HOA Management Blog

All homeowners associations want children to be safe while riding their bikes and scooters in their community. Parents cannot always be there to watch them all the time, but it is their responsibility to teach their kids the rules; and it is the HOA board’s responsibility to make sure the parents are informed of the rules. So here are four steps that could increase children's bike safety when a parent/ guardian is not around that you could pass out to the homeowners in your community.

An HOA board has three significant roles: to protect, maintain and enhance the Association. Everything the board is responsible for in a homeowners association can be placed into at least one of these three categories.

We all know about the clouds that shade the sun and carry rain. Now it’s time to get to know the other cloud, the one that delivers computing power, handy applications, and the ability to share information with others wherever and whenever you need. Like the atmospheric mass that provides its name, the technological phenomenon impacts our daily lives and can help your homeowners association.

The role of an HOA board can be summed up by three different words: to protect, maintain and enhance the Association. What does it mean to protect? It’s to keep someone from harm or injury. In a homeowners association it’s the board members' responsibility to protect the homeowners and community.

Most homeowners associations are proud to be pet-friendly, and welcome four-legged family members are part of the community. Of course, it’s important that these pets don’t create an unpleasant environment for everyone else. To avoid unnecessary disputes and potential rule violations, here are some guidelines owners should follow to ensure their furry friends continue to be a welcome addition to the neighborhood. 

If you think hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, floods or polar vortexs won’t happen to you or that you don’t need to insure against these disasters in your homeowners association, you’re among the nearly half of U.S. homeowners and renters who lack the insurance coverage to deal with potential losses, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

Is your board constantly faced with residents who don’t pay their monthly assessments on time?

It’s a Wednesday evening in spring. As you walk the few blocks from your home to your monthly HOA board meeting you find yourself smiling at what you see. The sun is setting, giving just enough light for residents to finish walking their dogs. You hear the giggles of kids playing catch in their front yard. The smell of freshly cut grass, coupled with someone barbecuing, is in the air. Amidst the mundane details of budgets, laws, rules, and maintenance waiting for you at your meeting, you are reminded that you are an HOA board member because you value your community. You care about the quality of life in your neighborhood, and making it a safe place for residents.

As a homeowners association member, it’s important to understand that committees are an integral part of the operations of your community. Committee members help keep a community vibrant; and by augmenting paid staff, they can save an association hundreds or even thousands of dollars each year.

Have you lost your copy of the Association bylaws? Would you like to read minutes from past board meetings? Would you like to read a resolution for background information on a homeowners association policy?

The economy is getting brighter, but we aren’t out of the dark hole yet. While we may be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, it will still take some time for community associations to recover. Homeowners associations are not immune in this recession.