Articles

Tornados can strike at any time of year and almost any place.  While you can't prevent tornados, you can make sure your residents are prepared in the event of a storm.  As a community association board member, do you understand the warning signs and how to work with your property management company to help keep your residents safe?  

If you’re currently in the market to hire a new company, look for these key signs that you’ll be getting the high-quality service your association deserves.

As an elected board member, you have certain duties and obligations to the homeowners in your community. One of the most important of these is your commitment to protecting the financial health of the homeowners association (HOA). After all, the entire community depends on you to manage its money and keep its operations running smoothly.

If you’ve agreed to serve as a board member for your homeowners association (HOA), you may be thinking this is just like any other simple volunteer opportunity.  However, there are certain fiduciary responsibilities and protocols that board members should be aware of to help protect the association and their own personal liability.  Here we’ve compiled a few fundamental principles that every board member should apply.

As an active voice in your community, you can help to protect property values, make association improvements and create opportunities to enhance the lives of your neighbors. Learn the five key traits every HOA board member should bring to the table.

Social media sites, such as Facebook and Nextdoor, are quickly becoming favorite mediums for information sharing amongst neighbors mainly due to their ease of use and mobile accessibility. However, it’s important for your board to establish how these sites will be administered. Here we’ve identified a few of the most common issues frequently made on homeowner-controlled social media sites and some suggestions on how you can keep things aboveboard.

One of the primary responsibilities of a community association board member is to ensure that residents are properly informed about happenings in the community, upcoming meetings & events, policy changes and more. Knowing what information needs to be communicated and how to make sure your announcement reaches everyone possible can be a challenge. Here are a few communication tips that will help keep the residents in your Homeowners Association well informed.

Even in the best of times, transitioning from one association management company to another can be a work-intensive and stressful process. There are many important responsibilities and deadlines, and with a straight-line solo approach it’s fairly easy for the process to take too long or for something to fall through the cracks. That's why the most seamless community management transitions are handled with a team approach.

No matter what kind of vendor your HOA needs – a caterer for your onsite party, a roofer to repair post-hurricane damage or a painter to spiff up your lobby – your board should never take a casual approach to the hiring process.

Imposing a special assessment is a move that your board should not undertake lightly. Before you go forward with it, make sure that you have a thorough understanding of when these added fees are appropriate and how to go about collecting them. The following “do’s” and “don’ts” are a good place to start.