HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - January 23, 2015
Published: Fri, 01/23/15
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Next Stop: Facebook! 3 Tips for Creating and Managing an HOA Page
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In this week’s tip, we set you on the right course if your HOA is considering,
or already has, set up a Facebook page. Here’s how to ensure it’s a big
success.
1. Think about whether it’s your best move.
“I’ve helped boards that want to set up community pages, but I don’t know if
I’d want them to do it on Facebook,” says Joshua Krut, a partner at Weiss
Serota Helfman Cole Bierman & Popok, a law firm with offices in Ft.
Lauderdale and Coral Gables, Fla., that represents about 250
associations. “I prefer to see associations use websites, instead. There
are companies that can help you set up a website, and you can put things like
architectural review documents there and have community chat rooms. You
can have a Facebook pages, and it’s not a big problem if you do. But with
Facebook, the association doesn’t control the page. You’re dealing with a
third-party administrator.”
2. Know that it may draw in owners who otherwise wouldn’t pay attention.
“I’m a big tech fan,” says Melissa Garcia, a partner at Hindman Sanchez, a law
firm in Arvada, Colo., with about 1,600 association clients. “I’m on
Twitter, and I pass along lots of HOA practice pointers. I see the benefits of
Twitter, and I also see the benefits of associations using Facebook. They
allow associations to connect with owners whom they may not necessarily
connect with by going to meetings, like millennials.”
3. Understand the liability of the easy sharing on social media.
“There’s greater potential for liability for boards on social media if
they’re not thinking about monitoring what’s being said or putting
protections in place,” explains Garcia. “With social media, there’s an
element of conversation that you don’t get with vehicles like a newsletter.
People can comment and they can forward, and social media posts get
catapulted into the cyberworld. Boards need to understand that maybe the
people you intended to see something got it, but that it also went to a lot of
other people. Boards also forget that the attraction of social media is that
people can post on the go. So people forget to think about what they’re
posting, which may lead to more defamation and invasion of privacy claims.”
For four more tips to make sure your HOA’s Facebook page generates many, many
‘likes,’ head to our new article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/1119.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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Seven Tips for Setting Up a Facebook Page for Your HOA
Looking to set up a Facebook page for your condo or homeowner association?
Here are seven tips for creating and managing it so it doesn't backfire.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Seven-Tips-for-Setting-Up-Facebook-Page-for-Your-HOA.cfm
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Accommodation Requests Under the Fair Housing Act: Best Practices to Avoid
Discrimination Claims & Lawsuits
Is your HOA or condo board seeing more and more requests for exceptions to
your pet rules? What about requests for specific parking spots or
deviations from your architectural rules? Afraid saying no to any request
will trigger a costly and stressful discrimination complaint against your
HOA? Take charge of the process for handling requests for accommodations!
Get on-demand access to this in-depth webinar led by two experts in HOAs,
condominiums, and fair housing challenges. (Recorded on Jan. 22, 2015.)
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/snip/184.htm
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Owners Ready to Serve, But HOA Board Refuses to Fill Vacancies
A HOAleader.com reader asks if it's OK for his fellow board members to refuse
to appoint two ready and willing owners to fill vacancies on the board. In
this week's tip, we tackle whether that may be a breach of a board member's
fiduciary duty.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Owners-Ready-Serve-But-HOA-Board-Refuses-Fill-Vacancies.cfm
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HOA Board Declines to Fill Vacancies: A Breach of Fiduciary Duty?
An HOAleader.com reader writes, "In our condominium with an allotted
number of five board members, we have only three--one of whom is me, a
recently-elected member--following the recent resignation of our
treasurer and our president and our management company dropping us.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/HOA-Board-Declines-Fill-Vacancies-Breach-Fiduciary-Duty.cfm
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Having the Urge to Merge with Another Condo or HOA? Read This First
In this week's tip, we offer tips for associations that just aren't
operating smoothly and might want to consider merging with another
association.
"I've been asked about mergers before," explains Joshua Krut, a partner at
Weiss Serota Helfman Cole Bierman & Popok, a law firm with offices in Ft.
Lauderdale and Coral Gables, Fla., that represents about 250
associations. "Typically, it's a small community, and maybe it was formed
with too many associations, so you really need only one association instead
of three. Sometimes it makes sense to merge the three into one."
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Having-Urge-Merge-with-Another-Condo-or-HOA-Read-This-First.cfm
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