Quickies

Started by DeannaB • 8 replies • 1724 views

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DeannaB (Wisconsin)
Posts: 21

Posted:

The information and advice I've received here has been great..so here I go again...

1) We would like to have contact phone numbers/email for all residents in our subdivision. Is it appropriate to ask this of people and would it be okay to have a "guest list" type link on our site for people to submit that info?

2) Some on our board want to limit our website for HOA-sponsored items only. Whereas others feel we should be harboring a sense of community by posting neighborhood garage sales, links to things within the city...such things that the HOA isn't putting $$ towards. What are the thoughts?

Thanks!

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Deanna, the personal information in the homeowners directory must be approved for publication by each homeowner. We post this information on the members only portion of a community123.com website. There is also a discussion section for members as well as financial reports, minutes of meetings, and the newsletter. There is a separate section of the website which allows viewing by the general public. To see an example go to: CypressGreensHOA.com.

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

try this link: www.CypressGreensHOA.com

JM2 (Oregon)
Posts: 439

Posted:

Hi Deanna:

Our website has a private section for homeowners with an opt-in directory; the rest of the website is public. However, our owner database does have any contact information that they either send in directly or that we can glean from ARC forms, etc.

We put out a monthly newsletter that has local (paid) advertising, free classified ads for members to advertise beach houses, kids who do housesitting or babysitting, etc. as well as articles about what's going on, a monthly article from the landscape company that does our common areas, and informational items relating to compliance (that I write) and other news about things happening in & around the community. You can check out our newsletter at www.fhhoa.com; the current newsletter is linked on the home page, and we have a page with archive links as well.

A "community bulletin board" of events, garage sales, etc. can be a great idea, but it's good to formulate guidelines ahead of time on what is allowed/not allowed; also, be sure that there is someone who will be updating it regularly, so it doesn't get out of date.

I shy away from any suggestion of open forums (like this) in an HOA because there are too many horror stories of people using the forum to attack other people, particularly board members. It takes more energy to stand at the fence and gossip than to sit at the computer and type for the whole world to see.

J. Patrick Moore, CMCA

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

I hate to "get back to basics" here, but... if you want the information why don't you go around the neighborhood and get the outside addresses of the homes? They are there on the mailboxes or front doors! You can then look the addresses up in the phone book or the internet white pages for the possible names of residents. However, it may NOT be accurate as renters may use their names.
You can also call up the Tax Assessor's office if you have the lot numbers for each residence. Give them the lot number, and they should have the LAST known owner of the property if it hasn't been sold recently. This way you know the "Real" owner's name versus the resident being a renter. You will also be able to contact the real owner NOT by HOA address but possibly by their "real" address. The HOA sends notices out to the residence address in the HOA. However, if the owner is NOT living there or has a renter, they may never officially get any notices the HOA sends.
NOW here's the important thing: I AM NOT SAYING TO MAKE THIS INFORMATION PUBLIC. I am giving you this information so that the HOA is able to handle their business which is with the owners. To do this, you need to have the most up to date information on your records as possible. The HOA may even request that any owner that plans on moving out and using their property as "rental" should provide the new address. You can't force them to provide it but can request it. The post office can't give you the forwarding address in some cases. So don't rely on them.
I say that the people who want their address, name, or phone number displayed on the HOA website should VOLUNTEER that information. However, the secretary or treasurer should try to keep up with the addresses privately of ALL the residents/members. If you want to post outside the HOA information, simply make another section for people to click on. Have a "sign-in" members only area and have the other stuff for the non-member public area of the website. That may be a good compromise. You don't need your HOA's business public to non-members. It's like opening your wallet for anyone and everyone to see.

Former HOA President

DeannaB (Wisconsin)
Posts: 21

Posted:

Melissa, Since we are a brand new community we have address/name information up to date from all the closings. However, phone numbers are a different story. Many of our residents use cell phones only and their numbers can not be looked up online. Furthermore, I don't know how I feel about looking up 200+ names only to get the "how did you get my number???" response should I need to contact someone. We do utilize tax records if necessary to send notices to "real" addresses of owners.

Moreover I'd like to use the information for other purposes (mainly emails as I don't spend much time on the phone - much easier to shoot out emails for volunteers and community happenings) outside of the HOA & billing purposes.

The idea of having a volunteer "sign up" is a great one. I guess we'll never get everyone to communicate via the web but I'd be happy with 70%.

Thanks!

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

I am from a 107 Patio home community. Our homes were either attached to eachother or separated by only a few feet. The entire property was on a 1/4 mile oval shaped property. You would think that this would make it "easy" to keep informed. However, over the years updating gets lost. There really needs to be a system of notifying or giving such information started for the future use.
We did offer a "form". This form we had homeowner's volunteerly fill out with their information. Basically, it was just a form with name, address, lot number, work, home, cell phone, and/or email address. I also had a section on the short lived website where someone could submit this to the board privately.
This form we had available at the meetings. Mostly people interested enough to attend meetings are interested enough to give out information. It's the one's that don't participate you may have an issue with.
It can be quite expensive to send out notices to everyone. It's like 37 cents a stamp, plus envelopes, labor, printing costs, and paper. ALL the money coming from the HOA funds. That's why I suggest finding altertantive methods. Best collection times are at meetings for the most part.

Former HOA President

DwightT (Idaho)
Posts: 664

Posted:

When our HOA got started a couple of years ago, I created an email list where homeowners could subscribe themselves, but I would verify their address before they were actually allowed onto the list. After two years I had about 60 out of 313 homeowners subscribed, even though the list was advertised in every newsletter and mentioned at every homeowners meeting.

I recently overhauled our website and added a discussion forum that only registered homeowners can access. In order to save me from having to go around to every individual homeowner when they register to verify that they really are a homeowner, part of the registration process requires that they enter their address so that I can check against our owner roster (which is verified against the county tax records by our management company). After 2 months I have 40 homeowners subscribed, but there hasn't been much activity on the forums yet. We'll see what happens when the pool opens next month.

As to Patrick's concerns about personal attacks in forums, part of our usage agreement prohibits such attacks and gives us the right to remove any such postings. However, at this point I would probably welcome forum attacks on Board members. At least it would be some sort of input from the community and would get their concerns out in the open where we could respond. I think that would be better than the general apathy or hidden grumblings that many HOAs seem to have now.

DeannaB (Wisconsin)
Posts: 21

Posted:

Dwight, I don't suppose you could initiate an self-direct attack? You've got to have a neighbor/friend that would be more than willing to start the stone throwing.

The guy who runs our website joined this forum last night, so hopefully we can figure out a way to get the info in a timely and simple fashion.

Thanks for your suggestions!

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