Attending HOA Meetings in Montana

The decisions that affect your home — budgets, rules, assessments — often get made at board meetings. In Montana, the rules about those meetings sit in a different place than most homeowners assume, because the condominium statute is concise and there's no general HOA act. For your specific situation, a licensed Montana attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.

Does Montana have an HOA open-meetings law?

No. Montana has no general HOA act, and its condominium statute, the Unit Ownership Act (MCA Title 70, ch. 23), does not impose a comprehensive open-meeting and notice regime. Meeting procedure comes from the recorded declaration and bylaws and, for incorporated associations only, the Montana Nonprofit Corporation Act (Title 35, ch. 2), including its member-notice rule, MCA § 35-2-530.

Montana's Unit Ownership Act (MCA Title 70, Ch. 23) establishes the condominium framework, but it does not impose a comprehensive open-meeting and notice regime the way modern comprehensive acts do. For the many associations incorporated as nonprofits, the corporate-law rules sit on top of, and have to be consistent with, the bylaws.

Does a Montana HOA have to hold an annual meeting?

Yes, if it is incorporated as a nonprofit. Montana has no general HOA act, but under the Nonprofit Corporation Act, MCA § 35-2-526, a corporation with members must hold a membership meeting annually at a time stated in or fixed under the bylaws, where the president and chief financial officer report on the corporation's activities and financial condition.

Under § 35-2-526(1), "a corporation with members shall hold a membership meeting annually at a time stated in or fixed in accordance with the bylaws." The statute also says what happens there. At the annual meeting, "the president and chief financial officer shall report on the activities and financial condition of the corporation," and the members "shall consider and act upon other matters that are raised consistent with the notice and voting requirements" of the Act (§ 35-2-526(4)). For owners trying to understand the association's money, that required report is a fixed point each year.

Special meetings owners can demand (§ 35-2-527)

A special meeting of members happens on the board's call, or when "the holders of at least 5% of the voting power" of the corporation "sign, date, and deliver to any corporate officer one or more written demands for the meeting that describe the purpose or purposes for which it is to be held" (§ 35-2-527(1)(b)). If notice of a demanded meeting isn't given within 30 days after the demand is delivered, "a person signing the demand or demands may set the time and place of the meeting and give notice" under § 35-2-530 (§ 35-2-527(3)). A special meeting can only take up "the matter or matters for which the meeting is called," because that is what its notice has to describe (§ 35-2-530(3)(c)).

How much notice must a Montana HOA give for member meetings?

For incorporated associations, generally at least 10 days. Montana has no general HOA act, but MCA § 35-2-530 of the Nonprofit Corporation Act treats member-meeting notice as fair and reasonable when given at least 10 days before the meeting, or 30 to 60 days before if sent by certified mail. Notice must also be consistent with the bylaws.

Section 35-2-530(1) requires notice "consistent with its bylaws of meetings of members in a fair and reasonable manner." Notice is fair and reasonable when the corporation notifies members of "the place, date, and time of each annual, regular, and special meeting of members not less than 10 days before the meeting date or, if notice is mailed by certified mail, not less than 30 or more than 60 days before the meeting date" (§ 35-2-530(3)(a)). Notice of an annual or regular meeting also has to describe any matter on the agenda that the Act lists as needing the members' approval (§ 35-2-530(3)(b)).

Board meetings (§ 35-2-429)

Board meetings work differently. Unless the articles or bylaws say otherwise, "regular meetings of the board may be held without notice," and special board meetings "must be preceded by at least 2 days' notice to each director of the date, time, and place, but not the purpose, of the meeting" (§ 35-2-429(1)–(2)). Those rules are about notice to directors, not to owners. Whether owners can attend and speak at board meetings is usually a question for the bylaws. The board can also act without meeting at all if every director signs a written consent, which then goes "in the minutes filed with the corporate records" (§ 35-2-428(1)).

Remote meetings are expressly allowed (§ 35-2-525)

A 2021 law (Ch. 185, L. 2021) added § 35-2-525, which provides that "unless the terms of the articles of incorporation or bylaws provide otherwise, a homeowners' association or an association of unit owners may hold a meeting by remote means." So an association generally can meet remotely, but the bylaws can restrict or condition it, and the notice rules still apply.

Minutes and records

If you couldn't attend, the minutes show what happened. For incorporated associations, a member can inspect and copy the corporation's core records on "written notice or a written demand at least 5 business days before the date on which the member wishes to inspect and copy" (§ 35-2-907(1)), and excerpts of board minutes are available on the added conditions in § 35-2-907(2)–(3). For condominiums, § 70-23-606 makes the manager's records of receipts and expenditures available for examination at the manager's place of business at "convenient hours of weekdays." See Getting Your HOA's Records in Montana.

If meetings are closed or unnoticed

When an owner believes the association met without the notice the bylaws or Title 35 require, the options include raising it with the board in writing, requesting the records that would show what happened, and consulting a licensed Montana attorney about whether the bylaws and the Nonprofit Corporation Act were followed.

Sources

• MCA § 35-2-428 — Action without meeting
• MCA § 35-2-429 — Call and notice of board meetings
• MCA § 35-2-525 — Homeowners association; remote meetings
• MCA § 35-2-526 — Annual and regular meetings
• MCA § 35-2-527 — Special meeting
• MCA § 35-2-530 — Notice of meeting
• MCA § 35-2-907 — Inspection of records by members
• MCA § 70-23-606 — Records of receipts and expenditures; inspection