You’ve sent out the candidate solicitations, you’ve gone through finding members who are willing to serve on your board, printed the ballots, and mailed out a professionally prepared cover letter with two envelopes (postage paid!) – just like your CC&Rs or Bylaws outline. Now you have a new HOA board, right?

Then, someone you’d least expect notifies you, as the Director, that they are disputing the election because your HOA does not have election rules!

As homes in your homeowners association begin to thaw from the cold months, it’s time to start thinking about preparing your home for spring and summer! The steps you take now can help avoid costly maintenance and repairs later.

Social media, for good or bad, is here to stay and has changed the way we communicate.  By recognizing the pros, cons, and legal issues of using these platforms for HOA communication and professional branding,  you can make these tools work for your HOA rather than against it. 

So, your homeowners association is contemplating doing a reserve fund study.  Perhaps you are a new HOA and need to establish and start funding the reserves; or, you are an older HOA that has had a reserve for years, but it is time to update it.  How many years should your HOA reserve study cover?

Well, it depends.  HOA communities vary in size, age and the number and dollar value of the capital assets they own.  They choose different maintenance strategies for short-lived and longer-lived capital assets.  Let’s explore some of these issues.

When a new HOA board is transitioning into power, having solid foundations for the new members is important to the homeowners association’s success. The first step in a successful HOA board’s transition process is to set expectations, particularly if you have many board members (along with their experience) leaving the board. To do so, a comprehensive transition plan document should be in place. If there isn’t one, meet with current and new board members to document a plan. It’s a worthwhile investment, because the document can be used for future HOA board transitions.

Power failures can be one of the most annoying and disabling occurrences in your HOA. Whether caused by summer storms, power lines crippled by winter ice, equipment failure, an overloaded regional grid or an animal disrupting a power line, electrical outages can be costly, uncomfortable, and without forethought sometimes even dangerous.

Association homeowners can face many hazards when a power failure occurs, usually without any warning, including losing refrigerated and frozen foods. Some food items can be salvaged, however, if you’re prepared.

More often than not, sitting down to review your HOA Reserve Study can be about as easy-to-understand and enjoyable as sitting down to review the U.S. Tax Code. And just reviewing your HOA Reserve Study is not enough.  As an HOA Board member, you’re responsible for using that HOA Reserve Study to plan for, allocate, adjust, and collect reserve funds accordingly. 

Here are some ideas to help you interpret your HOA Reserve Study and put it to good use so that your HOA can pay for what your community needs to keep it in good repair, easy on the wallet, and lovely to live in...today and in the future.

Common area lighting, pools, club houses, and laundry facilities are just a few areas that a Homeowners Association can find themselves spending lots of Association dollars on quickly. No one likes it when their HOA dues increase so how do you help conserve energy and manage costs?

Energy bills, like the temperature, always rise in the summer. While there are big fixes an Association can incorporate to make common area electricity more energy-efficient, there are also many inexpensive energy solutions, as well as some simple and free steps that you can take to cut down on costs and save money.