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Category: Board Members

6 big mistakes large HOAs make

by Kim Brown
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Kim Brown • • 6 min. read

6 big mistakes large HOAs make

We’re not trying to embarrass any large HOA. Quite the opposite, we recognize that caring for a big community is really, really difficult.

With so many people and so many moving parts, it’s impossible not to make a mistake here and there. The important thing is to learn from mistakes so that your community doesn’t repeat them.

If you are a seasoned board member or HOA manager, share your wisdom with new members so that they can avoid falling prey to these mistakes listed below.

Table of contents

  1. Working outside of the board (or your authority)
  2. Poor record keeping
  3. Disjointed communications
  4. Acting before getting legal advice
  5. Not knowing how to delegate
  6. Adopting too many solutions

1. Working outside of the board (or your authority)

There is a misconception that the president takes on the brunt of the workload, or has the final say. While some communities do operate this way, boards are supposed to work as a unit.

That means you shouldn’t be holding meetings with vendors or owners without the other board members. Even if you just want to help, other board members may feel that you want to exclude them from HOA business.

In most cases, boards should have the community manager handle communications with owners or vendors.  This way, there is no confusion about who the point of contact is (and managers tend to be more neutral since they don’t live in the community).

Similarly, you should never work outside the authority granted to you by state laws and governing documents.

For example, if homeowners are complaining about speeding cars within the community, but the streets are publicly owned, you couldn’t issue fines to drivers going over the speed limit because the roads don’t belong to the association. Though frustrating at times, it is critical to lead by example and follow the rules.

2. Poor record keeping

Large HOAs may exchange hundreds of documents every day. Having a reliable, secure recording-keeping system is very important to ensure resources are not wasted and owners aren’t waiting for days to review a simple budget or policy.

Poor record-keeping can also create inconsistencies for board members and communities. Maybe a board tracked data a certain way, but once their term ended, the new board did not receive the records and had to come up with a different process. Different parameters lead to different results, and that can impact the HOA’s bottom line.

Even with a community manager, some large HOAs experience issues because they hire new companies, but their data gets lost or misplaced between transitions.

For this reason, HOAs are strongly encouraged to maintain digital records, and use software that they have purchased. This way, if a property management company leaves, the data stays with the association.

3. Disjointed communications

You’ll start to notice a theme here. Without a reliable, accessible communication system in place, there will be problems within the HOA. Owners will ask questions or make requests via email, over the phone and in person.

At some point, a request will be forgotten, and the owner will become upset. If this happens often, and people don’t feel like they are being heard, they are more likely to break rules, skip meetings and lose respect for the board.  

Create a communication system that works for everyone. With so many people to care for, a digital solution is often necessary. A platform like HOA Central makes it easier to manage requests and bookings, and share announcements instantly. Consolidate and streamline communications to improve operations and owner satisfaction.

4. Acting before getting legal advice 

If you’re ever unsure about what to do next when an owner is unwilling to work cooperatively, or is pressuring the board for an answer, ask for help from your attorney.

Avoid the temptation to tell the owner what they want to hear just to get rid of them. While this might be a temporary fix, you could end up putting the community in a compromising position.

Instead, acknowledge that you’ve heard their request/complaint, and let them know the matter needs to be discussed with the board before you can respond.

Always respond to owners in writing. Keep records of all correspondence, especially when the matter could create legal challenges for the association. These records may be needed for evidence if the issue needs to be presented to a judge.   

5. Not knowing how to delegate

Even if board members worked 40-hour weeks, there would still be things to do. However, most board members still have full-time jobs, families, and other obligations outside of their volunteer roles.

Delegating work allows board members to continue doing the important work without getting bogged down with day-to-day responsibilities…or burning out.   

Of course, they can hire a community manager to issue violations, collect payments and send responses to owners, but they can also form committees to handle various tasks within the association.

An architectural review committee, for example, can oversee architectural requests, make recommendations, and support compliance with architectural guidelines. A financial committee will handle budgetary concerns, including managing investments and tracking expenses.

It’s nearly impossible for a board of a large HOA to manage everything on its own. Trust that others can take on some of the work, and thank them for the work that they do!

6. Adopting too many solutions

Big community associations may currently use 4 or 5 different software platforms to address all of the challenges they encounter. This is because one program might handle communications really well, but does not assist with access control. Another program specializes in HOA security, but doesn’t address finances.

While having multiple software solutions is better than trying to tackle these challenges without them, juggling multiple programs creates its own problems. Admins must add and update data constantly, and logging in and out of programs is tedious and inconvenient. It’s easy to make a small mistake when working with 5 different programs, but finding the error is more difficult.

Large communities are encouraged to look for a platform that can do almost everything really well, and integrate with other top-performing HOA solutions. This way, admins are only dealing with a couple of platforms, and updating data once. The integration functionality allows for a one-way or two-way data sync, which reduces time spent on data entry, as well as manual errors.   

Conclusion

Caring for a large HOA is difficult, but implementing good processes to maintain cleaner operations will make the job significantly easier.

Board members who can plan and act with intention will find that they can complete tasks more effectively, and achieve goals in less time.  

If a mistake is made, be honest with other board members, ask for help if needed, and figure out what you can do to ensure the mistake is not repeated.

New to the board? Here’s what to expect

by Kim Brown
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Kim Brown • • 7 min. read

New to the board? Here’s what to expect (and how AI-powered software can make the transition easier)

Congratulations! You’ve been elected to represent your HOA and make important decisions that will impact the health and happiness of the community. But with so much to do, where do you start? What happens after your name is announced?

In this article, we will provide you with a basic guide, and offer a solution that can make the entire experience less stressful for everyone.

Table of contents

What to expect – a general overview

As a board member, you are now responsible for ensuring your HOA is operating well. It can help to think of the board as a mini-government in that everything you do is subject to control by law. You are obliged to follow the processes and standards laid out in the CC&Rs.

The good news is that you’re not alone. Depending on the size of your community, you’ll have anywhere from 2 to 6 additional board members to work with, and a knowledgeable community association manager who has seen it all before.

Together, you will enforce governing documents, manage a multimillion-dollar budget, attend meetings, hire vendors, and help owners resolve issues.

 It can be a thankless job, but it’s a very important one.

Housekeeping

Before you jump, there might be some paperwork you need to complete. Make sure you are included on the HOA’s Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance. D&O insurance is designed to shield board members from personal liability. If an owner sues the HOA and names a board member personally in the lawsuit, D&O insurance usually covers the cost of legal fees and potential damages. 

The association may also need to register or update some type of form that tells a regulatory body that the change happened. You will need to include personal information such as your address, email, and when you were elected.

Speaking of email, you will also want to set up an email address if there isn’t currently a board or business email available to you. For example, if you are the vice president, you’d create an email address like this one: vp2025@samplehoa.com. You are going to receive a lot of emails, and you won’t want to have to sort through which ones are personal and which ones relate to HOA business.

Note that your board might use one email address and give access to all board members. If that is the case, you’ll need to ensure you obtain the password.  

Training and education

Some states require board members to undergo training as soon as they are elected. In Florida, for example, HOA board members must complete 4 hours of training within 90 days of being elected.

In addition to the new board member education, a director of an HOA association with fewer than 2,500 parcels must complete at least 4 hours of continuing education annually. Directors who care for associations with 2,500 or more parcels must complete at least 8 hours of continuing education annually.

You can do a quick online search or ask your HOA manager to see if you must complete any training.  

Even if there is no requirement, consider paying for a subscription to a practical education site like HOAleader.com or the Community Association Institute.  While you shouldn’t use these sites for legal advice, you can find a lot of invaluable resources and discussions about relevant topics and problems.

Read and re-read the CC&Rs

In order to effectively follow processes and manage problems, you must develop an intimate understanding of your HOA’s CC&Rs. Past board members say that new members are often surprised by how “formal” HOAs really are. New board members may want to do things that should be common sense, but the governing documents might require them to do something another way.

If possible, create a digital version of the CC&Rs so that you can add notes, subheadings and anything else that makes them easier to navigate. That process might take some time, but it will be worth it as it will allow you to find answers and solve problems quickly.

Review the last set of minutes before the next meeting

Take a look at the previous board meeting minutes before attending the first meeting. It might be a little dry, but at least you’ll have some idea of what will be discussed during the next meeting.

Assess the HOA’s financial health

This is the other big responsibility that can blindside new board members. It takes millions of dollars to keep an HOA afloat. In order to make smart and informed financial decisions, read and understand the reserve study.  Request an update proposal if it’s been more than a few years so that you can confidently determine if the current reserve contribution is adequate.

If you are not comfortable with the financials, work with the manager or a professional to verify the community’s financial health.

Never try to please individual members

You cannot make everyone happy, and you’re not supposed to either. Although you want to be helpful, your job is to maintain the best interests of the community as a whole. Furthermore, all engagement between leadership and owners should be handled by the board in its entirety.

Don’t make promises. Instead, you can say that you will bring it up at the next meeting and discuss possibilities.

Set boundaries

Don’t forget that you are a volunteer. There is endless work to be done, and at some point, you will need to say “no.” Otherwise, you will burn out before your term has ended.

Take advantage of AI-powered software

If your HOA doesn’t have HOA management software, or is using a solution that doesn’t meet the community’s needs, this might be the perfect time to give HOA Central a try.

Not only does this all-in-one digital platform deliver a premium owner experience, but it also helps board members achieve smoother operations and greater transparency (and let’s not forget, board members are owners too).

HOA Central has a customizable document library for safe and convenient information sharing. Communities can upload minutes, bylaws, policies, and more. Admins can also set authorizations on select folders, so that only certain people, such as board members, can access them. There could be a special folder just for new members where they can find essential instructions and information.

Then there are thoughtful features like online voting for tasks and virtual meetings. These tools make it possible for board members to work collaboratively without having to meet in the same room. This provides more flexibility to board members who are still trying to find their groove.  

Finally, forward-thinking AI solutions make it possible for board members, owners and management to type in questions about payments or HOA rules, and get plain English answers. As a board member, you don’t have time to read through 40 pages of documents; this solution helps you find exactly what you need in a matter of seconds.

Conclusion

Agreeing to serve on your HOA board means that you take on some level of accountability for the management of your community, and its assets. When you make decisions, those choices must prioritize the best interest of the association as a whole, even if some decisions are not in your personal best interest.

In order to do the best job possible, complete training and seek educational resources to prepare you for the challenges you might encounter. Re and re-read your CC&Rs. And look for future-thinking solutions like HOA Central to drive productivity and keep owners happy.