HOA Management Blog
A new member has been elected to your HOA board. Suddenly, you learn that they seem to have a general mistrust of any current vendors of the association, perhaps because they did not choose them. They call for at least three bids on every project, no matter how small. This person seems to be trying to fix something that may not have been broken in the first place.
A board of directors will have its fair share of challenges with new board members automatically calling for new vendors, even when the ones they are working with are really solid.
You wouldn’t dream of inviting an unverified contractor into your home to make repairs...let alone the homes under your care as a member of the HOA board. The results of a third-party contractor’s work will ultimately affect tens to hundreds of fellow homeowners.
Make the process easier and more effective for your HOA board by following a well-planned checklist. That way everyone’s on the same page from start to finish. Here are 10 tips your HOA board can use to hire a third-party contractor.
Do you live in a community where the HOA board is running its own projects? Are you feeling as if you’re not getting the proper information and updates about the project?
HOA managers are often the face of all projects and correspondence to the owners. This helps the membership to feel secure and helps ensure the projects are run in a professional and accurate manor.
In homeowner’s associations, you and every board member are considered a fiduciary and are duty bound to act in the best interests of all residents, not your own best interests.
Finding a contractor who will perform quality work at a reasonable price can be a daunting task for any HOA board. It’s always a good idea to use contractor caution and ask for references, contact the Better Business Bureau and your state licensing bureau to see if there are complaints against a prospective contractor. In addition, the following warning signs can alert you to unscrupulous, disorganized, inexperienced or financially troubled contractors who may deliver broken promises, bad work and blown budgets rather than professional results.
Homeowners associations often have to hire new contractors to do work for them. It may be for a new roof on the community center, repairs to a park, overlaying streets or for some other purpose. When your Association is considering hiring a new contractor, knowing what questions to ask them is vital in these situations.
One of the stated goals of a homeowners association is to oversee the upkeep of common areas in the community, such as clubhouses, pools, fitness rooms, and parks. When choosing contractors to maintain and repair community property it is imperative to choose a licensed contractor to perform the work. Unlicensed contractors put the homeowners association at risk for a myriad of problems that could arise.
Maintaining the common area in your California Homeowner Association is one of the board's most important responsibilities. Some maintenance requires consistent upkeep. Landscape maintenance falls into that category and it is usually in the board's best interest to contract with a professional company to provide HOA landscape maintenance services in order to save on cost, and have consistency within the look of the community. While some homeowners might complain that the cost of professional landscaping is unnecessary, we would like to offer you several reasons why we believe that it is worth every penny.
Is your California Homeowners Association thinking of embarking on a maintenance or construction project that will require the services of a contractor? If the project needs association approval, the first thing before you get to the place of interviewing Contractors in California is to make sure you follow the steps of your design review process.
