HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - January 20, 2012
Published: Fri, 01/20/12
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What to Do When Your Board Hasn't Followed Your Own HOA Rules?
Help Is Here
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In this week's tip, we help you correct the error of your ways.
In one small Chicago condo association, board members mistakenly
thought they had to get the majority of the owners' approval for
every decision; they followed that mode of operation for years.
When they double-checked their governing documents, they, of
course, learned they had sole authority do determine how to spend
condo funds.
Our experts say it's common for HOA boards to misinterpret, fail
to read, or just plain ignore their governing documents. "That
does come up more often than you might expect," says Nathaniel
Abbate, Jr., a partner at Makower Abbate & Associates PLLC in
Farmington Hills, Mich., who represents associations.
"People have been misguided or ill advised or just took it upon
themselves to interpret things. Then a new board has come in or
someone's pointed it out to us, and we have to say, 'You're
doing it wrong.'"
Here, Abbate and other HOA experts explain the errors they
find boards making and how boards can correct the error of
their ways.
Democracy Rules, Even When It Shouldn't
Why do boards make basic mistakes like misapplying their
governing documents? "One of the most common problems in condos
is that the board and unit owners aren't familiar with the
governing documents," explains Robert Galvin, a partner at
Davis, Malm & D'Agostine PC in Boston who specializes in
representing condos and co-ops. "It's very important that the
board especially and also the unit owners become familiar with
the governing documents because, after all, they govern the
association. It's common to find they're facing a problem they
wouldn't be facing if they'd have just familiarized themselves
with the governing documents."
The Chicago condo's everybody-gets-a-vote mode of operation?
Very common, especially in smaller HOAs. "I've seen boards make
that mistake many times," says Duane McPherson, Addison, Texas-
based western region division president at RealManage, an
association management firm that oversees properties in Arizona,
California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, and Texas.
"It's usually the smaller HOAs that don't have professional
advice, and nobody's had experience working in an HOA. They
understand the democratic process because it's all around us
in our national and local governments. But applying it to the
HOA is hard to do.
Where else do boards go wrong? And "What's an HOA Board to Do
When It's Been Getting It Wrong?" Find out in our new article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/672.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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What's an HOA Board to Do When It's Been Getting It Wrong?
Our experts say it's common for condo and homeowners association
boards to misinterpret, fail to read, or to just plain ignore
their governing documents. Here, HOA experts explain the errors
they find boards making and how boards can correct the error of
their ways.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/672.cfm >
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"Get Out!" Is that Something You Can Suggest to an Owner?
In this week's tip, we lend some advice to consider before you
bellow to an owner, "You obviously don't belong here. Maybe you
should get out!"
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/public/671.cfm >
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Can You Encourage HOA Owners to Get Up and Go?
Some owners just aren't suited for HOA living, and they make
their own lives and the lives of their neighbors miserable. Are
there things you can do to encourage those owners to sell and
move elsewhere? Or would any such efforts be out of line? Here we
provide answers.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/670.cfm >
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Kick Off 2012: Learn from Other HOAs' Best Moves in 2011
In this week's tip, we give you a jump on smart homeowner
association management in 2012 by revealing some of the best
moves HOA boards made in 2011.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/public/669.cfm >
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Start 2012 Right: Review the Best Moves HOA Boards Made in 2011
What better way to ring in the new year than to improve the
operation of your HOA with ideas from your peers and the experts
who advise them?
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/668.cfm >
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