Colorado Law · Meetings & Procedure

Understanding Colorado HOA Meetings: What Owners Can Expect

Colorado law gives owners a seat in the room at most association meetings and a voice before the board votes. Unless the declaration provides otherwise, it also lets a majority of all owners veto the board’s proposed budget. This explainer walks through what the statute provides, in plain language, for owners and for directors in their first term.

Educational notice. This information is educational in nature and should not be construed as legal advice. Statutory references are to the Colorado Revised Statutes as published by the Colorado General Assembly at the time of writing; later amendments are possible. Consult qualified association counsel regarding legal interpretation specific to your jurisdiction.

Currency: verified against the Colorado Revised Statutes 2024 (Office of Legislative Legal Services printout). Later amendments are possible. Owners with a question about a specific meeting commonly consult their own attorney; the DORA HOA Information and Resource Center publishes general information.

One Law for Every Kind of Community

Colorado’s Common Interest Ownership Act (CCIOA, C.R.S. § 38-33.3-101 et seq.) covers condominiums, cooperatives, and planned communities under one set of meeting rules. Communities created before July 1, 1992 are subject only to the CCIOA sections listed in § 38-33.3-117. The core open-meeting rules in § 308(2) through (7) apply to all communities from July 1, 1995 (§ 117(4)).

Can I Attend Board Meetings?

Generally, yes. All regular and special meetings of the board, and of any board committee, are open to every member of the association or the member’s representative. Agendas for board meetings are made reasonably available for owners to examine (§ 38-33.3-308(2)(a)). Where electronic means are available, owners who request it and supply an e-mail address receive e-mail notice of owners’ meetings, with electronic notice of a special owners’ meeting at least 24 hours in advance (§ 308(2)(b)).

Can I Speak?

Before the board votes on an issue, owners or their designated representatives may speak on it. The board may set reasonable time limits and may limit speakers to a reasonable number on each side (§ 308(2.5)). The right is tied to the vote. Many boards open each action item for comment before the motion, in addition to any general comment period.

Speaking is not voting. At a board meeting, the directors make the decision. Owners vote at owners’ meetings, on elections, amendments, removals, and the matters the declaration and bylaws reserve to them.

How Will I Know a Meeting Is Coming?

Owners’ meetings are held at least once a year. Notice is delivered by hand or mail to each unit no fewer than 10 and no more than 50 days ahead, with physical posting where feasible. The notice states the time, place, and agenda, including the general nature of any proposed declaration or bylaw amendment, any budget changes, and any proposal to remove an officer or board member (§ 308(1)). Owners holding 20 percent of the votes, or a lower percentage set by the bylaws, may call a special owners’ meeting.

What Happens Behind Closed Doors, and What Cannot

A board may meet in executive session only for the six subjects listed in § 308(4). They are personnel matters and the managing agent’s contract; consultation with counsel on litigation or privileged matters; criminal-misconduct investigations; matters the law protects from disclosure; matters whose disclosure would be an unwarranted invasion of individual privacy; and review of counsel’s communications. The privacy item expressly includes an owner’s disciplinary hearing and any decision to refer a delinquent account. The affected owner may obtain the result of that vote.

Three protections apply to every closed session:

• The presiding officer announces the general topic before the board goes into closed session (§ 308(5)).
• No rule or regulation may be adopted in executive session (§ 308(6)).
• The minutes note that an executive session was held and its general subject (§ 308(7)).

What Is a Quorum?

A quorum is the minimum attendance needed for a meeting to act. Unless the bylaws set a different number, the owners’ meeting quorum is 20 percent of the votes, or 10 percent in an association with more than 1,000 owners. The board quorum is 50 percent of the votes on the board, unless the bylaws specify more (§ 38-33.3-309). Section 309 is not on the § 117 list for pre-1992 communities, so older communities look first to their bylaws.

The Budget Meeting: The Owners’ Veto

This is the meeting most specific to Colorado. After the board adopts a proposed budget, it has 90 days to deliver a budget summary to all owners and set an owners’ meeting within a reasonable time. Unless the declaration requires otherwise, the budget does not need an owner vote to pass. It is deemed approved unless a majority of all unit owners veto it at that meeting, whether or not a quorum is present. If owners veto it, the last budget owners did not veto continues (§ 38-33.3-303(4)(a)).

Because the threshold is a majority of all owners, not of those attending, a veto takes broad participation. A declaration may set a larger percentage. For pre-1992 communities the procedure applies from July 1, 2017 (§ 117(1.8)), with a narrow exception for some whose declarations cap assessments.

Meeting Records I Can See

The association’s records include minutes of owner, board, and committee meetings; records of action taken without a meeting; owners’ votes; and ballots and proxies, which are kept for one year (§ 38-33.3-317(1)). An owner may inspect and copy records. The association may require a written request at least 10 days in advance that describes the records with reasonable particularity, and it may not require the owner to state a purpose (§ 317(2)(a)). Executive-session records are among the categories the association may withhold (§ 317(3)). Copy charges are limited to estimated cost (§ 317(4)).

For New Directors: Three Habits That Follow From the Statute

1. Read every agenda item as a vote owners may speak to first.
2. Before proposing a closed session, check the topic against the six categories.
3. Write the minutes knowing owners may inspect them as association records (§ 317(1)).

For the board-level detail, including remote participation and action without a meeting under the Nonprofit Corporation Act, see How Colorado HOA Board Meetings Work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can owners attend Colorado HOA board meetings?

Under C.R.S. § 38-33.3-308(2)(a), all regular and special meetings of the board, and of any board committee, are open to every member of the association or the member’s representative, and board agendas are made reasonably available for owners to examine. A board may meet in executive session only for the six subjects listed in § 308(4). How these rules apply to a particular meeting is a question for association counsel.

Do owners have a right to speak at Colorado HOA board meetings?

Section 38-33.3-308(2.5) provides that before the board votes on an issue, owners or their designated representatives may speak on it, and the board may set reasonable time limits and limit speakers to a reasonable number on each side. Many boards open each action item for comment before the motion, in addition to any general comment period. How a board structures owner comment is a question association counsel can address.

What can a Colorado HOA board discuss in executive session?

Section 38-33.3-308(4) lists six subjects: personnel matters and the managing agent’s contract; consultation with counsel on litigation or privileged matters; criminal-misconduct investigations; matters the law protects from disclosure; matters whose disclosure would be an unwarranted invasion of individual privacy; and review of counsel’s communications. The presiding officer announces the general topic first, no rule or regulation may be adopted in executive session, and the minutes note the session and its general subject. Whether a particular topic fits a category is a question for association counsel.

What is the quorum for a Colorado HOA meeting?

Unless the bylaws set a different number, § 38-33.3-309 sets the owners’ meeting quorum at 20 percent of the votes, or 10 percent in an association with more than 1,000 owners, and the board quorum at 50 percent of the votes on the board unless the bylaws specify more. Section 309 is not on the § 117 list for pre-1992 communities, so older communities look first to their bylaws. How quorum applies to a specific meeting is a matter for association counsel.

How does the owner budget veto work in a Colorado HOA?

Under § 38-33.3-303(4)(a), after the board adopts a proposed budget it has 90 days to deliver a budget summary to all owners and set an owners’ meeting within a reasonable time. Unless the declaration requires otherwise, the budget is deemed approved unless a majority of all unit owners veto it at that meeting, whether or not a quorum is present, and if owners veto it, the last budget owners did not veto continues. How the procedure works under a particular declaration is a question for association counsel.

References & Sources

1. C.R.S. § 38-33.3-308 — Meetings. C.R.S. 2024, Title 38 (OLLS)
2. C.R.S. § 38-33.3-309 — Quorums.
3. C.R.S. § 38-33.3-303(4)(a) — Budget adoption and owner veto.
4. C.R.S. § 38-33.3-317(1)–(4) — Association records and owner inspection.
5. C.R.S. § 38-33.3-117 — Applicability to communities created before July 1, 1992.

Related Resources & Additional Reading from the CIC-SC Library

• How Colorado HOA Board Meetings Work — the board-level guide.
• HOA Assessment Authority in Colorado — budgets, assessments, and the veto.
• Colorado HOA Records Under § 38-33.3-317 — access and retention.
• Colorado HOA Board Member Governance Guide.

Tags: Colorado HOA meetings · owner rights · right to speak · executive session · quorum · budget veto · C.R.S. 38-33.3-308 · C.R.S. 38-33.3-303(4) · HOA records · CCIOA

Disclaimer. This article is published by the Common Interest Community Standards Council for educational and informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Statutory references and procedural frameworks are intended to support informed governance, not to substitute for advice from qualified Colorado legal counsel. Boards and managers should consult their association’s attorney about the application of any statute, governing-document provision, or procedural decision to their specific circumstances. CIC-SC, its authors, and its members assume no liability for actions taken in reliance on this content.

Published by the Common Interest Community Standards Council (CICSC). Part of the CICSC Member Education Library. © 2026 CICSC. Educational use permitted with attribution.