You agreed to be secretary, and the next board meeting is already on the calendar.
The morning after the meeting, those notes can become a record the next secretary can actually find.
The Minute Book is a $49 one-time Word kit for volunteer HOA, condo, and neighborhood secretaries. It will not make the meeting shorter. It gives you a way to turn the night’s notes into a record the next secretary, an owner, or a lawyer can use years later, when nobody remembers who voted.
Get The Minute Book — $49 Read the one-pager free
The next secretary inherits the same files, because you pay $49 once and there is no subscription. You get an instant zip that opens in Word or Google Docs, and Paddle may add tax at checkout.
Cedar Grove Homeowners Association
Motion 6. Landscape contract.
Authorize the president to terminate GreenLine per its notice terms and sign Maple Ridge Lawn at $1,620/month beginning May 1, 2026.
Pat Y · Jordan Y · Sam Y · Riley Y · Carried.
The trap
The morning after adjournment, you sit down with a page of arrows and nicknames. That page has to become a record an owner, the next secretary, or a lawyer can read without calling you.
Minutes usually fail in one of two ways. They turn into a novel, which writes down the argument and never the vote, so three pages about the grass still do not say what the board decided. Or they turn into a shrug, which says old business was discussed and then stops, so nobody can tell what happened.
The useful minute is quieter than either of those. It is one sentence per motion, who moved it, how the board voted, and what happens next. That is the record you can hand to the next person.
Why spend $49?
You can start from a blank Word document, buy this kit, subscribe to minutes software, or hire a management company. You will still write the minutes. The difference is whether next month starts from the same numbered files or from nothing.
| Blank Word | This kit | Minutes software | Management company | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | $0 today | $49 once | About $149 / month | Part of a much bigger bill |
| Format | You invent it every month | Same numbers every month | Login. Often AI while people talk. | They write it |
| After you leave | Next secretary starts over | They inherit the book | The account dies with the subscription | They have the files |
| When someone asks who voted | Memory plus messy notes | Notes → draft → you review → PDF | If the recording was on | You email the manager |
How it works
You do not invent a new outline after the meeting. The numbers on the agenda are the numbers on the notes, and those same numbers are the numbers on the minutes, so the next morning you fill in a record instead of starting over.
You time it for 60 to 75 minutes and send it ahead, so the board sees the same list you will write against during the meeting.
You write fragments only: who moved it, who seconded it, and how the vote went. It is not a transcript, and it is not the place for insults or legal conclusions.
The next day you turn those notes into minutes: one sentence per motion, whether you had a quorum, how each director voted, and the action with an owner and a date. Then you save a PDF, because that PDF is the record.
This is 62 seconds on how the agenda, the notes, and the minutes keep the same numbers.
HOA minutes template (the shape)
An HOA minutes template is not nine empty headings. It is the same numbered list as the agenda and the notes, with a place for the motion, the mover, and the vote. Brackets are blanks you fill. Delete unused items so the record stays short.
Minutes of a regular meeting of the board of directors [ASSOCIATION NAME] Date: [MONTH DD, YYYY] Called to order: [TIME] Adjourned: [TIME] Place: [ADDRESS or video] Notice: [DATE sent / posted] 2. Attendance and quorum Present: [NAMES] Absent: [NAMES] Quorum of [N]: [was / was not] established. 3. Prior minutes Motion: Approve minutes of [DATE] [as written / as corrected]. Moved by [NAME]. Seconded by [NAME]. Result: [Carried / Failed]. 4. Owner open forum The board heard from owners. No board action during open forum. [NAME / lot]: [topic, one line] 7. New business — one block per motion Motion: [One sentence. Start with a verb.] Moved by [NAME]. Seconded by [NAME]. Vote: [each director Y / N / A]. Result: [Carried / Failed]. Action: [what] — owner [NAME] — due [DATE].
The full HOA meeting minutes template (Word), with vote tables and every heading, is on its own page. The timed agenda that uses these same numbers is next to it.
HOA meeting minutes template · HOA board meeting agenda template · How to write HOA minutes · HOA annual meeting minutes
What’s in the zip
The agenda, the notes, and the minutes use the same numbers. You copy this month’s files and leave the originals in the folder, so the next month still has a clean set.
One worked example
It is 24 homes, a landscape contract, a basketball hoop, and overnight vendor parking. The meeting is invented so you can copy the shape of the record, rather than the facts, the vendors, or the dollar amounts.
Cedar Grove Homeowners Association
Same numbers. Fragments only.
6. Landscape
GreenLine $1,850 (was $1,400). Maple Ridge $1,620, no overnight trailer. Long argument re quality — not for minutes.
Mover: Jordan · Second: Sam · Vote: all yes
7. Lot 7 hoop
Chris will move it in June. Jordan wanted a letter tonight. Riley: don’t fine on the fly.
Courtesy, 30 days. All yes. No fine.
Motion 6. Landscape contract.
Authorize the president to terminate GreenLine per its notice terms and sign Maple Ridge Lawn at $1,620/month beginning May 1, 2026.
Pat Y · Jordan Y · Sam Y · Riley Y · Carried.
Action: President signs by Mar 17.
Motion 7. Lot 7 hoop.
Courtesy request to relocate within 30 days. April agenda if not moved. No fine tonight.
All yes. Carried.
| # | Opened | Action | Owner | Due | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feb 10 | Get three mailbox quotes | Sam | Apr 14 | Moved |
| 2 | Mar 10 | Sign Maple Ridge Lawn | Pat | Mar 17 | Open |
| 3 | Mar 10 | Courtesy letter, Lot 7 hoop, 30 days, no fine | Riley | Mar 12 | Open |
The argument stays in the notes, and the vote is what lives in the minutes. That is the skill this kit packages, so you are not designing a format the night of the meeting.
Optional
File 09 is optional. You open ChatGPT, Claude, or Grok, where a free account is enough, paste the how-to, and then paste tonight’s notes under it. The draft comes back in the minutes shape, which means one sentence per motion, who moved it, how each director voted, and what happens next.
If a vote is missing from the notes, the how-to tells the model to leave a hole ([NOT IN NOTES]) instead of guessing. You review every line, because you own whatever goes in the book. You can also skip the AI and type the minutes yourself, since the other files work the same way either way.
How you use it
The month has three moments, and the files are built for those moments rather than for a new outline each time.
The files open in Microsoft Word or Google Docs, and you reuse them every month. There is no subscription, and there is no portal to log into the night before the meeting.
Before you buy
Yes, if
This kit fits when you are the person who has to produce the record.
No, if
It is the wrong purchase when you need a different kind of help.
Who made this
The Minute Book is a product of Mary’s Math Tutoring, Inc., an Iowa corporation. It is built for volunteer HOA, condo, and neighborhood association secretaries.
There is no account and no portal, because these are Word files you copy and keep on your own computer.
If you need help with the files, write to hello@gettheminutebook.com.
The Minute Book is a small digital kit from an Iowa company. It exists so the next secretary inherits a book, rather than a blank page.
Details
Yes. The files are Word documents, and Google Docs opens them. You reuse the same copies every month, and there is no account with us and no portal.
They are Word files, and Google Docs opens them. Pages can open a .docx file, but Word or Google Docs is the path these files were written for.
Yes. How to run a 60-minute board meeting is free. The rest of the zip, which is the agenda, the notes, the minutes, the register, the worked example, and the optional how-to, is the $49 kit.
Yes. The kit includes a how-to written for people who have never done this. Copy, paste your notes, get a neat draft in the minutes format. You read every line before anyone else does. If you would rather type the minutes yourself, skip the AI. The other files still work.
No. These are sample forms, not a substitute for an attorney. They are not valid, complete, or sufficient in every state or for every association. Check your CC&Rs, bylaws, and state law. Have counsel review anything that affects owner rights, fines, elections, or assessments.
Yes. It is a one-time $49 supplies purchase. Keep the Paddle receipt.
Yes, inside your association. Do not resell or post the kit publicly.
Yes, anywhere a volunteer writes board minutes. Still not legal advice.
Keep the headings your bylaws require. The kit is a skeleton, so you rename the fields to match your documents.
The next person inherits the same files and the same numbers. That is the point. The book survives the election. You do not start over in a new blank document every January.
Checkout is Paddle. Your statement may say Paddle. Tax or VAT may be added by Paddle at checkout.
Email hello@gettheminutebook.com from the address you used at checkout. Check spam. For charges and refunds, use the link in your Paddle receipt or paddle.net.
The board meeting is coming either way
Minutes software often starts around $149 a month, and a management company writes the minutes as part of a much bigger bill. This is the volunteer version, and you pay for it once.
Get The Minute Book — $49Digital download. Delivered immediately after payment. If the zip will not open or the files are not as described, email hello@gettheminutebook.com first and we will help. Payment and refund requests are handled by Paddle, the merchant of record. See the refund policy.
These are sample forms and a drafting aid, not a substitute for an attorney. They are not valid, complete, or sufficient in every state or for every association. Any AI output included with or produced from this kit is an unofficial first draft only. You are required to review every document and every draft for accuracy before it is signed, posted, emailed, or published. You and your association take full responsibility for whatever is ultimately produced or published. Check your CC&Rs, bylaws, articles, and state law. Have your association’s attorney review anything that affects owner rights, fines, elections, or assessments.