By Mike Kosor, Founder of NVHOAReform
In Nevada, your HOA board is supposed to make its decisions in the open — where every homeowner has the chance to see what’s being considered, hear the discussion, and speak up before votes are taken.
But an increasing number of boards are quietly voting on major matters by email — and it’s leaving owners completely shut out.
This practice isn’t just simply a matter of efficiency. It is often used as a way to sidestep potentially controversial board action and goes to undermine the entire system of transparency that Nevada’s HOA law (NRS Chapter 116) intended for owners.
The Law Requires Public Meetings — Not Private Emails
HOAs are required to hold open, and noticed meetings when they conduct business (NRS 116.31083). It is where board are supposed to conduct most all association business. Owners must be given at least 10 days’ notice, and meetings must include an agenda showing what will be discussed and voted on.
This is how owners know what their board is doing with their money, their property, and their community’s future. It also allows owners to comment before any voting occurs.
But when boards make decisions over email or in private written “consent” forms, none of that happens. There is no agenda. No notice. No open discussion. No chance for owners to ask questions or object.
The “Urgent” Excuse Doesn’t Apply
Some boards claim they can vote by email if it’s “urgent.” That’s wrong.
The law does allow boards to act on something not on the agenda only in a true emergency, defined as “an unforeseen circumstance which requires immediate attention and possible action by the executive board.” (NRS 116.31083(13)
Routine contracts, policy decisions, or non-emergency spending don’t qualify — and should be handled at a properly noticed meeting. Immediate attention is not meant excuse poor planning or failure to act plan act in a timely manner.
Why This Matters
When boards vote by email:
Owners are denied the chance to observe or comment
Decisions are made without debate or transparency
Boards can approve contracts, adopt rules, or spend money in ways owners only learn about after the fact
Boards can hide behind “ratification” votes later, pretending a private decision was made publicly
This isn’t hypothetical. Many HOAs are already doing it — approving major vendor contracts or adopting new policies via email, then rubber-stamping them after the fact.
And because the Nevada Real Estate Division (NRED) has never created rules to stop it, there are no real consequences when boards sidestep public meetings this way.
How They Get Away With It
First, most owners don’t know it’s happening. When they do, they rarely speak out.
Second, there is NRED. It has long acknowledged the risk, as shown in Advisory Opinion No. 11-01 (June 14, 2011) that in part reads:
“a vote via email or possibly another method may not satisfy the fiduciary duty of a board member, thus these methods of voting for members of an executive board is greatly disfavored...”
Greatly disfavored- really? Yet, it hasn’t imposed meaningful penalties or clear rules, which trains boards to treat convenience as compliance.
Then lastly, there is loophole that comes into play from other laws not meant for HOAs.
Nevada’s nonprofit laws (NRS 82) allow boards to act without a meeting if a majority of directors sign a written consent. Similar authority is found in many CC&Rs- often requires unanimous consent. So absent a clear rule to the contrary, board rely on these corporate-law provisions instead of holding open meetings.
Boards should not be using corporate-law shortcuts to bypass the homeowner protections in HOA law — but right now, some are.
What We’re Doing About It
The Coalition has filed a petition for rulemaking under NRS 233B.100, asking NRED and the Commission for Common-Interest Communities and Condominium Hotels (CICCH) to adopt a clear regulation that says:
HOA boards may not approve contracts, adopt rules or policies, or authorize non-emergency spending by email, written consent, or any other non-meeting method.
All such decisions should made at a properly noticed meeting, open to all owners. This would close the loophole, uphold the open-meeting protections already in the law, while allowing some minor administrative board action when necessary, between meeting. It is our hoped it can restore trust in HOA governance.
If boards can make major decisions behind closed doors — or behind inboxes — then homeowner oversight becomes an illusion.
The Bottom Line
Nevada’s HOA laws are intended to provide transparency.
Email voting lets boards escape it.
It’s time to close this loophole — and make sure board business stays where it belongs: in the open, in public, and on the record.
Opposition & Responses
“It’s faster and more efficient.”
Boards will assert email voting is just a way to speed things up. And that is certainly true. But speed is no excuse for secrecy or poor planning. The law directs open meetings precisely because they slow things down enough for owners to see what’s happening and respond. In my experience email voting is rarely about efficiency- it's about avoiding scrutiny.
“We ratify the decision later, so it’s still legal.”
Ratification after the fact doesn’t undo the harm. The real decision is already made by the time it reaches a public meeting, leaving owners with no meaningful opportunity to influence it. A rubber stamp isn’t transparency.
“Our governing documents allow it.”
Yes, many developer-written governing documents contain “action without a meeting” clauses, and boards also point to nonprofit corporation laws. But HOA law makes clear that if another statute conflicts with Chapter 116, Chapter 116 controls — and Chapter 116 requires seeks open meetings.
Bylaws should not erase statutory protections.
“We only do it in emergencies.”
True emergencies are rare and already allowed. Routine contracts, policy changes, and spending decisions don’t qualify, nor does poor planning by the board or manager — and using the “emergency” label as cover is an abuse, not compliance.
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More in This Series
This is one of serveral posts to help owner idenitfy boards that misuse their authority in ways that leave homeowners blindsided. Readers may also be interested in:
HOA Board Agenda Changes at the Last Minute
HOA Budgets: Why Homeowners Often Have No Real Say
Nevada’s HOA System Remains “Unfinished”
Virtual-Only Meetings – An HOA Warning Flag
HOA Boards & The “Right to Be Wrong" But Not To Be Abusive
For a complete list of our posts go here.
Go here for NVHOAReoform's current list of HOA Law Changes – Remedies for Consideration.
