Community Webpage

Virginia Law requires associations to allow owners to 'communicate.' As a new board member I'd like to create a 'free' webpage for information and open discussion. Any suggestions?

Virginia has good laws that protect owners, renters alike. I've pulled this:
§ 55-79.75:1. Distribution of information by members.

A. The executive organ shall establish a reasonable, effective, and free method, appropriate to the size and nature of the condominium, for unit owners to communicate among themselves and with the executive organ regarding any matter concerning the unit owners' association.

B. Except as otherwise provided in the condominium instruments, the executive organ shall not require prior approval of the dissemination or content of any material regarding any matter concerning the unit owners' association.

2001, c. 715; 2003, c. 405.

Kerry,

Amy provided the citation.

keep in mind that this requirement can be met various ways. Even a simple bulletin board posted in the common area can satisfy this requirement.

Good question.

I think it's something Amy suggested as a way to comply with the requirement outlined within VA statutes.
Other ways would be a facebook page, twitter account, community bulletin board, etc.

The courts in VA have ruled that having a forum section on the Associations website does meet this requirement. However, I don't have the exact ruling handy.

I know that when I got on our Board, the minutes showed that there was an earlier website that simply went away (for reasons unknown). Then, after a few years, a board member hired their high school age son to design a website. There was zero documentation and it took me a few years to learn it. I then took the time to redesign the site and include things like all of our governing documents, links to applicable statutes, a forum section, etc. I would like to take the time to redesign it again to make it more compatible for cell phones and tablets. Unfortunately, I simply don't have the time.

It's also sad to know (because administrators can look at the traffic) that the site mainly gets used by existing board members and potential buyers. Rarely do members actually utilize the site.

Tim

We are a tiny condo association, I was hoping for a free and simple webpage for exchanges because some owners have already mentioned that they do not use Facebook or Twitter or are not tech savvy. I may just rely only on what I've recently put together-which is a Facebook page and a new gmail account. With the gmail account I've started using Google Drive and uploading documents into different folders. Folders can have restricted use-so directors only can share privately.

I might add that Virginia DPOR (community regulatory division) lists 'final determinations' on complaints from homeowners. This link includes decisions on 'communication methods.'
http://www.dpor.virginia.gov/cic-ombudsman/determinations/#chart

I noted on one determination that bulletin boards were not an acceptable method of communication because of vandalism - or stolen flyers etc. The regulation is intended for very large communities where owners want to arrange for private chat. I think the law also gives owners the right to have access to others contacts, with restrictions.

Thank you,
Amy

We started a website last fall - don't know how much traffic it's getting, but content is beginning to grow. Our now former president also set up a group on the nextdoor.com website, but I think there are fewer than 10 homeowners on it.

For those of you with websites, do you have certain areas that are only available to homeowners? If so, how hard is that to set up? I was going to suggest to our board that we include periodic income/expense summaries, but part of me thinks our current webmaster (also a board member) might balk because everything on the site is available to the general public and he might be concerned how a potential buyer might react to it.

On the other hand, I think homeowners need more information that just the annual budget, so I'm wondering if we could make that information available through some sort of password protected thing. If that's too much work, I'll suggest posting an announcement telling people where they could get that information or perhaps putting some sort of summary in the minutes, reminding people to contact our property manager if they want an itemized report.

If you can't go the route of passwords etc., it would be safe enough to just inform owners on the website that (document) or (financials) are available for viewing or copy at $.xx per pge with XX days notice. Some state statutes give very specific information on this.

But Virginia law seems to require just that. The board's remedy is to quit acting like a bunch of jerks.

Keep in mind that VA law, specifically § 55-510.2 for HOAs, and § 55-79.75:1 for condos, requires the Association to establish a way for members to communicate amongst themselves. The Board does not have to respond (and in my opinion, should not respond) to anything communicated this way. If an individual has an issue the Board should be made aware of, they should contact the Board directly (not through a community forum, facebook page or bulletin board).

Granted, the statute also requires that members have a free way to communicate with the Board. We provide Association email addresses and phone numbers for such communication. Both of which are included on the Association website, published in our newsletter and included in our notice of annual assessments.

Thanks Kerry, Tim and all.
I'm not sure, but I think the reasoning of the state statute to provide reasonable communication between owners is give the entire community a lobbying method prior to elections etc. LOL. Therefore, the board should not interfere.
Kerry - we have less than 20 condo units in our association so the communication effort isn't that difficult for most people- just walk across the drive, although some of the owners live elsewhere. It sounds like you have everything under control with your HOA - we have a long way to go and not a lot of participation. Virginia too allows email notifications-- with a signature on file for verification.

I own/administer an independent website for my HOA community but since it is not officially affiliated with the Association, it would not fulfill VA statutes. There is no similar law in Florida.

It is loaded with appropriate HOA-related content, non-HOA boards such as Classified Ads and "Funnies" and invites resident-interactivity. ANYONE can read or post to the Forum--inside or outside the HOA. The board does not hide financial or business documents from non-owners but this restriction is available though "permissions" settings. It "re-forms" proper names with a special plug-in app to keep search engines from identifying real people.

All owners--including board directors-can participate in all discussions but posting without prior approval of the Admin can only be done by registered members. Admin reads all posts of guests and this became a necessary strategy because of flaming by....certain disgruntled board directors! Thoughtful, evidence-based criticism is not censored. There have been very few problems with participants misbehaving even in a contentious HOA environment.

The website is free. It is much more sophisticated than the fee-based website that hosts the official HOA business, which does not have a forum/discussion section for owners/residents. The labor to maintain it, post timely and relevant content and keep conversation civil and appropriate is volunteered. Technically, there is a special learning curve but if you are cyber-oriented, it is only mildly painful.

To some, it might seem that "the juice is not worth the squeeze" but to the folks who read, learn, and exchange thoughts/ideas with others, it is a very desirable resource.

To the OP, I am curious why VA has this "communication" law. Do you know the history? Does the law have "teeth"?

Amy,

One thing I wanted to point out with our forum (which may help other Associations).

Our forum pages are open to everyone to read.
To post, you must sign up.

Initially when we opened our forums we were hit with spam from all over the world. It took a lot of time to keep it cleaned up. In fact, we had to take it down for awhile because of the spam.

One thing I learned is that most of the spam is posted by bots (automated programs). Choosing a captcha that asked questions about out development (what elementary school is close to us? or what county park is across the parkway?) has worked in preventing the bots from signing up and posting spam. A resident or owner would easily know the answers to the questions, so they are quickly approved to post.

You may want to consider using that type of captcha if you have forums on the site.

Ryan,

I suggest you read the forums posting rules

Posted earlier. Sounded like he was selling their website hosting service.

I had reported it earlier.
When I saw it was still there, I made the comment about reading the posting rules.

It appears that a moderator removed the posting I was referring to.