Alabama HOA 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.
Alabama 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 Alabama's minimum board size comes from HOA law. It comes from general nonprofit corporation law, which applies only if your association is incorporated as a nonprofit, so check your articles of incorporation.
Dillo ExplainsOkay, minus the legalese…
Alabama's HOA law covers communities whose declaration was recorded on or after January 1, 2016, plus older HOAs whose members vote to join. Even so, it says almost nothing about the board. For board rules, look to Alabama's nonprofit law (if your HOA is incorporated) and your bylaws.
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.
Alabama — Officer RequirementsGeneral corporate law
If the association is incorporated as a nonprofit, it must have a president, one or more vice presidents, a secretary, and a treasurer. Unless the governing documents say otherwise, the board elects or appoints all officers every year. One person may hold two or more offices only if the bylaws allow it.
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 Alabama.
Alabama — Minimum Board SizeGeneral corporate law
The Homeowners Association Act does not set a minimum. If the association is incorporated as a nonprofit, at least 1 director, with the number set by the certificate of formation, the bylaws, or the board.
Alabama — Owner/Member RequirementBylaws/documents
Neither law requires directors to be owners or members. The association's governing documents may set qualifications.
Alabama — Other Eligibility Rules
If the association is incorporated as a nonprofit, directors must be natural persons and need not live in Alabama unless the governing documents require it. The governing documents may set other qualifications.
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 Alabama.
Alabama — Term LimitsBylaws/documents
No statutory maximum. Directors serve the terms set in the governing documents; if none is set, the term is one year.
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.
Alabama — Conflict-of-Interest RuleGeneral corporate law
The Homeowners Association Act has no director conflict rule. If the association is incorporated as a nonprofit, it may not lend money to its directors or officers, and any director or officer who approves such a loan is personally liable for it until it is repaid.
In Plain DilloIn everyday terms…
Alabama's HOA law has no conflict rule, but an HOA that's a nonprofit corporation can't lend money to its own directors or officers. Anyone who approves that kind of loan is personally on the hook for it until it's repaid.
⚠ 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 | Alabama's Homeowners Association Act (Ala. Code Title 35, Chapter 20) applies to developments whose declaration was recorded on or after January 1, 2016, and to older associations whose members vote by majority to be governed by it. It does not apply to nonresidential developments, condominiums, cooperatives, time-shares, or campgrounds. The act does not set board size, eligibility, officer, term, or conflict rules; it only allows the declaration to give the developer control of director and officer elections for a period. If the association is incorporated as a nonprofit, the Alabama Nonprofit Corporation Law (Title 10A, Chapter 3) applies. |
| Minimum board size General corporate law | The Homeowners Association Act does not set a minimum. If the association is incorporated as a nonprofit, at least 1 director, with the number set by the certificate of formation, the bylaws, or the board. |
| Owner/member requirement Bylaws/documents | Neither law requires directors to be owners or members. The association's governing documents may set qualifications. |
| Other eligibility rules | If the association is incorporated as a nonprofit, directors must be natural persons and need not live in Alabama unless the governing documents require it. The governing documents may set other qualifications. |
| Officer requirements General corporate law | If the association is incorporated as a nonprofit, it must have a president, one or more vice presidents, a secretary, and a treasurer. Unless the governing documents say otherwise, the board elects or appoints all officers every year. One person may hold two or more offices only if the bylaws allow it. |
| Max individual term Bylaws/documents | No statutory maximum. Directors serve the terms set in the governing documents; if none is set, the term is one year. |
| Consecutive-term limit | Neither the Homeowners Association Act nor the nonprofit act limits consecutive terms. |
| Conflict-of-interest disclosure General corporate law | The Homeowners Association Act has no director conflict rule. If the association is incorporated as a nonprofit, it may not lend money to its directors or officers, and any director or officer who approves such a loan is personally liable for it until it is repaid. |
| Citation | Ala. Code §§ 35-20-3; 35-20-7; 10A-3-2.08; 10A-3-2.09; 10A-3-2.21; 10A-3-2.42 |
Read the law
What Alabama's law actually says about board composition, in its own words, with links to the full text where available:
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Ala. Code § 35-20-7
- Governing Statute / Scope: “A declaration or the governing documents of a homeowners' association may provide for a period in which the declarant will maintain control of the election of directors and officers of the association”
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Ala. Code § 35-20-3(a)
- Governing Statute / Scope: “recorded in the office of the judge of probate in the county in which the development, or any part thereof, is located on or after January 1, 2016”
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Ala. Code § 10A-3-2.09(a)
secondary source
- Minimum Board Size: “The number of directors of a nonprofit corporation shall be not less than one.”
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Ala. Code § 10A-3-2.08(a)
secondary source
- Owner/Member Eligibility Requirement: “The governing documents may prescribe other qualifications for directors.”
- Additional Eligibility Rules: “Directors shall be natural persons but need not be residents of Alabama unless the governing documents so require.”
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Ala. Code § 10A-3-2.21(a)
secondary source
- Required Officer Positions: “The officers of a nonprofit corporation shall consist of a president, one or more vice presidents, a secretary, a treasurer”
- Required Officer Positions: “In the absence of any provision, all officers shall be elected or appointed annually by the board of directors.”
- Required Officer Positions: “If the bylaws so provide, any two or more offices may be held by the same person.”
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Ala. Code § 10A-3-2.09(b)
secondary source
- Maximum Individual Term: “In the absence of a provision fixing the term of office, the term of office of a director shall be one year.”
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Ala. Code § 10A-3-2.42
secondary source
- Conflict of Interest Rule: “No loans shall be made by a nonprofit corporation to its directors or officers.”
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 →Alabama — 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.