Attending HOA Meetings in Kansas

The decisions that affect your home — budgets, rules, assessments — often get made at board meetings, and Kansas gives owners a real right to be in the room. The Uniform Common Interest Owners Bill of Rights Act (KUCIOBORA) sets rules for board meetings, owner meetings, and the notice owners receive. For your specific situation, a licensed Kansas attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.

Are HOA board meetings open to owners in Kansas?

Yes, in communities of 12 or more units. Under K.S.A. 58-4612(a), meetings of the board and of committees authorized to act for the association must be open to unit owners except during executive sessions, which are limited to five listed reasons. No final vote or action may be taken in an executive session.

Under K.S.A. 58-4612(a), meetings of the board and of committees authorized to act for the association "must be open to the unit owners except during executive sessions." Executive sessions are narrow. They may be held "only during a regular or special meeting of the board or a committee," and:

"No final vote or action may be taken during an executive session." — K.S.A. 58-4612(a)

The statute lists five permitted reasons for one: consulting the association's attorney; existing or potential litigation, mediation, arbitration, or administrative proceedings; labor or personnel matters; contracts being negotiated when early disclosure would put the association at a disadvantage; and matters where public knowledge "would violate the privacy of any person."

Other parts of §58-4612 fill in the picture:

• No workarounds. The board "may not use incidental or social gatherings of board members or any other method to evade the open meeting requirements of this section" (§58-4612(b)).
• How often. After the period of declarant control ends, the board "shall meet at least once a year" (§58-4612(c)); during declarant control, it meets at least twice a year.
• Owner comment. At each board meeting, "the board shall provide a reasonable opportunity for unit owners to comment regarding any matter affecting the common interest community and the association" (§58-4612(d)).
• Notice. Unless the meeting is on a schedule given to owners or is called for an emergency, the notice must "state the time, date, place, and agenda of the meeting" and generally be given "at least five days prior to the meeting date" (§58-4612(e)).
• Board packets. Materials handed to the board before a meeting must be made "reasonably available to unit owners" at the same time, except unapproved minutes and executive-session materials (§58-4612(f)).
• Remote meetings. Unless the declaration or bylaws say otherwise, the board may meet by phone or video if the notice explains how owners can take part and the process gives owners "the opportunity to hear or perceive the discussion and to comment" (§58-4612(g)).

How much notice must a Kansas HOA give for owner meetings?

Generally, 10 to 60 days. In communities of 12 or more units, K.S.A. 58-4611(c) requires notice of the time, date and place of each annual and special unit owners meeting not less than 10 days or more than 60 days before it. The minimum notice period can be shortened or waived for an emergency meeting.

Owner meetings have their own section. "An association shall hold a meeting of unit owners annually" (§58-4611(a)). A special meeting can be requested by the president, a majority of the board, or owners holding "at least 10%, or any lower percentage specified in the bylaws," of the votes; if the association doesn't notify owners within 30 days of that request, the requesting members may notify everyone themselves (§58-4611(b)).

"An association shall notify unit owners of the time, date, and place of each annual and special unit owners meeting not less than 10 days or more than 60 days before the meeting date." — K.S.A. 58-4611(c)

The notice must list the agenda, including the general nature of any proposed amendment to the declaration or bylaws, "any budget proposals or changes," and any proposal to remove an officer or board member. "Only matters described in the meeting notice required by subsection (c) may be considered at a special meeting" (§58-4611(b)), and owners "must be given a reasonable opportunity at any meeting to comment" (§58-4611(e)). The minimum notice period can be shortened or waived for an emergency meeting (§58-4611(d)).

The declaration and bylaws add detail, but under K.S.A. 58-4603 the Act's provisions are mandatory and "shall not be varied or waived by agreement," except where the Act itself allows it.

Is a Kansas HOA board action void if meeting rules are broken?

No, not automatically. In communities of 12 or more units, K.S.A. 58-4612(j) keeps a board action that doesn't comply with the section valid unless a court sets it aside. A challenge may not be brought more than 60 days after the minutes are approved or the record of that action is distributed to unit owners, whichever is later.

Notice and open meetings are what let owners see a budget, rule, or assessment before it is final rather than after. KUCIOBORA does not, however, make a board action void just because the meeting rules were broken:

"Even if an action by the board of directors is not in compliance with this section, it is valid unless set aside by a court." — K.S.A. 58-4612(j)

The same subsection sets a short window: a challenge for failure to comply "may not be brought more than 60 days after the minutes of the board of directors of the meeting at which the action was taken are approved or the record of that action is distributed to unit owners, whichever is later." How that window applies to a particular action is a question for a licensed Kansas attorney.

Does Kansas's HOA meetings law reach communities under 12 units?

No. KUCIOBORA, which sets Kansas's statutory meeting rules, reaches communities "that contain 12 or more units that may be used for residential purposes" (K.S.A. 58-4605, 58-4606). In a smaller community, meeting procedure comes from the declaration and bylaws, plus the Kansas General Corporation Code if the association is a nonprofit corporation.

KUCIOBORA reaches common interest communities "that contain 12 or more units that may be used for residential purposes" — those created after the Act took effect (§58-4605) and those created before it (§58-4606). For older communities, the Act does not reach events before its effective date, and existing provisions of the declaration and bylaws stay in place except where they conflict with the Act's mandatory provisions (§58-4606(a)–(b)).

In a smaller community, meeting procedure comes from the declaration and bylaws. Whatever its size, an association organized as a Kansas nonprofit corporation is also subject to the Kansas General Corporation Code, which applies to nonstock corporations with members in place of stockholders (K.S.A. 17-6014). Its default member quorum, for example, applies when the articles and bylaws are silent: "One-third of the members of such corporation present in person or represented by proxy after proper notice has been given shall constitute a quorum at a meeting of such members" (K.S.A. 17-6505(c)(1)). See Which Kansas Laws Govern Your HOA?.

Minutes are records you can get

If you couldn't attend, the minutes show what happened. KUCIOBORA requires the association to keep, for five years, "minutes of all meetings of its unit owners and board of directors other than executive sessions" (§58-4616(a)(2)). Records are available for examination and copying "upon 10 days' written notice reasonably identifying the specific records of the association requested" (§58-4616(b)), subject to the exceptions in subsection (c) — see Getting Your HOA's Records in Kansas.

If meetings are closed or unnoticed

When an owner believes the board is meeting in violation of the open-meeting or notice rules, the options include raising it with the board in writing, requesting the minutes and records that would show what happened, and consulting a licensed Kansas attorney about whether §58-4611, §58-4612, and the governing documents were followed — keeping in mind the 60-day limit in §58-4612(j).

Sources

• K.S.A. 58-4612 — Open meetings; executive sessions; board notice
• K.S.A. 58-4611 — Association meetings; notice
• K.S.A. 58-4603 — Provisions mandatory
• K.S.A. 58-4605 — Application of act
• K.S.A. 58-4606 — Pre-existing communities
• K.S.A. 58-4616 — Records open to unit owners
• K.S.A. 17-6014 — General corporation code and nonstock corporations
• K.S.A. 17-6505 — Voting rights and quorum of members of nonstock corporations