Facebook used to discuss HOA issues?

You are not dealing with professionals when it comes to your HOA. The only requirement is to be an owner that is elected by the members to be on the board/officer. It gets me that somehow your on a HOA board or officer your held to some higher standard.

Is it okay for them to do it? No. What can you do about? Recall them from the board or office with supporters and get someone else to do the job. You can bring it to their attention at a meeting you attend to let people know the facebook page is discussing these issues. Is this a HOA account or the individuals? If itis the HOAs I would post on it. If it is on an individuals then it could straddle that privacy line but not if people can read it.

Marissa,

I personally don't like facebook so naturally I would say not to use it for HOA business.

If you have facebook or your own web site, someone has to administer it.
Therefore, the fact that the President is administrating the facebook site, in my opinion, is mute.

Since it is an Association site, the whole Board should adopt a policy on what is and isn't going to be posted on the site.

I understand this may be a money saving thing. However, I was able to create a webpage for free with a separate area for posting questions. I had to give out the password to log into the site but only to members. This is a much better option than having it as a facebook page. The security on facebook is terrible. You don't know what the security setting are set at and who can view the page. Plus sometimes the arguments can get quite nasty and spread like a cancer throughout your HOA.

Agree to get your own website outside of facebook. Have a policy in place that you all do NOT reveal people's names on the collection list. You can tell the number of overall who you all have collected from but not the individual's name. We use lot#'s instead of names in our meetings. Even if people know who lives on that lot, it still isn't naming names.

I believe an associations website should be informational only meaning no back and forth communication. It should not be an open discussion place.

It should have notices from the BOD, Covenants, Bylaws, Rules and Regulations, lastest financial information, newsletter information, etc.

Anyone should be able to look at it at anytime. No password needed.

Dean,

This sites posting rules prohibit advertising or mentioning companies names. Since this site is free and the provider of this site provides web site services, I don't think we should bend that rule. However, I can provide the following:

These are some of the basic questions:

Will the site be self managed or do you want a company (like Community123.com) to manage it for you?

Do you have a site designer or do you want to pay a company to help you set one up?

What do you want on the site?
We provide copies of all our governing documents, links to applicable laws, contact info for who is on the Board and various committees, meeting dates, copies of newsletters and in a members only area, copies of minutes, audits and reserve studies.

Here are some basics:

Cost -

I have found that there are two recurring costs associated with a website.
1) Registration of the name (so others don't use it). A simple annual cost that runs about $20 per year
2) Hosting of the actual site is charged by bandwidth and varies from host to host.
Bandwidth is the amount of data that is sent from the host computer to a viewers computer.
Bandwidth is used when each page that is viewed.
Everyone, not just members, will be able to view your site so the amount of bandwidth used can vary each month.
Bandwidth with a hosting company is like minutes with a cell phone plan. Going over your bandwidth limit can cost.
I recently did a comparison for my Board and have included the report I made as an attachment.
When you shop for a hosting service, make sure you compare apples to apples.

Design -

The hardest thing to figure out is what do you want on the site and how is it displayed. No matter what you decide, remember you can always change it. One way of deciding what you want on the site is to view others HOA sites and see what they have.

Software -

There is a lot of varied software out there to help you in designing a website. Some are free and some cost money. Most hosting and/or design companies will provide the software. The only suggestion I have is to look forward when you make this decision. You might not always be the site administrator and the next person might have a PC vs. a MAC.

I'd suggest that you contact Community123.com (the host of this site) and see what they provide and associated costs. Then compare that to others and make a decision based on the info provided.

Hope this helps,

Tim

Oh, if you want to see our site - email me [email protected]

I have a Facebook account and find it great for keeping up with old friends and distant family members. However, there is so much other crap on it that I cannot imagine it having any use for an HOA. Each time I go to my account I find maybe one item of interest buried in the messages with links to Diesel truck repairs in Indiana, a message that a friend played a game on Facebook, another message that another friend likes a site with recipes, and the ever popular reposting of the picture of the cute baby who will die from cancer unless he gets 10 million "Likes." (I guess we can close down the medical schools now that we can cure diseases with Facebook "Likes.")

In another thread on this forum someone complained about an owner's facebook page that supposedly damaged their HOA. It took several tries to even find the page and there were so many repetitious and unfocused threads that it left me confounded as to why anyone would feel threatened.

Bottom line is that Facebook is a lousy forum for any kind of serious discussion.

No on discussions of a private person's account status. For general information, it can be a useful tool. A simple Wordpress blog, domain name and $10/month will get you website that non-Facebook users may use.

HOA Websites should be used. There are many providers out there and the prices can range from $-$$$$. Do a google search for hoa website or hoa websites and view the offerings, but never should your associations' business be placed on such a public forum as facebook, especially anything concerning financials or past due accounts. I had an association I managed actually be threatened in a lawsuit for publicly displaying such information.... Just my 2 cents....