HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - September 3, 2021
Published: Fri, 09/03/21
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HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - September 3, 2021
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Are you incredibly proud that you've kept your condo/HOA's assessments low? If so, please read this week's tip.
Attend any conference of condo/HOA lawyers or jump on a video call with a few community association managers, and when the conversation turns to boards that pride themselves on keeping assessments steady, the eye rolls are immediate.
These experts, practically to a person, really dislike hearing that boast and invariably will jump into a discussion on why that's not an accomplishment.
We don't know all the facts yet. But if the Champlain Towers condo association in Surfside, Fla., underfunded its maintenance costs over the years—which seems to be the case based on what's known so far—the incident is a very sad reminder of why keeping assessments low isn't necessarily something to brag about.
Matthew A. Drewes, a partner at DeWitt in Minneapolis, is one of those experts whose ears perk up at the prospect of unchanged assessments for long periods of time.
"I do have some concerns when a client tells me they've kept assessments particularly stable or haven't revisited them in an extended period of time," he explains. "I've seen or heard anecdotally about costs like insurance going up significantly year to year. And the cost of maintenance and repair work has changed dramatically.
"Boards need to be generally monitoring those costs and increasing your annual or monthly expenses accordingly," suggests Drewes. "And when you're building your reserves, you need to have enough money set aside to fund capital replacement projects the association should absolutely be budgeting for."
That's why Drewes likes to offer polite pushback when he encounters boards stubborn on raising assessments. "If the issue of assessments arises, I'll often at least offer some thoughts about what the board is basing that on and how they're doing their budgeting," he explains. "I try to make sure they're contemplating things like increases in expenses. But I don't try to supplant my understanding of what their expense are for theirs."
It's just smart business to raise assessments and do necessary maintenance and repairs rather than waiting for your property to fall apart, according to Joan Lewis-Heard, a senior associate at SwedelsonGottlieb in Los Angeles, who at any given time represents hundreds of condos and HOAs throughout California.
"We understand that nobody likes to raise the dues or assessments, and we don't recommend raising them for the sake of raising them," she states. "But your assessments are really based on what the association needs."
Lewis-Heard stresses that board members have a job to do. "When I'm explaining it to boards, I tell them that I know that sometimes being on the board means making hard choices," she explains.
One of those hard choices is being open to the idea that stagnant assessments aren't always something to brag about. Find out why in our new article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/4380.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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Why You Need to Keep These Condo/HOA Records and Destroy Those
Picture it: Your board or manager has dutifully kept a ton of condo/HOA records, as you thought you should. But your organization has also destroyed a bunch because you thought you didn't need them anymore...
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Why-You-Need-Keep-These-Condo-HOA-Records-Destroy-Those.cfm
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HOAleader Video: Why You Should Shred (a.k.a. How to Create a Document Retention Policy)
This week's tip is our newest installment in HOAleader's growing library of quick tips on video. Our question to our experts this time was seemingly straightforward: Why do condo/HOA boards need a record retention policy, particularly in light of the rush of new platforms and social media?
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/HOAleader-Video-Why-You-Should-Shred-How-Create-Document-Retention-Policy.cfm
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Do HOAs Have Any Authority to Impose Fees and Rules on Nonmembers?
An HOAleader.com reader asks: "We have several dilemmas. Do nonassociation members have the right to walk their dogs on a deeded street in a private community? Another question is we want to assess a fee to the nonassociation homeowners to help with the cost of repaving our roads in a few years. We also want to know if we can also assess them a fee for snow removal..."
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Do-HOAs-Have-Any-Authority-Impose-Fees-Rules-on-Nonmembers.cfm
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Telling Condo/HOA Owners Their Pride Flag Doesn't Fly
June is typically LGBTQ+ Pride Month, when members of the LGBTQ community celebrate (and it was designated as such in 2021 by presidential proclamation). However, the pandemic upended the 2021 calendar, and many communities postponed their usual June parade to the fall. Lexington, Ky., for instance, will have its parade Sept. 25. Chicago will host a parade Oct. 3. Las Vegas is right after, on Oct. 8...
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Telling-Condo-HOA-Owners-Their-Pride-Flag-Doesnt-Fly.cfm
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Evoting: Are Condo/HOA Boards Required to Allow It Today?
A new law in Virginia, HB 1816; SB 1183, says boards can allows condo/HOA owners to vote by absentee ballot, even by electronic means, as long as the board has adopted guidelines for such voting. One of our ever-so-thoughtful HOAleader.com readers wants to know whether that means boards must permit evoting...
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Evoting-Are-Condo-HOA-Boards-Required-Allow-It-Today.cfm
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