President of HOA

The president of a homeowners association (HOA) is the officer the board elects to preside over meetings and lead the association’s daily business. The HOA president’s role has limits set in the association documents, and a state statute fills in only where those documents are silent.

The table shows who decides each common question about the office, and what the law or a published guide says.

Situation	Who decides	What the source says
Run a board meeting	The president	Cornell’s Robert’s Rules guide has the president of the board recognize speakers and announce each vote
Name the president	The board	California and Florida law have the board choose officers
Remove the president from office	The board	California’s section 7213 says officers serve at the pleasure of the board
Hold two offices at once	The bylaws	Florida allows it; California allows it unless the bylaws say otherwise
Remove a director	Those who elect the director	Texas law, as the State Law Library describes it, gives removal to the persons who elect the director
Approve a contract with a director’s own firm	Two thirds of the directors present	Florida’s HOA act requires disclosure in the minutes and that vote
Accept a kickback	No one	Florida’s HOA act makes a knowing kickback a third-degree felony

On this page

What is an HOA president?

An HOA president is an officer of the association, and the community elects board members before any officer exists. California’s Corporations Code, section 7213, says officers are chosen by the HOA board and serve at its pleasure. The same section makes the president the general manager and chief executive officer of the corporation unless the articles or bylaws say otherwise.

Florida follows the same pattern. Florida’s nonprofit corporation act, section 617.0840, says the officers named in the bylaws are elected or appointed by the HOA board, annually if the association documents are silent. It also lets one person hold more than one office, so the HOA president of a small community may double as the treasurer or the secretary.

A condominium community has the same office under the same laws. What Is a Condo? explains the difference between the two ownership types.

The wider comparison is in Condo Comparisons. In the District of Columbia, the Condominium Act, section 42-1903.19, names the association president as the officer who executes and certifies a merger agreement after owners approve it.

Can an HOA president remove a board member?

No. The Texas State Law Library explains that, where the association documents are silent, the persons entitled to elect a Texas director may remove that director. The count needed to remove equals the count needed to elect.

The statute gives the power to those electors, not to the president.

Just became HOA president? How to be a good one

A good HOA president learns the role before the first decision, because the HOA president carries real responsibilities. The new president reads the declaration, finishes any required education, and learns parliamentary procedure. The community expects that preparation from every officer on the HOA board, and the president sets the example.

Florida’s HOA act, Chapter 720, requires each new board member to submit an education certificate within 90 days of election or appointment. The certificate is valid for up to four years. An HOA president who misses the deadline is suspended from the HOA board until the certificate is filed.

The same section adds continuing education every year. A director at an association with fewer than 2,500 parcels completes at least four hours. A director at an association with 2,500 parcels or more completes at least eight.

The first course covers financial literacy, recordkeeping, fines, and notice and meeting requirements. Those subjects match the finances and records the treasurer keeps for the community.

What words of wisdom do you have for a new HOA president?

Read the declaration before the first board meeting, and ask the secretary for the recent minutes. Run board meetings from a written agenda, and let the directors decide any contested item.

Clear communication with residents builds trust. The legal duties and responsibilities of the office are covered in Duties of an HOA President.

Cornell’s Robert’s Rules guide for boards describes the chair’s part in plain terms. The president of the HOA board recognizes each person who wants to speak, announces the result of the count, and clarifies the procedure on request. A board member who disagrees with a ruling can appeal it.

Does an HOA president have more power than a board member?

No. The title adds duties and responsibilities, not votes. California’s Corporations Code, section 7211, gives each director one vote on each matter, so the HOA president’s vote counts the same as any other director’s.

The role carries added responsibilities for the floor and the signature, not a veto. Board members decide together.

What the office adds is authority to run the session and to sign for the association. Management stays with the directors as a group. A management company, where the association hires one, takes its direction from the full board, and the HOA president passes that direction along to the community’s manager.

What an HOA president cannot do alone

Statutes set three firm limits on a single officer. A president cannot remove a director, because Texas law gives that power to the persons who elect the director. A president cannot approve a contract with a firm in which a board member has an interest, which Florida treats as a conflict of interest.

Florida’s section 720.3033 requires the HOA to record the disclosure in the minutes and approve the contract by two thirds of the directors present.

Members can then cancel the contract by a majority of those present at the next session, which is a real check on any board president. The governing statute makes a knowing kickback a third-degree felony. It requires the HOA board to remove the officer or director at once, with a narrow exception for food worth under $25 at a business meeting.

Can an HOA president come onto your property?

No, not on the strength of the title. A right of entry belongs to the community, and its source is the declaration and the governing statute, not the HOA president as an individual. The role gives no private right to walk onto an owner’s lot.

Florida’s condominium act gives the example. Florida Statutes section 718.111 gives the association an irrevocable right of access to each unit during reasonable hours. It applies when entry is necessary to maintain, repair or replace common elements, or to prevent damage to the common elements or to a unit.

A licensed attorney in your state can confirm how entry rules apply to a given property.

How do you become president of a homeowners association?

The path has two steps. Members elect the board, and the HOA board then chooses its officers, as California’s section 7213 and Florida’s section 617.0840 describe. A resident who wants to become president therefore needs a seat first.

Texas Property Code section 209.00593 requires that a director whose term has expired be elected by the members of the association. The HOA board may appoint a replacement to fill a vacancy, and the appointee serves only the rest of that term.

Eligibility has limits. Chapter 209 of the Texas Property Code lets the bylaws require some directors to live in the subdivision, but not all of them.

Two people who share a primary residence cannot serve together on the board of an association with 10 or more residences. A person with a felony or moral-turpitude conviction within the past 20 years becomes ineligible once the board sees government records of it. That matters for any resident planning a run.

What does a homeowners association president do?

A homeowners association president is the officer the board elects to preside over meetings and lead the association’s daily business. The office carries duties and responsibilities, but its limits come from the association documents. California’s section 7213 makes the president the general manager and chief executive officer unless the articles or bylaws say otherwise.

How long can a president stay in office?

The term limit belongs to the declaration in most places. Seven states in the table below have a statutory cap or schedule, and the other states leave the number to the declaration.

State	Statutory limit on a board term	Statute
California	Every board seat must go up for election at least once every 4 years	Cal. Civ. Code Section 5100(b)
Florida	Condo: 8 consecutive years unless two thirds of votes cast approve more; HOA: no cap	Fla. Stat. Section 718.112(2)(d)3
Illinois	HOA: no board member or officer term over 4 years; condo: 2 years	765 ILCS 160/1-25(d); 765 ILCS 605/18(a)(11)
New Jersey	4 years, at developments of 50 or more units	N.J.S.A. 45:22A-45.2(c)(1)
Nevada	3 years, except declarant-appointed members, with staggered terms	NRS 116.31034(2)-(3)
Ohio	No cap; terms must be staggered so one fifth of the board expires each year	Ohio Rev. Code Ann. Section 5312.02(B)(3); Section 5311.08(B)(1)(c)
South Carolina	Incorporated HOA: 5 years for an elected director, 1 year if the bylaws are silent	S.C. Code Ann. Section 33-31-805(a)
Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington	No statutory cap found; the bylaws control	None

The data comes from each statute as last checked on September 24, 2026. A term limit on the HOA board does not by itself set how long one person can hold the president’s office, because the board elects its officers.

Do HOA presidents get paid?

The governing documents decide whether an HOA president receives pay, and a salary is not part of the office in the statutes cited here. The wider question of what board members earn is covered in Does HOA President Get Paid.

Florida regulates the money that can reach an officer, and the governing law applies to every HOA board president in the state. Section 720.3033 of Chapter 720 at Online Sunshine treats a contract with a director as a transaction that needs disclosure and a two-thirds approval. The same section bars any kickback to an officer, director or manager, and it protects the community from payments that bypass the HOA board.

Who can an owner complain to about an HOA?

Start with the HOA board in writing, and cite the document or statute at issue. For a Florida condominium, the Division of Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes is the state regulator that handles complaints and arbitration. A licensed attorney in your state can confirm how a complaint process applies.

Next steps for a new HOA president

1. Read the declaration and bylaws, and mark every limit on the president’s authority.
2. Check whether your state requires board education, and file the certificate on time.
3. Confirm the term of the office and who elects it.
4. Prepare a written agenda for each meeting, and post it where owners can see it, such as the Homeowners Association Web Site.
5. Send any contract with a director or a director’s firm to the full board with a disclosure.

The wider rules a board works under are covered in HOA Board & Governance.

Educational information, not legal advice. See the disclaimer.