1.  Ensure the Board represents the owners.  Are they responsive to the owners they were elected to represent or serving their own narrow interests?  Board meetings may be an opportunity for owners to air their concerns and give the directors a chance to address these concerns.

2.  Determine if the Board is competent.  Watch the directors interact.  Do the directors have a clue?  Is there honest debate before a vote or is a predetermined path followed?  Are real facts considered?  Do they truly understand what the vote is about or do they just go through the motions without considering what they are voting on?  Listen to their reports.  Do they really make sense?

3.  Learn how your association’s money is being spent.  Is money spent on things that benefit only a few owners?  Are several bids considered prior to approving large expenditures?  Does the association’s budget set reserves aside regularly every month to replace costly equipment in the building?  How many owners are delinquent in paying their maintenance fees?

4.  Determine how the Board oversees the General Manager’s performance.  Does the Board hold the GM accountable for what goes on in the building or does it simply allow the GM run the building as he pleases?  The GM’s acts or failures to act can lead to association liability.

5.  Evaluate the management company.  Ideally, the management company should provide expert advice to the Board.  It should step in to prevent the Board from inadvertently harming the association, regardless of what the Board’s intentions were.

6.  Show the Board of Directors that you will scrutinize their actions.  If very few people attend monthly Board meetings and the annual meeting, the directors may lose sight of who they represent…each and every homeowner.  In addition, sunlight is the best disinfectant.  Conducting Board business in the open keeps the Board honest.

7.  Protect your interest.  Is the board actively managing expenses or blindly raising maintenance fees to make the budget balance each year?  A monkey can do the latter.  Large maintenance fee hikes will make your condominium unattractive to potential buyers.

8.  Meet your neighbors.  This is an excellent opportunity to meet and talk with other owners you occasionally see in the elevator, hallway or by the mailbox.  You share at least one common interest; making sure your property values are protected.

9.  Help establish quorum.  This only applies to the annual meeting.  If a quorum isn’t established, the meeting will be canceled and additional costs will be incurred by the association to reschedule.

10.  Vote for directors.  This only applies to the annual meeting.  This is the only chance you’ll have all year to inject fresh blood and a new point of view into the Board.  Make your vote count!

You should also read Annual Association Meeting Lessons Learned.

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