HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - March 24, 2023
Published: Fri, 03/24/23
=================================================================
HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - March 24, 2023
=================================================================
In this week's tip, we follow up on a question from a listener at HOAleader.com's recent webinar on understanding association financials.
Our reader asked for advice on internal controls to put in place when the board employs one person "who does everything." We presume that means one person handles all the community's finances.
Frankly, that setup worries Patricia A. Ayars, founder of Ayars & Associates in Glastonbury, Conn., who has been practicing association law for more than 30 years. "Nervous, nervous person I am," she says. "You have to have a system in place that has checks and balances. No one person should be doing everything. You should always have a second pair of eyes, even if the management company is doing things for you."
A single-person setup is worrisome because it opens the community up to huge financial loss. "I know of a nice condo community on the water, and its management company used association funds at the Hard Rock Café, where you can gamble on a regular basis, to the tune of $30,000," reports Cindy Hill, a lawyer at Tannenbaum Lemole & Hill in the Osprey, Fla., who at any given time represents 150 association throughout Sarasota, Manatee, and Charlotte counties in Florida. "That was someone who was able to pull money out without nobody noticing.
"I know of another situation where the handyman was a friend of a board director, and the handyman was getting paid $10,000 a month," she adds. "That wasn't disclosed to anybody. The community found out after they rallied the troops and took over the board. That person had died, so the community didn't pursue it.
"There's more of this that happens than you know," says Hill. "So I recommend boards have a set of protocols based on best practices."
Read our new article, https://www.hoaleader.com/members/4676.cfm, to hear 4 Financial Controls Your Condo/HOA Absolutely, Positively Should Have—and what Ayars did when she was hired to help clean up a condo board's years-long practice of allowing favored residents not to pay assessments.
Teaser: One resident owed $12,000 and thought it was perfectly acceptable not to pay because the president told her she didn't have to pay.
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
=================================================================
Upcoming Event
Disaster Planning for HOA and Condo Boards:
How to Avoid Huge Losses in This Age of Severe Weather, Cyberattacks, and Other Looming Risks
An Exclusive HOAleader.com Webinar
With Practical Tips for Condo and HOA Boards
Thursday, April 20, 2023
2:00-3:00 p.m. Eastern
Learn more or register now:
https://www.hoaleader.com/products/disaster-planning-webinar-a.cfm
Members save $30!
=================================================================
Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
=================================================================
Can Your Condo/HOA Change Its Documents to Prevent a Forced Sale? Should It?
In 2021, Oracle took steps to expand its headquarters in Austin, Texas, by purchasing Town Lake Village Condos after 80 percent of the owners approved the sale. Those who didn't approve? Tough luck...
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Can-Your-Condo-HOA-Change-Its-Documents-Prevent-Forced-Sale-Should-It.cfm
=================================================================
Are Your Residents Renting Out Your Condo/HOA Pool—or Theirs—to Strangers?
In this week's tip, we debate the latest sharing trend—that of renting out pool time through an app called Swimply. But spoiler alert: That's not the only way owners are cashing in on their property that you may need to be aware of...
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Are-Your-Residents-Renting-Out-Your-CondoHOA-Poolor-Theirsto-Strangers.cfm
=================================================================
The Latest in the Sharing Industry: Shared Condo/HOA Pools—and More
Heard of the pool-sharing app that allows owners to essentially time-share out their pool? Oh, and what if the pool they're renting time in is your community pool? "I haven't previously heard about this," reports Jasmine F. Hale, CCAL, a partner at Berding & Weil based in Walnut Creek, Calif., who advises condos and HOAs throughout California. "I guess there's no end to the creative ways people can try to monetize their home."
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Latest-in-Sharing-Industry-Shared-CondoHOA-Poolsand-More.cfm
=================================================================
Can Anybody Just Claim to Be a Condo/HOA Owner's Stand-In? [HOAleader.com Video]
In this week's tip, we answer an HOAleader.com reader's straightforward question: Can a person making an utterly unverified claim to hold a power of attorney and proxy for an owner run for the board? The community's documents require members to be the person on title for a property...
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Can-Anybody-Just-Claim-Be-CondoHOA-Owners-StandIn-HOAleadercom-Video.cfm
=================================================================
Can a Power of Attorney or Proxy Holder Run for a Condo/HOA Board? [HOAleader.com Video]
Our readers have the most interesting questions. Consider this recent head scratcher. Can a person claiming to hold a power of attorney and proxy for an owner—an assertion that wasn't backed up by any documentation, by the way—run for the board?...
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Can-Power-Attorney-or-Proxy-Holder-Run-for-CondoHOA-Board-HOAleadercom-Video.cfm
=================================================================
Get your own copy!
Subscribe to the HOAleader.com Tip of the Week at:
https://www.hoaleader.com/public/department49.cfm
=================================================================
Please feel free to forward the *entire text* of this email to others.
Copyright 2023, Plain-English Media, LLC
(866) 641-4548
https://www.hoaleader.com
Plain-English Media, 909 Marina Village Parkway #183, Alameda, CA 94501, USA
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit:
https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?ThisIsATestEmail