HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - April 17, 2015
Published: Fri, 04/17/15
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HOA Parking Problems Persist: Prepare to Prevent Them
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The management company for a Colorado HOA hired a private company, Parking
Authority LLC, to enforcing parking restrictions in the community. The
result: One couple got a ticket for having expired license tags. So in this
week’s tip, we begin addressing the many touchy and difficult questions
this incident raises for HOAs.
Parking enforcement companies are becoming more common at HOAs.
“Certainly in metro areas, there has been a shift toward a parking control
service,” explains Debra A. Warren, CMCA, CCAM, PCAM, senior vice
president at Dallas-based Associa®, a community association management
company with offices throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
“They have the personnel available for the hours where it’s appropriate,”
adds Warren. “We managers have to be much more security minded now. I
wouldn’t want to put a manager in that confrontational situation of having
to tow someone’s car at night. Also, sometimes municipalities refused to
patrol private streets, which means nobody’s patrolling them other than
the private company. Ultimately, the goal is by using an outside service,
you’re being more consistent.”
Parking enforcers are also present at some of the country’s largest
communities. “Most communities don’t have private companies enforcing
parking restrictions,” says Brian S. Edlin, a member at Jordan Price Wall
Gray Jones & Carlton, a Raleigh, N.C., law firm with more than 1,000
association clients. “It’s usually the job of the management company.
“The only time I see that is in very large communities,” he says. “There’s a
gated community here on the North Carolina coast that has a
multi-million-dollar budget, several thousand owners, and 60 miles of
roadway. They have their own third-party security force to control who
enters, and they have patrol cars to issue tickets for speeding. The company
doesn’t have the power to stop and arrest people. There are differences
between private traffic companies and the police. But I only see that in
large communities with miles and miles of roadways.”
Before you hire a parking enforcer, you need to wade through some thorny
issues. Run though them in our new article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/1163.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Special Report Download
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HOA Management Companies:
A Practical Guide for Homeowners Association Boards
In this exclusive HOA management special report, we offer insight
and guidance on finding a good HOA manager and determining whether
you need an onsite manager, must-have and must-not-have contract
language, and tips for responding when your management company
isn't doing its job, including guidance on when to cut ties or
work toward a better relationship. We also educate going-it-alone
boards on best practices for self-managed homeowners associations,
and much, much more.
Download now:
http://www.hoaleader.com/public/HOA-Management-Companies-A-Practical-Guide-for-Homeowners-Association-Boards.cfm
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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As Though Parking Doesn't Already Anger HOA Owners Enough
The management company for a Colorado HOA hired a private company, Parking
Authority LLC, to enforcing parking restrictions in the community. The
result: One couple got a ticket for having expired license tags.
This raises many questions: Why is the HOA management company hiring a
private company to enforce parking restrictions? Isn't this something the
HOA expects the manager to handle? What authority does the company have to
ticket for expired tags? Here our experts weigh in.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/As-Though-Parking-Doesnt-Already-Anger-HOA-Owners-Enough.cfm
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To Reimburse or Not: Should the HOA Cough Up?
In this week's tip, we respond to a reader who wants reimbursement for legal
fees personally expended to get an HOA board back on track. He's president of
his HOA, and last year he hired a lawyer to rein in rogue board members. The
pressure the lawyer put on them prompted them to resign. Can the reader be
reimbursed?
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Reimburse-or-Not-Should-HOA-Cough-Up.cfm
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How to Protect Yourself and Your HOA from the Neighborhood Sociopath
Run into any owners or residents who show contempt for and consistently
disregard your HOA's rules? One in 25 people is a sociopath, or a person who
regularly exhibits asocial or antisocial behavior. Sociopaths look like
your everyday neighbors, but they can be scary and intimidating--and they
can turn your HOA into a battleground. Learn how to wisely and safely handle
the most difficult owners and residents you'll ever face, led by two
community association experts with decades of hands-on experience in
advising associations. (Recorded April 9, 2015.)
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/snip/191.htm
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Is There Any Doubt These Legal Fees Are a Common HOA Expense? Yes.
An HOAleader.com reader asks, "I'm the president of an HOA. Last year, I had
to hire a lawyer to rein in my rogue board members. They were constantly
holding illegal meetings without my knowledge amongst a slew of other
things. My question is how can I, if possible, recoup those fees? Due to the
pressure my lawyer put on them, they have all since resigned, and I finally
have a wonderful board."
Here are the arguments for and against this being an association expense.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/There-Any-Doubt-These-Legal-Fees-Are-Common-HOA-Expense-Yes.cfm
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7 Types of Stale, Out-of-Date HOA Rules You Should Freshen Up Now
In this week's tip, we give you a jump start on improving your rules. It's a
good idea to freshen them up every once in a while, and our experts say there
are seven types you should review and consider overhauling today. Here are
the first two:
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/7-Types-Stale-OutofDate-HOA-Rules-You-Should-Freshen-Up-Now.cfm
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