Maine HOA Board Responsibilities

If you live in a Maine homeowners association, the HOA board is responsible for managing the association according to its governing documents and applicable Maine law. Board responsibilities commonly include overseeing association finances, maintaining common property, enforcing valid rules, keeping records, conducting meetings, hiring contractors or managers, and acting on behalf of the association. However, the exact authority of a board depends heavily on the community’s declaration, bylaws, rules, and whether the community is organized as a condominium or another type of residential community association. Maine is currently studying whether its laws governing condominium and non-condominium community ownership associations should be codified under the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act.

HOA Board Responsibilities

HOA board responsibilities are the duties and decision-making functions assigned to an association’s board of directors or executive board. They can include financial management, property maintenance, rule administration, recordkeeping, meetings, contracts, and other governance functions authorized by the community’s governing documents and applicable law.

How Do Maine HOA Boards Get Their Authority?

One of the most important points for Maine homeowners is that there is not a single statute that gives every type of Maine HOA an identical list of board powers.

Maine’s statutory framework differs depending on the type of community association. The Maine Condominium Act, found in Title 33, Chapter 31, contains detailed provisions governing condominium associations, including their powers, executive boards, bylaws, meetings, maintenance obligations, records, assessments, and voting.

For non-condominium homeowner associations, the governing documents can be particularly important when determining what the board is permitted to do. Maine is currently examining this broader legal framework through a state commission created to study residential community ownership associations and whether Maine should adopt or recodify laws based on the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. The commission was established by Resolve 2026, chapter 167.

Governing Documents Matter

Before deciding whether an HOA board has authority to take a particular action, homeowners should review:

1. Declaration or covenants
2. Bylaws
3. Articles or organizational documents
4. Recorded amendments
5. Current HOA rules and regulations
6. Applicable Maine statutes
7. Relevant local ordinances, when applicable

A board generally cannot treat personal preference as a substitute for authority contained in the governing documents or applicable law.

What Are the Main Responsibilities of a Maine HOA Board?

Although individual communities can assign different responsibilities, several areas are central to association governance.

1. Managing the HOA’s Finances

Financial administration is one of the board’s most important functions.

For Maine condominiums, the association has statutory authority to adopt budgets for revenues, expenditures, and reserves and to collect assessments for common expenses. The association must make common-expense assessments at least annually after assessments have begun, based on a budget adopted at least annually.

A board may therefore be responsible for:

• Preparing and approving annual budgets
• Planning for anticipated expenses
• Managing reserve funds
• Collecting assessments
• Paying authorized association expenses
• Reviewing financial statements
• Hiring accountants or other professionals when appropriate
• Maintaining financial records
• Planning for major repairs and replacements

For condominiums, Maine law also requires the executive board to provide unit owners with a summary of a proposed budget within 30 days after adoption and establish a meeting for owners to consider ratification.

2. Maintaining Common Areas and Property

Property maintenance is another core board responsibility.

Under Maine’s Condominium Act, the association is generally responsible for maintenance, repair, and replacement of the common elements unless the declaration or applicable statutory provisions provide otherwise. Individual unit owners generally remain responsible for their own units.

Depending on the community’s documents, board oversight can include:

• Roads and driveways
• Landscaping
• Common buildings
• Parking areas
• Recreational facilities
• Exterior structures
• Shared utilities or systems
• Snow and ice management
• Roofing or exterior components
• Other common elements

The exact division of responsibility should always be checked against the declaration because maintenance obligations can be allocated differently.

Can a Maine HOA Board Enforce Rules?

For condominium associations covered by the Maine Condominium Act, the association has statutory authority to adopt and amend bylaws and rules and regulations, subject to the declaration and the Act. The association may also levy reasonable fines for violations after providing notice and an opportunity to be heard.

That does not mean every board rule or fine is automatically valid.

A homeowner reviewing an enforcement action should ask:

Question	Why It Matters
Is there a written rule?	The board should be able to identify the provision being enforced.
Does the declaration/bylaws authorize the rule?	The board’s authority may depend on the governing documents.
Does the rule apply to this property or situation?	Scope matters when determining whether a violation occurred.
Was the homeowner notified?	Notice and hearing requirements can matter, particularly for fines.
Was the enforcement consistent with the documents?	Selective or inconsistent enforcement can create disputes.
Was the fine authorized?	A board should identify the legal or governing-document basis for the charge.

For condominium associations, the Maine statute expressly connects fines with violations of the declaration, bylaws, and association rules and requires notice and an opportunity to be heard before reasonable fines are imposed.

What has the Maine HOA Board Responsibilities for Meetings?

Board meetings are an important part of transparent association governance.

For Maine condominiums, the Maine Condominium Act requires an association meeting at least once each year. The executive board must also give timely notice reasonably calculated to inform unit owners about the date, time, place, and topics proposed to be discussed at executive-board meetings. Unit owners have a right to attend executive-board meetings, subject to reasonable rules established by the board.

Certain matters may be handled in executive session, including attorney consultations, litigation, personnel matters, certain contract negotiations, and matters involving personal privacy.

Importantly, the statute provides that a final vote or action may not be taken during an executive session.

Good Board Meeting Practices

A responsible board should:

1. Follow the meeting requirements in the governing documents.
2. Provide required notice.
3. Prepare a useful agenda.
4. Keep accurate minutes.
5. Distinguish open meetings from properly permitted executive sessions.
6. Record decisions accurately.
7. Follow applicable voting requirements.

What Records Must a Maine HOA Board Keep?

Recordkeeping is a significant governance responsibility.

For condominium associations, Maine law requires associations to retain several categories of records. These include accounting records for the past six years, meeting minutes, organizational documents and bylaws, current rules, financial statements and tax returns for the past three years, board and officer information, certain contracts, architectural approval records, and voting records for one year after the related election or action.

Unit owners generally have a right to examine and copy retained association records, subject to statutory exceptions. The law generally requires 10 days’ written notice identifying the requested records. Certain confidential or sensitive categories may be withheld.

Why HOA Recordkeeping Matters

Good records help establish:

• What the board decided
• When a decision was made
• How association money was spent
• How elections and votes were conducted
• How architectural requests were handled

Poor recordkeeping can make an otherwise straightforward HOA dispute much harder to resolve.

Can a Maine HOA Board Hire a Property Manager?

Yes, when authorized by the association’s governing framework, management functions can be delegated.

For Maine condominiums, the association has statutory authority to hire and terminate managing agents, employees, contractors, and other agents. The bylaws must also address which powers, if any, the executive board or officers may delegate to other people or a managing agent.

A property manager may handle day-to-day administrative work, but hiring a management company does not automatically eliminate the board’s governance responsibilities.

The board generally remains responsible for making the decisions that the governing documents or law reserve to the board or association membership.

What Is the Board’s Responsibility for HOA Contracts?

HOAs routinely enter contracts for services such as:

• Landscaping
• Snow removal
• Property management
• Maintenance
• Repairs
• Insurance
• Accounting
• Legal services
• Building inspections

For condominium associations, Maine law expressly permits the association to make contracts and incur liabilities.

Board members should therefore review contracts carefully before approval, particularly where an agreement creates significant long-term financial obligations.

Important considerations include:

• Contract term
• Renewal provisions
• Cancellation rights
• Scope of services
• Pricing
• Insurance requirements
• Contractor licensing requirements, where applicable
• Responsibility for damage or defects

Does the HOA Board Have to Follow the Bylaws?

Yes. The bylaws are not simply informational documents.

For Maine condominiums, the bylaws must establish important matters including the number of executive-board members, officer positions, qualifications, powers and duties, terms of office, election and removal procedures, vacancies, delegation of authority, and the method for amending the bylaws.

This creates an important distinction:

An HOA board has authority, but that authority is not unlimited.

Board members should exercise their authority within the boundaries established by the declaration, bylaws, applicable rules, and Maine law.

What Are the Responsibilities of Individual HOA Board Members?

The board acts as a governing body, but individual directors also have responsibilities.

A board member should generally:

• Participate in board meetings
• Review financial and operational information
• Understand the governing documents
• Make decisions within the board’s authority
• Avoid treating HOA resources as personal property
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality
• Follow required voting procedures
• Document important decisions
• Disclose potential conflicts when appropriate
• Act for the association rather than for an individual homeowner

For condominium associations, Maine law specifically addresses the authority of the executive board and limits certain actions that the board itself may take. For example, the executive board cannot act on behalf of the association to amend the declaration or terminate the condominium, and certain matters concerning board membership and its powers are also outside the board’s unilateral authority.

What Decisions Usually Require Homeowner Approval?

Not every HOA decision belongs exclusively to the board.

Depending on the governing documents and applicable law, homeowners may have voting rights concerning matters such as:

• Election of directors
• Removal of directors
• Amendments to governing documents
• Certain major transactions
• Termination of the condominium
• Other matters specifically reserved for membership approval

For example, Maine’s Condominium Act prevents the executive board from unilaterally amending the declaration or terminating the condominium.

This is why homeowners should distinguish between board authority and association-member authority.

Maine HOA Board Responsibilities Checklist

A board can use the following checklist to review its basic governance responsibilities:

Responsibility	Board Review Question
Governing documents	Are decisions supported by the declaration and bylaws?
Finances	Is the association operating under an appropriate budget?
Assessments	Are assessments collected and accounted for properly?
Maintenance	Are common areas being maintained according to the governing documents?
Rules	Are current rules clearly documented and consistently administered?
Meetings	Are required meetings and notices being handled properly?
Records	Are financial, meeting, voting, and association records maintained?
Contracts	Are vendors and contractors properly authorized?
Enforcement	Are homeowners given required notice and procedural protections?
Delegation	Are management responsibilities delegated within authorized limits?
Member rights	Are homeowner voting and inspection rights respected?
Major decisions	Is homeowner approval required before taking the proposed action?

What Should a Maine Homeowner Do If the Board Exceeds Its Authority?

If you believe your HOA board has acted outside its authority, avoid starting with an assumption that the decision is automatically illegal. First identify the source of the board’s claimed authority.

A Practical Review Process

1. Request the specific rule or provision

Ask the board to identify the declaration, bylaw, rule, or statute supporting the decision.

2. Review the governing documents

Look for provisions concerning board powers, assessments, maintenance, enforcement, meetings, elections, and homeowner rights.

3. Request relevant records

For condominium associations, Maine law provides unit owners with inspection and copying rights for many association records, subject to statutory limitations.

4. Review meeting and voting records

Determine whether the decision was made through the procedure required by the governing documents.

5. Respond in writing

A concise written request can create a clear record of the dispute and allow the board to explain its position.

6. Consider professional legal advice

If the dispute involves a substantial assessment, lien, enforcement action, property rights, or potential litigation, a Maine attorney familiar with community association or real-estate law can evaluate the specific documents and facts.

Are Maine HOA Laws Changing?

Maine’s community-association legal framework is an area of active legislative study.

In 2026, Maine enacted a resolve establishing a 12-member commission to study whether the state should codify or recodify laws concerning residential community ownership associations through adoption of the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. The commission is directed to examine existing condominium and non-condominium community ownership associations, relevant statutes and case law, approaches used in other states, and possible adoption of the uniform act.

This study is important for homeowners because Maine’s legal treatment of condominium associations is more specifically codified than the broader framework applicable to all types of residential community associations.

The existence of the commission does not itself mean that Maine has adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. It means the state is studying whether and how its community-association laws should be changed.

Homeowners and board members should therefore check the current version of Maine law before relying on older HOA guidance.

Frequently Asked Questions About Maine HOA Board Responsibilities