manager that job.
Collect written answers for owners who cannot come
A one-page questionnaire with four or five questions, sent out with the ballot or posted where owners already look, reaches the people who never attend meetings. Print the replies as given, without editing or comment.
A nominating committee is not always a gatekeeper
In some associations the committee only gathers names, in others it recommends, and owners may still be able to stand by petition or from the floor. Read your bylaws before screening anyone out, and take unclear wording to the association's attorney.
What to listen for in the answers
A board power, not a wish
'I will lower dues' is a wish. 'I would rebid the two largest contracts and show owners the result before the budget vote' is something one director can propose and a majority can carry out.
Evidence of homework
A figure from the budget, a date from the reserve study, a meeting they attended. One real detail is worth more than a confident tone, and a candidate with no details in any answer is showing you how they will arrive at meetings.
How they talk about neighbors
Listen to the nouns. A candidate who says 'those people in the townhomes' or 'the renters' when describing a problem will carry that into enforcement. The job is applying one set of rules to every door.
Comfort with being one vote
The candidate who says 'I would ask the board to' understands the seat. One who says 'I will' about everything may be planning to run the place alone, or is in for a surprise at the first meeting.
After the forum
Compare answers, not likability
The neighbor who waves from the driveway is not automatically the one who will read a forty-page insurance renewal. Write down what each candidate said about money and enforcement while you still remember it, then decide.
Check one claim
If a candidate said the reserves are healthy or that the manager overcharges, open the document. It takes ten minutes and tells you how far to rely on everything else they said.
Return the ballot or proxy on time
An association election can turn on a handful of votes, and one that falls short of quorum may not count at all. Find out the deadline and the accepted ways to vote in your community, and remind the neighbors on either side of you.
Ask again in a year
Hold on to the candidates' written replies. A year in, a polite question at an open meeting about the promise to post minutes or rebid a contract is fair, and it goes over better when you remember you are asking an unpaid neighbor.