HOA 101 advise?

Larissa,
Welcome to the site. You will find all kinds of help and opinions for your scrutiny here. Not all will be what you might want to hear but then again, it might be, so use what you feel is what you can use.

New associations will feel growing pains and that will be normal. The secret to having a great association is information. Information for the residents and information for and from the Board of Directors.

Hopefully everyone has a set of Documents that you recieved when you bought your units. Those will be what you have to govern the association with. Also, your District might have Statutes or Laws that are guidelines for running the association. These are the Heirarchy that supercede and association documents.

So--- now how to share that with your membership. I always say that if every member knew what those documents said, there would be so fewer problems from the membership. So, I always reccomend to everyone, just read the stuff. It has most all of the answers to what and what not members can do and what they are responsible for.

Next, appoint or get volunteers to form a Rules and Regs committee. In simple form, write down from your Documents, what can be and what cannot be done within the community. Behaviors, protective covenants and any information to make available to the membership. It makes life easier for your Board by having simple wording for all to follow because lack of the rules and covenant information is the biggest problem for Boards.

LarissaM - Yes, welcome to the site and congratulations on your new found side job!! : ) Don't let anyone tell you that being a board member is a thankless job. Everyone will not be happy all at the same time. Don't let those that are not happy muddy the waters of satisfaction. As a former teacher you have experience, dedication, and qualifications that make you one of the best candidates to serve your community. My primary recommendation is that communication is key. Even if your Board is not required to do something, consider the impact that governing in the most open and as transparent way will have a beneficial trickle down affect on the membership. Before I delve into my arsenal of information I'd like to know a little bit about your community, and of course anything else you'd like to share:

1) How many condo units/dwellings
2) How many Board members
3) What are the officer positions that are established, how did you as a Board establish these positions
4) How often are your open meetings
5) Do you hold executive/workshop meetings that are not open to the community, if so how often
6) How old is the community
7) Do you have a local municipality department of building and code, clerks office, public registrar, mayor's office
7) What type of condos, in other words are they townhouses, or condos one on top of the other, if so how many buildings/clusters of units are there?
8) Is the developer/builder still constructing?
9) Is there a management company
10) Do the Board members utilize email as a method of communication
11) Describe the amenities and common elements the association must maintain
12) Does the Board have copies of all the insurance policies
13) Does the Board have copies of all the warranties from the developer/builder
14) What state law, or planned community development acts if any govern the actions of the association board and the community members?

Seems Glen has this problem under control. My experience is a Good active website is worth a lot. All new owners are given a disc containing Master deed and By-laws. The web site also contains Master Deed and By-laws and information about state statutes, etc. It include a contact button plus a phone directory of members, etc. The sky is the limit of a website and if you have a member versed in computers it can provide a daily report or a weekly newsletter.

There is no substitute for the Board to communicate at the personal level with the members. It is not enough for the Board to have meetings, spend money, make decisions and go home and wait for the next board meeting. No reason a small bulletin Board with pictures of Board members and contact information can't be posted somewhere. I have yet to hear of a Board appointing a Communication Chair. I am sure there must be some out there, but someone dedicated to good communication could prove to be a great asset, especially with the real estate mess now. The Boards should have some type of formal structure that helps smooth the bumpy road foreclosures bring and to make sure owners and Boards are all on the same page. The Boards obligation to the owners is very much intact during a foreclosure proceeding, and accurate information exchange is important.

Information on Condo living is a difficult subject to explain in a brochure. There is no substitute for owners knowing what are in their documents. Most folks will find condo living strange to say the least. There seem to be a point owners get to when a level of education about the requirements of owners to the Real Property (Association)is reached, folks either resist, accept, or move. Then if they continue to learn that level of resistance pales. Condo are no place for those that think they just want to be left alone and pay their bills, takes more than that to enjoy condo living.

Here is what we have so far:
1. Google group with an open forum component. People readily discuss community issues and conversations aren't always directed by the board.

2. Newsletter and website in progress.

3. Everyone was provided hardcopy and electronic copies of the bylaws and the rules and regulations

4. We have a bylaws committee, a standards committee, a parking committee and a community relations committee

5. All meetings are open to the community

6. Community was provided the personal contact information for the board.

Its frustrating b/c certain members of the community think we have personal access to community funds (which we don't), that we are making arbituary decisions without the community's prompting (which we aren't) and they want rules enforced that do not adversely affect their standard of living. I'm the treasurer on the board and have been very disenchanted with the experience.

We do not have a communications chair however so I have suggested that to the board. Thanks for everyone's guidance so far!

Larrisa--
I may have two or three suggestions for you. First, make sure that your learning curriculum includes Reserve Funds. I happen to think they're the most important aspect of managing owner-owned properties. You might check out amazon.com and type in "reserve fund" in the search box. You'll get a couple of books to consider. (One of which is mine, by the way). Also, visit the CAI's site at www.caionline.org. The Community Associations Institute has an online bookstore that offers information on every conceivable aspect of running a condo. Best of luck with your learning endeavors -- it's a smart way to start off!
Graham

The above posts represent many good ideas for providing some initial "education" on what to expect as a member of a condo or homeowner's association. But, it should be recognized that it is only a first step in your communication efforts.

Probably the most important element in the success of any condo association is effective communications. Especially during the early developmental stages, a successful communications system can forestall the development of cliques and factions, enable the association to provide services that owners want, and can help owners develop a sense of trust with the new BoD.

I would recommend that you carefully craft a staged communications plan that identifies what information will be communicated (new information, progress to date, anticipated problems, decisions made), how it will be communicated (personal contact, letter or email, group meeting), by whom will it be communicated (President, Secretary, all BoD), and when will it be communicated (date, frequency). You want to give the association members a steady flow of information that addresses the things on their mind along with the things that the BoD wants to communicate to them.

In the attachment, you will find a sample plan that shows the recommended format that you can you can use to develop your own plan. This is an example of one of the many support files that are provided in the condo president start-up kit that can be found at www.*********.com.