While e-mail has become one of the most common and preferred means of communication, it may not always be the wisest or safest method for board members of community associations. At the very least, certain precautions need to be taken.
First and foremost, boards should not be making decisions and taking votes by e-mail. Decisions need to be made at a board meeting. A decision made by e-mail, if challenged, will likely not be upheld in a court of law. The only instance when an e-mail vote might have some validity would be in an emergency situation, where an issue arises that could not have been anticipated and requires immediate attention. Any such decision should be confirmed in the minutes of the next board meeting – ideally held soon after the vote. Even under such circumstances, a conference call of the board members would be preferable to an e-mail decision.
Even “discussions” among board members by e-mail can be problematic since they may become public in the course of a lawsuit.
No potentially embarrassing statements or opinions should be set forth in an e-mail message to other board members regarding community business. Board members should always conduct themselves in a professional and respectable manner, and that includes e-mail communications.
In general, we feel it is best to avoid sharing board members’ individual e-mail addresses with the community. If these addresses are advertised, board members will, inevitably, receive unsolicited complaints from dissatisfied unit owners. The resultant, seemingly endless back-and-forth communications will almost always be unproductive. Worse still will be the unit owner’s wrath if the board member does not respond at all. Instead, all e-mail communications from the unit owners should be directed to the managing agent’s e-mail or a generic e-mail address for the association. The board can then discuss the issue and respond in a measured and unified manner. Just as board members do not like to be accosted at the pool or in the parking lot by irate homeowners, they should not be subject to these same attacks in their e-mail inbox.
Finally, it may be worthwhile for a community to obtain dedicated e-mail addresses for its board members, such as Secretary@MyHOA.com. By using such an address for all board business, board members will not risk commingling personal or private communications with board matters. Board-related e-mail messages will be easily located and, in the event e-mail communications are found to be discoverable by a court, a board member’s private e-mails will not be part of that process.
