Is owner apathy the cause of out of control HOA's?

I would have answered the questionaire! I wish my developer/HOA would ask the residents what they want the HOA to do for them. It has been 3 LONG miserable years with my developer as the complete controller of my neighborhood. Every house came with an extremely long list of restrictive covanents: we had no say at all. Since then a few of the homeowners (either chosen by the developer or self-chosen because of personal agendas) have decided how my $1000 per year dues are spent. There has been NO DISCUSSION and no request for input from the homeowners. I get an accounting at the end of the year. There is an HOA website which is paid by my dues. However, replies to posts are blocked, and posts are censored by the administrator of the HOA. kitty in Chapel Hill, NC

Actually, you had a very big "say". You chose to purchase the property with the "extremely long list of restrictive covanents". Your decision to purchase the property was your approval of the covenants.

If you want to know what's going on, if you want your oppinion heard, get involved with the HOA. Attend the meetings, volunteer for a committee, run for office.

Moderated sites can work and so can unmoderated ones. HOATalk's website customers are using both effectively. It depends on the community.

It's only a big job if you check it many times a day. With our service, moderators get emailed when they have new posts to approve so no need to check in too often. Also, accepting delayed posts is really part of a moderated forum. If someone's post sits for a day unapproved, then it's OK. Forums are for feedback over time, not emergency requests and member's would have to understand that a volunteer is doing the moderation and is not available all the time. The alternative in many communities is no forum at all, because the Board would not approve an unmoderated forum. The slower communication of a moderated forum is better than none at all. And look at it this way, many MCs standard service level is to return calls in 1 business day or more, so other communication channels also have delays.

On your question of apathy; of course that's a big problem. Another problem is a basic misunderstanding of what the HOA is and what the member's role is. Many owners treat the HOA the way they treat the phone company, "I pay $x per month and I expect these services for my $x. All I have to do is pay the bill.". They treat the Board like a service company working for them.

In this case, education is the key. Many (most?) people have no concept that THEY are are HOA and when they bought their home they also bought into a co-op of sorts that they must help run. I'd say this is the root of many of the problems. Owners have to understand that the Board are all unpaid neighbor volunteers doing the other neighbors a favor by spending time running the HOA. Owners need to understand that every dollar of services provided must be paid by the members. They need to understand that they all ultimately own and have liability for the ammenities (pool, common areas, etc). They need to understand that every hour of work needed to run the HOA and maintain it's common elements must either be volunteer time or purchased services that they pay for. They must understand that if they just complain to the board so much that all the Board members quit, then nothing will get done at all.

Many members expect too much of the Board. For example, they expect them to work with the police to solve crime issues, go to the local zoning board to fight undesirable adjoining development, etc. These are nice extras if the Board takes them on but are not part of the charter. I'm sure many of you have other examples.

When it comes to management companies, members also need to know what services were purchased. Who may contact the MC for requests and what are the turnaround times? Is the MC supposed to police the community for violations? Is the MC supposed to check the community for needed maintenance; how often? Again, set proper expectations and if member's want higher service levels they have to be willing to pay for it.

Every HOA should try to educate owners on what the HOA is and everyone's role (MC, Board, Committees and owners). It should help things run much better.

GlenL,

Good post, but you have questions (13 to be specific) and no real answers.

If you had anything over 25% or near 40% return rate on questionnaires, that is a success. Probably more involvement percentage wise than you currently have!!

I believe the root cause of "out of control" HOA's is an equation made up of owner apathy, poor Board and owner communication, unwillingness to read and discuss by-laws, delusions of grandeur, board agendas, and last but not least timing (which is everything). At the end of the day however, it is the Board as a governing body that is the determining factor in a well-run association. The Board is held to the highest standard and must do the right thing, regardless of owner apathy.

With all due respect to anyone who complains, quite crying a river, roll up your sleeves, get creative, solicit participation (PR), and get your neighbors involved. I've done it in my community, many many times, and have been very effective.

IMO, an HOA/COA Board should send multiple communications throughout the year to the residents explaining the importance of owner participation and the positive effect it will have on everyone's bottom line. Get neighbors involved in something exciting (bus trip, New Year party, fund raiser, etc.) and publish the success in a flyer, or newsletter.

Best of success!!
GeraldT1
NNJ

Glen,

I'll try to answer two of the questions. First, a 40% response isn't too bad. People often don't respond to surveys unless they have something specific to say or respond to, and that item may not have been on the questionnaire. In a country where only 50% of the people vote in a national election, getting 4 out of 10 to anwer a survey is actually pretty good. And, it's probably reflective of your association. 4 out of 10 care, the rest just go along until something hits them between the eyes.

As for apathy, when I look back at associations that were good and associations that weren't, the difference almost always came down to the President. That may be putting a lot on one person's shoulders, but as the most visible individual and the person who sets the agenda and runs the meetings, they do make a huge difference. A good President can overcome a bad board, but a good board has problems with a bad President. Just look at the posts of this board - not many problems start out with "We have a good President, but.....", while a lot of them start our with "We have board members who want to do a good job, but the President....."

The best President's have developed leadership skills outside of the association, but apply them inside. They listen, without being critical; know how to build a consensus; know where the association should be heading, can articulate it to others and gets people to help; understands the critical importance of communication, and uses it effectively and in multiple formats (person-to-person, printed and electronic); can handle problem people without taking the abuse personally (a tough one); keeps things on track and on focus; can deal with ineffective board members privately so issues don't public; they recruit good people to run for the board, and they can convince people to serve on committees; they say "thank you" a lot; apathy doesn't seem to exist around them; etc. etc. etc.

With bad President's, the board founders and it's members find it hard to go around the Prez to get things done, or the board just spends a year in-fighting or becoming apathetic.

This may sound simplistic, but for those of you who have dealt with many associations over the years, if you think back to the good ones and the bad ones, it will probably be the President who stood out.