Association meetings, board members ‘get no respect’ but should demand it

Q: During some of our board meetings, homeowners have disturbed meetings and addressed board members in a very aggressive manner. Some board members have even been threatened while walking in the community. I would like to know if the provisions of NRS 199.300 pertain to board members since board members hear and determine controversy on violations of the covenants. Do the provisions of NRS 203.090 apply to homeowners and tenants when they disturb a board meeting of an association? Also, are there any other statutes that protect board members from harassment and threats?

A. NRS 199.300 states: "A person shall not directly or indirectly address any threat or intimidation to a public officer, public employee, juror, referee, arbitrator, appraiser or any person authorized by law to hear or determine any controversy or matter, with the intent to induce him, contrary to his duty to do, make, omit or delay any act, decision or determination, if the threat or intimidation communicates the intent, either immediately or in the future."

The answer is probably no. The law does not apply to directors in homeowner associations. It would be a real stretch of the law for a judge to apply this law to board members.

However, NRS 203.090 pertains to disturbing a public meeting. The law states: "Every person who, without authority of law, who shall willfully disturb any assembly or meeting that is not unlawful in its character, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor." That would pertain to the second half of your question. Now, before you start filing charges with the police department against homeowners for disrupting a meeting, there are a number of caveats that need to be stated.

First, the association needs to contact legal counsel to discuss this issue as to what constitutes disturbing a meeting. Second, legal counsel should review all of the association's governing documents to determine if there are any regulations pertaining to meeting procedures. Many associations do not have written procedures as to how meetings will be conducted. Robert's Rules of Order may be of value in writing specific procedures of how the board and individual members must conduct themselves in association meetings.

Once the association has established these meeting procedures, they should be placed on the agenda for discussion and vote by the board. Homeowners who attend the meeting can discuss their concerns or suggestions during the homeowner forum. Once the procedures are voted upon and become part of the association's rules and regulations, the association can include the meeting procedures as part of its standard language in meeting agendas for all association meetings.

One association that has established such procedures will send a warning letter to the disrupting homeowner, informing that member that continued disruption would not be tolerated. The homeowner can be fined or lose their privilege of attending the board meeting.

Meeting management is important to keep order and the discussion focused on the topics of the agenda. Some tips to good meeting management are:

The sign-in sheet should have a column where owners can check off their name under a category that indicates they would like to address the board. When the homeowner forum begins, the president will call each member who has indicated he or she would like to talk. There is often a time limit. Some associations will allow more than three minutes if time is available, based upon the number of members who want to speak, amount of association business and if the meeting is being held in a public location. Once the forum is over, members are invited to remain at the meeting, but are informed that only board members will be involved in the remainder of the meeting, which will include voting on the topics.

If members become disruptive, the president has the option of calling a recess in the meeting. The recess will provide a cooling-down period and also give the board members an opportunity to talk in private with the disrupters and let them know that they will be asked to leave if they can not properly conduct themselves. After the recess, if the meeting cannot proceed without any problems, the president can adjourn the meeting.

Barbara Holland, certified property manager, is president and owner of H&L Realty and Management Co. Questions may be sent to Association Q. & A., P.O. Box 7440, Las Vegas, NV 89125. Her fax number is 385-3759.