HOA Websites - Purpose of secure area

Their ARC form, CCR's, Articles of Incorporation, Newsletters, anything that pertains to their HOA.

Yes, it is a choice, we have some communities that have their sites up for the public to view, however once they try to access forms and pertainant information, it then goes into a secure log in.

We have a website that's fully open to the public. There's no "members only" section. There's nothing on the site that needs to be secure or restricted. Personally, I believe it's a good idea to offer the CC&Rs, bylaws. etc. to prospective buyers. The dues assessment is also posted. I would like prospective buyers to approach ownership in our development with as much information as possible. It's much better than someone moving in only to be told after the fact that they can't keep their trailer in their front yard.

As you may have seen, HOATalk is run by Community123.com, who offers secure HOA websites. Our customers may choose which info. is public or private, but here's a guideline:

One of our sponsors, HindmanSanchez is a large law firm that has handled over 1,800 associations. All they do is association law. They publish a newsletter and here's a quote on what should not be made public on web sites: "... financial records, names, addresses and phone numbers of residents, and probably even the minutes of board meetings should be restricted to residents only."
See: http://www.imakenews.com/ortenhindman/e_article000572279.cfm?x=b11,0,w

Now, I'll give my non-legal, non-attorney opinion on this: The Board's fiduciary duty is to serve only the members (e.g. owners). If you post financials or Board meeting minutes on the public website and it has a negative impact on the community or an individual member, then it seems the Board is responsible for the damage.

For example, you post your financials showing what might be interpreted as a very low reserve fund. You later see your community mentioned in a newspaper article called, 'HOAs going broke and forcing owners to pay huge assessments!'. Might that article immediately impact property values when every Realtor sees it?

Another example: You post Board meeting minutes on the public website that mention a possible future one-time assessment. A prospective buyer finds it and backs out of a pending purchase. The owner ends up taking 3 more months to sell while making 2 house payments. Who's liable?

These are only examples, but you get the idea. The HOA is a private corporation serving only its members. Of course, the owners should follow all disclosure laws when they sell a property, but it's not the Board's place to provide internal corporate/HOA documents to the public. That said, providing 'public' HOA documents on the public website can be a good idea, as has already been mentioned here.

Hi all:

Our community, Forest Heights in Portland, Oregon has a website that is mostly open (check us out at www.fhhoa.com) but has a private section for members only, that includes an opt-in members directory.

Our documents are out there for all to see, as well as our newsletter (which is a plus for the newsletter advertisers; we also offer them the option of links for an extra cost). There's also budgets, board biographies, community calendar, FAQ's and more.

Each community will judge what they want open to the public on their website, and what they want private. It's a help to us to have a lot of stuff available on it with easy access to our residents as well as buyers.

J. Patrick Moore, CMCA
Compliance Coordinator
Forest Heights HOA