HOA Management Blog

When you move into a new home or you welcome new neighbors into the homeowners association all you can do is hope for the best. Just like you don’t get to choose your parents, you usually don’t get to choose your neighbors either. When you’re a member of the HOA board, do you get involved when neighbors disagree or do you let them work it out themselves?

When you’re recruiting members to be part of your HOA board, it’s important to know how to reach them and to be prepared for common pushbacks you’ll hear when you ask a homeowner to join the Board. But once you find good board members, you don’t want to let them go. So how do you keep them on the Board?

Most homeowners associations have a set of written design review standards and processes. Some homeowners mistakenly believe these standards restrict their freedom of individual expression; actually they provide a framework within which each homeowner can express individual tastes and preferences. The standards have been carefully developed to reflect a balance between individual rights and property values in the Association.

Finding and keeping good people on the board in your homeowners association is possibly one of the toughest jobs you’ll have as an HOA board member. As a current member of the board one of your responsibilities is to recruit homeowners to become part of the board, which is no easy feat. That’s why you should be prepared to have answers to common questions and excuses you’ll probably hear when inviting homeowners to join the board. 

One of the benefits of living in a homeowners association is enjoying access to common areas such as a swimming pool, clubhouse, lawn area or exercise room. When a resident sees something that needs repair they are encouraged to submit a maintenance request to inform the HOA board and manager of the issue.

As you may or may not know the State of California has recently adopted an emergency regulation that took effect on August 1, 2014, and is intended to cause a reduction in urban water usage during the current drought. The operative language of the regulation is included at the end of this blog, but here’s what you need to know (in layman’s terms) as a resident in a homeowners association.

Being a board member in a homeowners association is a difficult job. It takes a commitment of time and resources, but it can also be very rewarding. Sometimes you are asked to deal with tough issues that relate to your next door neighbor – maybe even your friend. It can be tough to tell the little old lady who’s just making it on social security, that a special assessment to fix something is going to be in effect. But, you can also use your role as an HOA board member to be the voice for people in the Association.

Summer is in full swing, but the fall season will be here before we know it! This is a great time to do a little cleaning and dust off the cobwebs to give your home a fresh, new feel. Cleaning out and sprucing up your yard are good low-cost alternatives to major home improvement. Whether you hire a professional or have the skills and tools to do it yourself, here are some tips from an HOA board to improve your lawn and landscape in the homeowners association.

Whether your new home is just down the street in a nearby homeowners association or across the country, moving can be stressful. There’s a lot of work to be done before that final box is unpacked and it’s easy to overlook the details that pile up the closer you get to your departure date.

Noise is a concern for every resident and because you live in a homeowners association community, it’s important to understand that some degree of noise is to be expected. At the same time, residents need to consider the consequences of their noisy behavior. To keep everyone happy and maintain civility among neighbors, the HOA board asks that you take a few steps to reduce or eliminate annoying noise.

You’re 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.