HOA Management Blog
In any organization meetings often seem like a necessary evil. Many people feel like they go to meetings to discuss what they met about at the last meeting or that they simply turn to mayhem and nothing gets resolved. But it doesn’t have to be this way, especially in your homeowner’s association.
The most important thing to remember in any relationship is that it takes time and effort from both parties. The relationship between an HOA board and the manager of a homeowners association is no different.
How would you define an effective HOA board meeting? Most people would see it as time spent efficiently, where issues are addressed, reasonable business decisions are made, and action items are assigned, in an atmosphere of respect and collaboration.
As a Board member of a homeowners association you may be faced with making decisions to foreclose on homes in your Association. This is not a pleasant task, but it is a necessary one at times. Some homeowners may challenge the entire process and you and the Board should know what you are doing and why.
If you’re a member of an HOA board, one of the reasons you chose to hire a property manager to help your community association is because you can’t keep up with all of the information you need to know. New and updated laws, reserve studies, annual meetings, trends, and resources are all things you need to have in your board member resource bucket, but can be very overwhelming. You trust your HOA manager to give you good and accurate information, but how do you know it really is legit?
An HOA management company can help homeowners association boards in many ways and work with nearly every budget. Two of the most obvious are assisting with financials and collecting delinquent HOA fees. There are also some ways your board members may not have thought of.
Many HOA boards don’t realize that their homeowners association can benefit from HOA management services without breaking the bank. You don’t always have to hire a full-service management company to provide every service – many services you can choose a la carte to fit the budget you have to work with.
Two of the most important areas that hiring a management company can help with are assisting with financials and collecting delinquent HOA fees.
Some HOA boards have the need to discuss things ad nauseum and yet never come to a decision. It can be extremely frustrating when the same topic comes up on the agenda month, after month, after month, and after hours of discussion, nobody's willing to say either yes or no. They either need more information, want to hear from so-and-so who's not there, or avoid the topic altogether. So how can decision-making be improved for your Board?
If your HOA board has hired a manager for the first time, there are a number of things it can anticipate the management company will ask for. The Board can prepare for the manager in advance by gathering specific documents and records pertaining to your homeowners association. Then, the HOA board itself can be proactive for the Association by communicating with homeowners and starting the relationship with the manager with an open mind.
Your HOA is being sued, what do you do? You know that being faced with a lawsuit is a serious matter and absolutely should not be ignored. That being said, there are some important actions you need to take as an HOA board member to avoid setting the homeowners association up for failure and getting yourself in a mess you can’t clean up.
