HOA Management Blog

Your homeowners association has a lot going on, and that includes a range of upcoming social events as well several important ongoing projects.

The HOA board may also find that the website needs updating, there’s always room for another article in the Association newsletter, and several committees—budget, landscaping, road maintenance and election oversight—are looking for volunteers…the list goes on and on!

Homeowners within in a homeowners association possess a right to participate in deciding what will be done about community issues that affect all residents. By casting their vote—either in person, or by proxy, or absentee ballot—they can help make important choices.

Is your HOA board ready for the association’s annual meeting? Typically, most homeowner’s association hold their annual meetings at the end or beginning of the year. Not only is it a great way to keep members informed, but it’s also the time for many HOAs to hold board elections – in fact, it’s also the law in many states, such as California.

As Thanksgiving approaches many of us have many things to be grateful for. Volunteering as an HOA board member of your homeowners association is sometimes a thankless job -- but there are a few things you can be grateful for. Your HOA does good things for the community and makes it a better place to live.

One common subject that often causes confusion in a homeowners association is grasping the difference between the maintenance responsibilities of an association and the items that are covered by the association’s insurance policy. Often owners and even HOA board members may not understand the differences between these two subjects.

Some associations have extra space for various amenities. Some have parks, tennis courts, or even lakes and water features. One amenity that’s a feature in some associations is playgrounds for children. There are many different types of playgrounds and play apparatus for associations to choose from. Whether your association has had a playground from the beginning or it’s considering the addition as a capital expenditure, there are certain things an HOA board should keep in mind.

Americans are starting to gear up for voting date and showing support for their preferred 2016 presidential candidate by volunteering at campaign locations, watching the latest debates, and posting political signs on their property. This raises the issue of whether or not a homeowners association can restrict residents from posting political signs. Learn more in the article excerpt below and what the law in California says.

As a volunteer HOA board member or homeowner within an association, elections, quorums, secret ballots and things related can be very confusing. They can even be confusing to those trained to work in this industry. If nothing else, you should understand that not all elections are equal. 

There’s a lot of talk, along with articles and commentary these days about online bullying. This can take place on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. It can take the form of inappropriate pictures that someone secretly takes of others and then posts on the internet or just in the mean and inappropriate communications that seem to be an all too often occurrence. But this is not the only place that bullying is taking place. Bullying can and is happening in the realm of homeowner associations as well. In fact, it seems to have escalated greatly in recent years. In what forms can we see it manifested? 

Each and every homeowner’s association should have a reserve fund as part of its budget to plan and prepare for future repairs and maintenance, as well as unanticipated expenses and needs. HOA board members are responsible to make sure a reserve plan is in place for the Association, or at least ask the question about how the Board is planning for the reserves. If the Board is ignoring the reserves altogether, then it needs to actively seek out assistance to make this happen.