Who May Serve

The statutory qualifications are short. A member of the management committee shall be a natural person aged 18 or older. That is the whole statutory list.

Your bylaws may add to it. An association's bylaws may prescribe other qualifications beyond the two above. So if you are asking whether someone is eligible to serve, the bylaws answer it, in addition to the statute.

An association may also, through its governing documents or the committee's internal procedures, disqualify an individual from serving because the individual has been convicted of a felony or is a sex offender. Note that this is permissive. The statute allows the disqualification; it does not impose it.

A committee member does not have to live in Utah or own property in the project, unless the bylaws require it. Owners are often surprised by this. If your association wants an owners-only committee, that requirement has to be in the bylaws.

What the Committee Is

Except as limited by the declaration, the bylaws or articles of incorporation, or other provisions of the chapter, the management committee acts in all instances on behalf of the association of unit owners.

That single sentence is why most disputes with a manager, a vendor, or a committee member are, in fact, legal disputes with the association. It also frames the limits: the declaration and bylaws bound what the committee may do, and where they are silent, the chapter does.

The Committee Acts Only at a Meeting

A management committee may take action only at a management committee meeting, with one exception: an action taken without a meeting in accordance with Section 16-6a-813 of the Utah Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act.

This is the provision to reach for when a decision seems to have been made by email or hallway consensus. Unless it satisfies Section 16-6a-813, committee action belongs at a meeting.

Your Right to Notice

At least 48 hours before a committee meeting, the association shall give written notice by email to each unit owner who requests notice.

Read that as a request-based right. The association does not have to email every owner. It has to email the owners who asked. If you are not receiving notices, the first step is to submit the request in writing and provide the association with the email address you want used.

The notice shall be delivered to the email address you provided, and shall state the time, the date, and the location of the meeting. If a committee member may participate electronically, the notice shall also provide the information needed to participate that way.

Two exceptions excuse the 48-hour notice: the meeting was already listed in a meeting schedule previously provided to you, or the meeting addresses an emergency, and each committee member also received less than 48 hours' notice.

Your Right to Attend, and the Six Reasons You Can Be Excluded

A committee meeting shall be open to each unit owner, or to the owner's representative if the representative is designated in writing.

The committee may close a meeting for six purposes, and only these six:

• to consult an attorney for the purpose of obtaining legal advice;
• to discuss ongoing or potential litigation, mediation, arbitration, or administrative proceedings;
• to discuss a personnel matter;
• to discuss a matter relating to contract negotiations, including review of a bid or proposal;
• to discuss a matter involving an individual where the discussion is likely to cause undue embarrassment or violate that individual's reasonable expectation of privacy; or
• to discuss a delinquent assessment or fine.

A closed session for any other reason is outside the statute. If a committee closes a meeting to decide something not on that list, say so in writing and cite Subsection (3)(b).

Your Right to Speak

At each committee meeting, the committee shall provide each unit owner a reasonable opportunity to offer comments. The committee may confine those comments to one specific time period during the meeting.

So, a comment period at a fixed point in the agenda is permitted. Eliminating comment entirely is not.

A committee member may not avoid or obstruct the requirements of this section.

What Happens If the Association Ignores These Rules

There is a remedy, and it has a gate you must go through first.

If the association fails to comply with Subsections (1) through (5) and does not fix it, a unit owner may file an action for injunctive relief, for $500 or actual damages, whichever is greater, or for any other relief provided by law. The court may award costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party. On motion and a hearing, the court may order immediate compliance.

The gate is 90 days. At least 90 days before filing, you must deliver a written notice to the association stating your name, address, telephone number, and email address; each requirement the association failed to meet; a demand that it comply; and a date at least 90 days out by which it must remedy the noncompliance.

An owner who files without sending that notice has not satisfied the statute. Send it in writing and keep proof of delivery.

Two Limits Worth Knowing Before You Rely on This Section

These rules switch off during developer control. The provisions of Section 57-8-57 do not apply during the period of administrative control.

A violation does not undo the decision. Nothing in the section affects the validity or enforceability of a committee action. So a meeting held improperly still produces a valid action; your remedy is the one in Subsection (9), not automatic reversal.

One point in your favor: the section applies regardless of when the project's initial declaration was recorded. An older project is not exempt.

How the Committee Must Decide Whether to Enforce

When deciding whether to exercise the association's power to impose sanctions or to pursue legal action for a governing document violation, the committee shall use its reasonable judgment and may not act arbitrarily or capriciously or act against public policy.

A decision to forgo enforcement does not prevent the association from enforcing later.

If You Have a Problem With Your Committee

Start by asking which rule was broken. Was action taken outside a meeting? Was a meeting closed for a reason not on the list of six? Were you denied a reasonable opportunity to comment? Did you request an email notice and not receive it 48 hours out?

Put the request or the objection in writing, and keep the response. If you intend to use the remedy in Subsection (9), the 90-day notice must come first and must itemize each requirement the association missed.

For what the committee may and may not put in a rule, read architectural and design review. For records you may request, read records and record requests. For the budget and the one thing owners may vote down, read budgets.

Reviewed against Utah Code, current as of September 9, 2026.