HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - November 15, 2013
Published: Fri, 11/15/13
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Know When to Say No to Your HOA Manager
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In this week's tip, we answer a reader's question, and in the
process address whether an HOA manager is protecting or harming
its client.
An HOAleader.com reader asks, "I'm president of an HOA with 64
units. Many years ago, several of our members planted flowers in
the common areas and would like to continue to do so. However,
since we hired a property management company, the company insists
they sign a waiver to hold the HOA harmless in case of injury
while planting. The members are insulted and refuse to sign them
saying they'd never sue themselves. Now there's constant
bickering about flowers and rules. Any advice?"
Our experts are unanimous--this management company may be trying
to protect its client, but it's actually harming the community
instead.
"Absolutely, it's too much," says Brad van Rooyen, a partner at
Home Encounter, a Tampa, Fla., company that manages 15 community
associations totaling about 3,000 owners; van Rooyen is also
president of his HOA. "I'm putting my hat on as a board president
in my community. In my case, our management company was trying to
say we needed a workers' compensation insurance policy in case we
have an accident involving our owners doing volunteer work around
the association. But I believe at the end of the day, if it
requires that much work for the association to protect itself,
there are certain jobs we're better off sending to professionals.
"And if you're doing a community cleanup day and planting flowers
and requiring a waiver, you're doing all the things people say is
wrong with community associations," adds van Rooyen. "People just
want to be people. I'm not making people in my community say
they're not going to hold the association liable in those
situations. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. That feels
too regulated and turns people off. Although there are some good
parameters where it's smart to have waivers, I just don't believe
they're wise for something as simple as planting flowers."
Jenny Key Austin, Texas-based vice president of RealManage, a San
Rafael, Calif., association management firm that oversees
properties in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana,
Nevada, and Texas, sees both sides to this situation but still
thinks the manager may be missing the big picture. Find out why,
and learn when requiring volunteers to sign waivers is smart, in
our new article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/917.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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Is This HOA Management Company Going Too Far?
An HOAleader.com reader asks, "I'm president of an HOA with 64 units. Many
years ago, several of our members planted flowers in the common areas and
would like to continue to do so. However, since we hired a property
management company, the company insists they sign a waiver to hold the HOA
harmless in case of injury while planting. The members are insulted and
refuse to sign them saying they'd never sue themselves. Now there's
constant bickering about flowers and rules. Any advice?" Here our experts
discuss whether such a benign activity requires signed waivers, and if not,
how you determine when a volunteer activity should require signed waivers.
Click here to read full article:
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Off-the-Book Reserve Use: What Are the Limits on Employing Your HOA's
Reserve Funds?
One HOA reported in a blog post that it made a "temporary transfer" of reserve
funds for litigation. Is that permissible? What other unusual uses are
permissible? Also, how do you know when your condo or homeowners
association must repay its reserve funds for an expense? Are there time
limits on how quickly it must be repaid? Here we answer those questions.
Click here to read full article:
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What's Your Duty When Fellow HOA Board Members Violate Governing
Documents?
Here we offer a reader tips for slowing down an HOA board majority hell-bent
on pursuing an agenda, seemingly at the expense of the home owner
association's own rules and governing documents.
Click here to read full article:
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More Trends in State HOA Laws
We recently reported on legislative activity in California, Florida,
Ohio, Texas, and Utah. Even for Michiganders and board members in other
states where it's quiet on the legislative front, it's wise to track other
states' proposed and passed legislation so you know what may be heading your
way. Here's a rundown of noteworthy legislative activity in two more
states.
Click here to read full article:
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Is This Rule Fair? Making Architectural Controls Reasonable
An HOAleader.com reader asks whether a small shed, "which you can't see from
the street at all" is permissible. Here our experts answer that question and
offer tips to boards on determining whether their architectural controls
are reasonable.
Click here to read full article:
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