MEETING RULES: WISCONSIN
Wisconsin meeting rules,
between elections.
A Wisconsin condominium reads chapter 703, which sets a flat 10 days of written notice for any association meeting. An incorporated homeowners association reads the nonstock corporation law, whose safe harbor is 10 to 60 days.
The condominium act is specific about paper: minutes and financial records kept at least six years, a records inspection on 10 business days of notice, and a proxy that stops working after 180 days.
Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice.
Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Reviewed on Oct 12, 2026
NOTICE
Notice for the annual meeting in Wisconsin
Days below are counted back from the meeting date. Where the statute sets a ceiling as well as a floor, the notice has to land inside the window, not simply before it.
Condominium
Wisconsin Condominium Ownership Act
| Notice | The rule | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Regular or special meeting | At least 10 days beforeNo regular or special meeting of a condominium association may be held except on at least 10 days of written notice to every unit owner, unless every unit owner signs a waiver. The association keeps a current roster of names and addresses for that purpose, and a unit owner who has not given the association a name and mailing address may not vote at its meetings. A small condominium whose declaration opts into the act’s small-condominium section gives notice in the manner best calculated to make sure every unit owner actually receives it.How it travels: Written notice delivered or mailed to every unit owner at the address on the association’s roster. | Wis. Stat. §703.15(4)(a), (b), (c); §703.365(1), (3) |
Incorporated homeowners association
Wisconsin Nonstock Corporation Law
| Notice | The rule | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Annual, regular or special meeting | 10 to 60 days beforeA nonstock corporation gives notice of members meetings as its bylaws provide or, if the bylaws are silent, in a manner that is fair and reasonable. The safe harbor is notice of the place, date and time not more than 60 days and not less than 10 days before the meeting. A special meeting notice describes the matter the meeting is called for.How it travels: As the bylaws provide. Notice mailed by other than first class or registered mail takes 30 days. | Wis. Stat. §181.0705(1), (3) |
Worked example: a meeting on Dec 1, 2026
- Condominium, regular or special meeting: for a meeting on Dec 1, 2026, notice goes out by Nov 21, 2026.
- Incorporated homeowners association, annual, regular or special meeting: for a meeting on Dec 1, 2026, notice goes out between Oct 2 and Nov 21, 2026.
That is arithmetic on the day counts above, nothing more. Your bylaws may ask for longer, weekends and holidays are not adjusted for, and a date is not a ruling on your meeting.
BOARD MEETINGS
Board meetings in Wisconsin
Open to owners: your bylaws
The condominium act’s meeting subsection and the nonstock corporation sections on board meetings say nothing about owners attending a board meeting. That question is for your bylaws.
What condominium bylaws must settle
A condominium’s bylaws have to state how unit owners are called to assemble, what attendance makes a quorum, how owners are notified of a proposed meeting, who presides, who keeps the minute book and who counts the votes. They also provide for a board the unit owners elect, of whom not more than one is a non-unit owner, with the terms of at least one-third of the directors expiring every year.
Incorporated association
Wisconsin Nonstock Corporation Law
| Notice | The rule | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Special board meeting | At least 2 days beforeUnless the articles or bylaws provide otherwise, a regular board meeting, one whose time and place the bylaws or the board fixed, may be held without notice. A special meeting takes at least 2 days of notice to each director of the date, time and place, and the notice does not have to state the purpose. The presiding officer, the president or 20 percent of the directors in office may call one. | Wis. Stat. §181.0822(1), (2), (4) |
MINUTES AND RECORDS
Minutes and records in Wisconsin
Ten business days
A unit owner may inspect and copy, at a reasonable time and place the association names, the association’s records created within the past six years, and its permanent condominium documents and most recent audit whatever their age. The owner picks the date by giving the association written notice at least 10 business days before it.
Minutes kept six years
A condominium association keeps minutes of association and board meetings, and records of action taken without a meeting, for at least 6 years. Its financial records are kept at least 6 years as well: budgets, financial statements, bank and reserve account statements, invoices, insurance policies and contracts, with the bids for those contracts kept 3 years. The condominium documents it adopts are permanent records.
Outside a condominium, five business days
A member of a nonstock corporation may inspect and copy the records kept at its principal office on written notice given at least 5 business days ahead. Accounting records, the membership list and excerpts of the minutes take the same notice plus a good-faith demand for a proper purpose that describes the purpose and the records with reasonable particularity.
PROXIES AND QUORUM
Proxies and quorum in Wisconsin
Quorum: your bylaws, or ten percent
A condominium’s bylaws have to state the attendance that makes a quorum at an association meeting. For a nonstock corporation whose articles and bylaws set no figure, 10 percent of the votes entitled to be cast on a matter have to be represented at the members meeting.
A condominium proxy lasts 180 days
Unit owners may vote by proxy, but the proxy is effective for at most 180 days after it is issued, unless it was granted to a mortgagee or a lessee.
Eleven months outside a condominium
Unless the articles or bylaws of a nonstock corporation prohibit or limit proxy voting, a member appoints a proxy by signing an appointment form. It takes effect when the secretary or whoever tabulates the votes receives it, and it is valid for 11 months unless the form expressly sets a different period. The member may revoke it unless the form conspicuously says it is irrevocable.
Majority of those present and voting
Unless the condominium act provides otherwise, and subject to any bylaw that requires a different majority, decisions of a condominium association are made on a majority of the votes of the unit owners present and voting.
REMOTE MEETINGS
Meeting by phone or screen in Wisconsin
Directors by phone, screen or text
Unless the articles or bylaws provide otherwise, the board may let any or all directors take part in a board or committee meeting, or hold it, by any means by which all the participating directors can simultaneously hear or read each other’s communications, or by which every communication is immediately transmitted to each director and each can immediately reply to all. The directors taking part have to be told that a meeting is under way at which official business may be transacted, and a director who takes part that way is considered present in person.
NEXT
What to do with this.
This page adds what the election page does not: The flat 10-day condominium notice, the 180-day proxy limit, the six-year retention rule, the 10 business day inspection notice and the two-day notice for a special board meeting. The ballot rules for Wisconsin stay where they already are, on vote.direct, and that page is linked below.
Reading a statute is not the same as running a meeting. Send us your roster and we set your community up on the phone, in one sitting. Call or text (512) 222-8191.
THE OTHER STATES
Meeting rules we have read elsewhere.
Same treatment on each: a primary source per fact, a link per citation, and the date the reading happened.
Arizona
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 50 days
California
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 90 days
Colorado
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 50 days
Florida
Annual meeting notice: At least 14 days
Nevada
Annual meeting notice: 15 to 60 days
Texas
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 60 days
Maryland
Annual meeting notice: No day count in the statute
Washington
Annual meeting notice: 14 to 50 days
Virginia
Annual meeting notice: At least 14 days
New York
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 50 days
North Carolina
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 60 days
Pennsylvania
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 60 days
Michigan
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 60 days
South Carolina
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 60 days
Connecticut
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 60 days
Idaho
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 60 days
Illinois
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 30 days
QUESTIONS
Wisconsin board questions, answered
How much notice does a Wisconsin association have to give for the annual meeting?
No regular or special meeting of a condominium association may be held except on at least 10 days of written notice to every unit owner, unless every unit owner signs a waiver. The association keeps a current roster of names and addresses for that purpose, and a unit owner who has not given the association a name and mailing address may not vote at its meetings. A small condominium whose declaration opts into the act’s small-condominium section gives notice in the manner best calculated to make sure every unit owner actually receives it. For a meeting on Dec 1, 2026, that puts the notice by nov 21, 2026. That is arithmetic on the statute, not a ruling on your meeting. Wis. Stat. §703.15(4)(a), (b), (c); §703.365(1), (3). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Are Wisconsin HOA board meetings open to homeowners?
The condominium act’s meeting subsection and the nonstock corporation sections on board meetings say nothing about owners attending a board meeting. That question is for your bylaws. Wis. Stat. §703.15(4); §181.0820. Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
How much notice does a Wisconsin board meeting need?
Unless the articles or bylaws provide otherwise, a regular board meeting, one whose time and place the bylaws or the board fixed, may be held without notice. A special meeting takes at least 2 days of notice to each director of the date, time and place, and the notice does not have to state the purpose. The presiding officer, the president or 20 percent of the directors in office may call one. Wis. Stat. §181.0822(1), (2), (4). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
How fast does a Wisconsin association have to answer a records request?
A unit owner may inspect and copy, at a reasonable time and place the association names, the association’s records created within the past six years, and its permanent condominium documents and most recent audit whatever their age. The owner picks the date by giving the association written notice at least 10 business days before it. Wis. Stat. §703.20(1g)(a). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
How long does a Wisconsin association have to keep its records?
A condominium association keeps minutes of association and board meetings, and records of action taken without a meeting, for at least 6 years. Its financial records are kept at least 6 years as well: budgets, financial statements, bank and reserve account statements, invoices, insurance policies and contracts, with the bids for those contracts kept 3 years. The condominium documents it adopts are permanent records. Wis. Stat. §703.20(1)(a), (b). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Can a Wisconsin association hold its meeting online?
Unless the articles or bylaws provide otherwise, the board may let any or all directors take part in a board or committee meeting, or hold it, by any means by which all the participating directors can simultaneously hear or read each other’s communications, or by which every communication is immediately transmitted to each director and each can immediately reply to all. The directors taking part have to be told that a meeting is under way at which official business may be transacted, and a director who takes part that way is considered present in person. Wis. Stat. §181.0820(3). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Do proxies count toward a quorum in Wisconsin?
A condominium’s bylaws have to state the attendance that makes a quorum at an association meeting. For a nonstock corporation whose articles and bylaws set no figure, 10 percent of the votes entitled to be cast on a matter have to be represented at the members meeting. Wis. Stat. §703.10(2)(c); §181.0722(1). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Does governance.center tell us our Wisconsin meeting was properly noticed?
No, and it never will. We show you the statute, the date the arithmetic produces and the section it came from, so your board and your attorney can check our work. Your bylaws may set a longer period than the state does, and where they do, the bylaws govern. We never tell a board that it is compliant.
Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice.
Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Your bylaws may ask for a longer period than the state does, and where they do, the bylaws govern. We never tell a board that it is compliant. If something here does not match what your attorney reads, call (512) 222-8191 and tell us. We will correct it.