Q. It is common knowledge that board members have a fiduciary duty to the association, and can be held liable for failing to perform their duties as required by statute. But, do the board of managers or board of directors have any fiduciary responsibility or duty to actual homeowners who elected them? 

                     — Civic-Minded Shareholder

A. “Board members owe a fiduciary duty to all members of the association,” says attorney David C. Hartwell, founding partner of the firm Penland & Hartwell, P.C., in Chicago, “not just the ones that voted for or elected them.  A board member’s duty to each member of the association is equal.  Once a person is no longer a member of the association (i.e. sells home or unit), the fiduciary relationship is severed.”