Policies & Procedures for HOA

DianeS2 - Every HOA is different, there is no generic document of policies and procedures that apply to all HOA's. There may be similarities though. What is it you are looking for, did you check your governing documents of the policies and procedures?

The Convenants and Restrictions are considered PUBLIC documents and you can get a copy from the County Courthouse. You should have reviewed them anyway before buying into a HOA. It's considered YOUR responsibility to be informed of the HOA not anyone elses. The By-laws are the general "daily" rules of the HOA. They may or may not be filed with the CC&R's. Most likely if there are by-laws the HOA's Board or other general members should have a copy to share or to make copies from.

Welcome to the HOA!!! You will no doubt have lots of questions. Please feel free to ask.

DianeS2: You do not state you have actually 'bought' into an HOA at this point, so if you haven't bought yet, I would suggest you read carefully the CC&Rs (covenants, conditions & restrictions) since you will be expected to abide by them. Also, some developers will give a copy just prior to your deposit to hold your unit.

If you have already purchased, and have not received your copy, you need to contact the developer for a copy. It is his responsibility to ensure that all buyers receive it.

Oh really Joe? How many BOD meetings have you ever organized and ran? It's NOT easy or a brainless activity to say the least. You try getting 20 people to agree on ONE thing uniformally in ONE meeting! Heck, try just to get 5 people to attend a meeting and agree! If you don't answer one question correctly the first time, your now labelled an "idiot" or incapable of doing the job. Even if you admit you don't know and have to do more research on the question your "dumb". So don't judge the way a meeting is held until you have held one repeatedly for a year.

Robert's rules is an excellent meeting tool. Not sure about "requirement". It provides a "structure" for which makes it easier to make decisions amongst a group of people. Our By-laws actually spelled out the order and what to cover in our meetings so the Robert's rules was never used.

Luckily for me, as part of a degree in college, I took a meeting organization course. It taught me atleast 5 different types of meetings a group may have. Robert's Rules is the most popular and adequate for a HOA. The use of other type of meeting formats could work depending on the setup of the HOA. Basically, it's whatever works for the HOA that is the best. IF it's a documented procedure even better!

DianeS2,
Jump in Diane, the waters hot. All in all, unless you have lived in an HOA or condo, you will not be able to hit the ground running. Three stages of HOA living:

#1 How does this place operate.

#2 Does anyone know what they are doing.

#3 This is all becoming murkier by the minute.

Then, hopefully, you will decide I can straighten all this stuff out, "When the next meeting."

Policies and Procedures usually deal with HOW you function. For example, your documents may state that the association must maintain a bank account in a federally insured financial institution. The board may develop a "Policy" that the association should maintain a checking and savings account; that the amounts deposited not exceed Federal Insurance limits; and, all checks drawn on the account would require two signatures of two board members or one officer and one board member (the Treasurer may not have to be a board member). The procedure would spell out who would actually open and close the accounts, who the signatories would be, who would physically receive the statements and how they were to be distributed.

Policies should be put into a formal resolution. Procedures could be as simple as a checklist. Here's a good article about them:

http://cooperator.com/articles/43/1/Policies-and-Procedures/Page1.html

Joe

DianeS2:
I have established a Policy & Procedure Committee in my HOA, in an effort to formalize the implementation of Board adopted procedures, to ensure policys and procedures comply with our state statutes, city ordinances and covenants. I also created a template document that standardizes the policies, formalizes the review process and allows for Board signature. I am happy to share documents and knowledge if you so desire - no solicitation and no fee.

[email protected]

TS1: Thanks for the offer of the template. I'd love to have it. You can send it and any other ideas/documents you are willing to share.

I think you can e-mail me directly through the Forum - if I'm wrong about that - then let me know and I'll send you my e-mail address.

Thanks again.

Diane

TS1,
That also goes for me. I will gladly take any documents you have and also any advise. I was just elected to our HOA and it needs some serious help and to brought into the 21st century. Starting with some policies and procedures.

Thank you,
Shelly C