Tennessee Condo Board Roles & Responsibilities
What each board position actually does, how many people you need, and how to keep a volunteer board functioning as members rotate out year after year — including where board composition is actually set by state law versus your own bylaws.
Tennessee at a Glance
Most HOA boards have three to five members, elected by the membership for terms set in the bylaws — often one to two years, frequently staggered so the entire board doesn't turn over at once. Your specific bylaws define much of the exact structure, but in some states, part of that structure — minimum board size, owner-eligibility, or officer requirements — is actually set by statute, not left to the association to decide.
⚠ Common mistake: Assuming your bylaws alone decide how big the board is. In Tennessee, the minimum board size is set by a law written specifically for condominium associations.
Dillo's TakePsst… here's what this actually means…
If your condo was created after January 1, 2009, Tennessee's 2008 Condominium Act sets your board rules. Older condos follow their own bylaws unless they formally opt into the newer act.
President
Runs board meetings, is usually the primary point of contact with homeowners and outside parties (attorneys, vendors, the county), and typically has authority to sign on the association's behalf for routine matters. The president does not unilaterally make board decisions — actions still require a board vote — but does set the agenda and keep meetings moving.
Secretary
Keeps official records: meeting minutes, the membership roll, and official correspondence. In a self-managed HOA, the secretary is often the person who ends up being the institutional memory of the association — the one who can answer "wait, when did we actually vote on that?" This role matters more than it sounds like it should, because undocumented decisions are one of the most common sources of later disputes.
Treasurer
Handles dues collection, financial reporting, and the annual budget process. Many associations require some form of annual budget, and increasingly a reserve study projecting future major expenses. The treasurer role is also the one most commonly outsourced even in an otherwise self-managed association — hiring an accountant or bookkeeper for the mechanics while the treasurer sets policy and reviews the numbers is common and often worth the cost.
Tennessee — Officer RequirementsHOA/condo statute
The board elects the officers.
Minimum board size and who can serve
Whether your association has a statutory floor on board size, and whether some or all of the directors must be owners, depends on your state. Where a rule exists, it usually comes from one of two places: a law written specifically for homeowners or condominium associations, or general nonprofit corporation law, which applies only because the association is incorporated as a nonprofit. The badge on each rule below shows which one applies in Tennessee.
Tennessee — Minimum Board SizeHOA/condo statute
For condominiums under the 2008 act: once the developer's control ends, the owners must elect a board of at least 3 members.
Tennessee — Owner/Member RequirementHOA/condo statute
For condominiums under the 2008 act: once the developer's control ends, at least a majority of the board must be unit owners. Within 120 days after a quarter of the units are sold, owners other than the developer must elect at least one board member.
Tennessee — Other Eligibility Rules
The board may not set its own members' qualifications or terms of office.
Dillo's TakePsst… here's what this actually means…
The board can't set its own members' qualifications or terms. That's up to the owners, through the bylaws.
Term limits
Some states cap how long a single director term can run. A cap on one term is different from a limit on how many terms in a row someone can serve: a term cap alone doesn't stop a director from being re-elected. That takes a separate consecutive-term limit. Check both rows in the reference below for Tennessee.
Tennessee — Term LimitsGeneral corporate law
If the association is incorporated as a nonprofit, director terms may not exceed 5 years, except for designated or appointed directors. If the charter or bylaws set no term, it is 1 year. A director keeps serving after the term ends until a successor takes office.
Conflict-of-interest disclosure
If a board member stands to personally benefit from a contract or decision the board is voting on, several states require a specific disclosure process before that vote can happen — not just a general "act in good faith" expectation. Some states wrote this rule directly into their HOA or condominium statute; others expressly import the state's general nonprofit corporation conflict-of-interest rules instead of creating a separate one.
Tennessee — Conflict-of-Interest RuleHOA/condo statute
Board members and officers appointed by the developer must exercise the care required of fiduciaries of the unit owners; those elected by the owners must exercise ordinary and reasonable care. If the association is a nonprofit corporation, the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act's director conflict rules also apply.
Dillo's TakeHere's the short version…
Board members the owners elect must use ordinary, reasonable care, and developer appointees owe owners a fiduciary's level of care.
⚠ Common mistake: Treating a conflict of interest casually because "everyone already knows" a board member has a stake in a vendor contract. In states with a statutory disclosure requirement, informal awareness isn't the same as a documented disclosure — skipping the formal step can make the contract itself challengeable later, regardless of whether the board's decision was actually reasonable.
Additional roles on larger boards
Associations with five or more board members sometimes add a vice president (covers for the president, sometimes chairs a specific committee like ARC) and an at-large member with no fixed portfolio, available to take on whatever the board needs — chairing a violations committee, leading a specific project, or simply providing another vote and perspective.
Can one person hold two roles?
It depends mostly on your bylaws, and in some states on the statute itself. Very small associations sometimes explicitly allow combining roles out of necessity. Others prohibit certain combinations — most commonly, keeping treasurer separate from any role with check-signing authority, as a basic financial control. Check your specific bylaws, and the state reference below, before assuming either way.
The real challenge: surviving turnover
The hardest part of running a self-managed board usually isn't any single role — it's what happens when the person who understood how everything worked rotates off the board and nobody wrote it down. A self-managed HOA has no institutional memory beyond what the current board happens to remember or document. The associations that handle this well share one habit: they write things down as they happen, not from memory afterward — meeting minutes the same day, a violation logged when it's observed, a decision recorded the moment it's made.
State-by-State Quick Reference
Select your state below for its actual board-composition rules. Every field is tagged with where the rule comes from — a statute written for HOAs or condominiums, general nonprofit corporate law that happens to apply, or your own governing documents — because those aren't the same thing, even when the resulting number looks identical.
| Scope / governing statute | Tennessee's Condominium Act of 2008 (Tenn. Code 66-27-201 et seq.) applies to condominiums created after January 1, 2009. Its board rules do not reach older condominiums unless they elect to be governed by the act by amending and restating their master deed, bylaws, and plats. Older condominiums otherwise remain under the Horizontal Property Act (66-27-101 et seq.), which requires the bylaws to state the form of administration, such as an administrator or a board of administration, but sets no board size, eligibility, officer, term, or conflict rules. The association under the 2008 act must be a for-profit or nonprofit corporation or an LLC, except that a condominium of four or fewer units that is not a master association may be unincorporated. If it is a nonprofit corporation, the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act also applies. |
| Minimum board size HOA/condo statute | For condominiums under the 2008 act: once the developer's control ends, the owners must elect a board of at least 3 members. |
| Owner/member requirement HOA/condo statute | For condominiums under the 2008 act: once the developer's control ends, at least a majority of the board must be unit owners. Within 120 days after a quarter of the units are sold, owners other than the developer must elect at least one board member. |
| Other eligibility rules | The board may not set its own members' qualifications or terms of office. |
| Officer requirements HOA/condo statute | The board elects the officers. |
| Max individual term General corporate law | If the association is incorporated as a nonprofit, director terms may not exceed 5 years, except for designated or appointed directors. If the charter or bylaws set no term, it is 1 year. A director keeps serving after the term ends until a successor takes office. |
| Consecutive-term limit | The nonprofit act allows directors to be elected for successive terms. |
| Conflict-of-interest disclosure HOA/condo statute | Board members and officers appointed by the developer must exercise the care required of fiduciaries of the unit owners; those elected by the owners must exercise ordinary and reasonable care. If the association is a nonprofit corporation, the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act's director conflict rules also apply. |
| Citation | Tenn. Code §§ 66-27-202; 66-27-401; 66-27-403; 66-27-112 |
Read the law
What Tennessee's law actually says about board composition, in its own words, with links to the full text where available:
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Tenn. Code § 66-27-202(a)
secondary source
- Governing Statute / Scope: “This part and parts 3-5 of this chapter apply to all condominiums created within this state after January 1, 2009.”
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Tenn. Code § 66-27-202(c)
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- Governing Statute / Scope: “Condominiums existing before January 1, 2009, may elect to be governed by this part and parts 3-5 of this chapter”
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Tenn. Code § 66-27-401
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- Governing Statute / Scope: “The association shall be organized as a profit or nonprofit corporation or limited liability company”
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Tenn. Code § 66-27-112(a)(1)
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- Governing Statute / Scope: “Form of administration, indicating whether this shall be in charge of an administrator or of a board of administration, or otherwise”
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Tenn. Code § 66-27-403(e)
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- Minimum Board Size: “the unit owners shall elect a board of directors of at least three (3) members, at least a majority of whom must be unit owners.”
- Owner/Member Eligibility Requirement: “at least a majority of whom must be unit owners.”
- Required Officer Positions: “The board of directors shall elect the officers.”
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Tenn. Code § 66-27-403(d)
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- Owner/Member Eligibility Requirement: “at least one (1) member of the board must be elected by unit owners other than the declarant.”
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Tenn. Code § 66-27-403(b)
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- Additional Eligibility Rules: “or to elect members of the board of directors or determine the qualifications, powers and duties, or terms of office of members of the board of directors”
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Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-58-105(a)
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- Maximum Individual Term: “Except for designated or appointed directors, the terms of directors may not exceed five (5) years. In the absence of any term specified in the charter or bylaws, the term of each director shall be one (1) year.”
- Consecutive Term Limit: “Directors may be elected for successive terms.”
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Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-58-105(d)
secondary source
- Maximum Individual Term: “Despite the expiration of a director's term, the director continues to serve until a successor is elected, designated or appointed and qualifies”
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Tenn. Code § 66-27-403(a)
secondary source
- Conflict of Interest Rule: “If appointed by the declarant, the care required of fiduciaries of the unit owners; or (2) If elected by the unit owners, ordinary and reasonable care.”
Making the transition easier
Formtabulous keeps your association's records — elections, violations, ARC requests, homeowner communication — in one place that survives board turnover, instead of scattered across whoever's personal inbox happened to handle it.
See how it works →Tennessee — Common Questions
This article is general information about how HOA boards typically operate and is not legal advice. The specific roles, terms, and requirements for your association are set by your bylaws and, in some states, statute — consult the governing documents and, where needed, a qualified attorney for your specific situation.