HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - February 6, 2015
Published: Fri, 02/06/15
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Are You Asking Your HOA Manager to Do Too Much?
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An HOAleader.com reader has asked what exactly a board can expect from its
manager. In this week’s tip, we begin answering that question by discussing
the two types of HOA managers.
“The reader’s answer depends on the type of management associations are
looking for,” says Duane McPherson, president of corporate development
for CiraConnect, which provides management companies, developers, and
large-scale self-managed associations with a cloud based software
solution and back-office shared service.
“There are two different, distinct kinds,” he explains. “One is onsite
management. That’s where the board has control over an employee who serves
at the pleasure of the board. In that case, the manager is much more involved.
Typically, it involves larger budgets and larger associations, and
they’ve got human resources responsibilities and things like that. The
board has control, and the employee is typically a general manager. That
means the employee will go out and look at everything, make
recommendations, and make sure the board moves forward on every project.
Essentially, the employee will take charge of everything that’s going on.”
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Related Special Report
HOA Management Companies: A Practical Guide for Homeowners Association Boards
http://www.hoaleader.com/public/568.cfm
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McPherson says the second type is portfolio management. “That’s where your
association is one within a portfolio that manager manages,” he says. “When
managers are managing multiple associations, the association is paying
for time. Often, the expectation is for the manager to be completely
proactive, to go out and identify everything that needs to be done on the
property, and then to do it all, when the reality is the HOA is paying for a
percentage of that manager’s time. That’s the difference. Portfolio
managers don’t have all their time to devote to one HOA’s issues. In a
portfolio situation, it’s imperative that there’s a collaborative
relationship between the board and the management company.”
That said, typical responsibilities for even portfolio managers, says
McPherson, include:
* Community management services that include board and member relations
* Creating the agenda for and working with the board on meetings
* Dealing with vendors
* Taking care of things like data access and architectural control issues
* Answering the phone and talking to residents, and providing
information back to the association from an administrative standpoint
“Probably one of the biggest functions is the financial management
services,” adds McPherson. “Those can be extremely detailed or basic and
simple and depend on the types of reports required by state laws, such as
whether there are annual reviews or audits.”
That’s just a start. Head to our new article to learn:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/1133.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Upcoming Event
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Collect More, and Collect It More Easily:
Best Practices for Condo/HOA Debt Collection
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With Practical Tips for Condo and HOA Boards
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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Four Things to Expect from Your HOA Manager--and What Not to Expect
An HOAleader.com reader asks, "As an HOA president, I'm searching for
information and ideas for how much management an HOA should expect from its
management company. In industry, a manager is expected to run the operation
as profitably and efficiently as possible within the guidelines
established by the company or board. Is it reasonable to expect an HOA
manager to function this way? Should we expect the manager to be proactive in
the operation of the community and help the board by suggesting better ways
to operate? Should the management share with the board improvements and
operational experiences they have had with other communities?"
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Four-Things-Expect-from-Your-HOA-Managerand-What-Not-Expect.cfm
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Can Owners and Their Renters Use Your Amenities?
An HOAleader.com reader writes, "Our board has been lax on who can use the
amenities. Our CCRs say the owner can assign who uses the amenities. I've
been trying to get the rest of the board to firm this up. Is it normal for the
amenities to go the renter, and the owner loses their use until he is living
back in the condo? It seems unusual that a renter and an owner can use them at
the same time."
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Can-Owners-Their-Renters-Use-Your-Amenities.cfm
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Collect More, and Collect It More Easily:Best Practices for Condo/HOA Debt
Collection
Tired of seeing delinquent accounts on the financial statements of your
condo or HOA? Frustrated because subpar finances mean long-planned
projects are on hold indefinitely? Less than thrilled about continually
explaining the situation to the homeowners in your association? Stop
letting nonpaying owners control your condo or homeowners association!
Join us on March 11 for an in-depth webinar led by two HOA debt-collection
experts.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/snip/187.htm
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Retroactive HOA Changes: Can You Penalize Owners Who've Followed the
Rules?
In this week's tip, we discuss whether you can implement change at your HOA
retroactively. This is a new issue for many of our experts. "I've never seen a
condo statute that specifically stated that you couldn't act
retroactively," muses Robert Galvin, a partner at Davis, Malm & D'Agostine
PC in Boston who specializes in representing condos and co-ops. "But if you
did, I don't think you could enforce a bylaw or rule."
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Retroactive-HOA-Changes-Can-You-Penalize-Owners-Whove-Followed-Rules.cfm
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Can You Implement a Change to Your HOA Governing Documents Retroactively?
Legislatures can on occasion enact laws and make them retroactive. But can
you do that at your HOA? Here we find out.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Can-You-Implement-Change-Your-HOA-Governing-Documents-Retroactively.cfm
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