Board power in Colorado runs through meetings and votes the statute regulates. C.R.S. § 38-33.3-308 governs meetings of the association and the executive board, including the owners' right to attend and the requirement that meetings be open with limited exceptions. Section 38-33.3-309 sets quorum requirements and § 38-33.3-310 governs voting, including allocation of votes, ballots, and proxies. Binding business generally has to happen in properly noticed, open meetings, not private email threads among directors.
Colorado also defines the executive board itself. Section 38-33.3-303 covers board members and officers, their standard of care, and conflict rules, and § 38-33.3-310.5 addresses the executive board's structure and actions. Board members must also complete the education required by § 38-33.3-209.6. Taken together, these give owners concrete standards to measure the board against.
Quorum, voting, and open meetings
Before any contested vote, map the quorum under § 38-33.3-309 and the voting rules under § 38-33.3-310, because most challenges to association decisions turn on a defect in notice, quorum, or proxy handling. And use § 38-33.3-308's open-meeting requirement to insist that the board conduct substantive business in the open, where owners can attend and the minutes record what happened.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
C.R.S. § 38-33.3-308
Governs association and executive-board meetings, the owners' right to attend, and open-meeting requirements.
C.R.S. § 38-33.3-310
Governs voting, allocation of votes, ballots, and proxies.
C.R.S. § 38-33.3-303
Covers executive board members and officers, their duties, standard of care, and conflict rules.
Step by step
How to assert your meeting and voting rights in Colorado
The notice-and-participation path to hold a Colorado association accountable at meetings and votes.
- 01
Confirm the meeting was open and noticed
Check the meeting against § 38-33.3-308. Owners have the right to attend, and substantive business conducted in closed session outside the limited exceptions is vulnerable.
- 02
Map quorum and voting rules
Read § 38-33.3-309 (quorum) and § 38-33.3-310 (voting, ballots, proxies) against your bylaws. Know the numbers before a contested vote.
- 03
Hold the board to its duties
Use § 38-33.3-303 to measure board conduct against the statutory standard of care and conflict rules, and confirm members met the § 38-33.3-209.6 education requirement.
- 04
Insist on open decision-making
Object, in writing, if binding decisions are being made outside open meetings, and ask that votes and discussion be recorded in the minutes.
- 05
Escalate defects
If a vote was taken without proper notice, quorum, or proxy handling, raise the defect promptly and consult counsel about challenging the decision.
Straight answers
Common questions
Can I attend my HOA's meetings in Colorado?
Yes. C.R.S. § 38-33.3-308 requires association and executive-board meetings to be open to owners, with only limited exceptions for closed-session topics. Substantive business done in closed session outside those exceptions is vulnerable.
How are quorum and voting handled?
C.R.S. § 38-33.3-309 sets quorum requirements and § 38-33.3-310 governs voting, allocation of votes, ballots, and proxies. A vote taken without quorum or with mishandled proxies can be challenged.
What standards does the board have to meet?
C.R.S. § 38-33.3-303 sets the duties, standard of care, and conflict rules for executive board members and officers, and § 38-33.3-209.6 requires board-member education. These give owners concrete standards to hold the board to.
Can the board decide things in private?
Binding decisions generally must be made in open, noticed meetings under § 38-33.3-308. Substantive business conducted privately to avoid the open-meeting requirement is vulnerable to challenge.