Closing Homeowner Association Organizational Gaps by Richard Thompson
Organizational gaps are flaws that continue to plague the well being of the community year after year until they are accepted as inevitable. There are many organizational "gaps" that can occur in homeowner associations. Gaps can be filled and repaired but you first need to find them. Here a few common ones: Gap in the Board Do the same people serve on your Board year after year? Some continue to serve because they think no one else will. Interestingly enough, if there is never a void, there will never be a need to fill it. Fresh blood is needed to keep the Board revitalized. Remember: every owner is qualified to serve. Consider term limitation as a way of forcing the issue. Gap in the Budget Does your community have inordinately large delinquencies? Money is the lifeblood of the organization and without it, the assets wither and deteriorate. Inability to collect money is a common symptom of communities doing in house bookkeeping. Let's face it, collecting debts from neighbors is hard and many board treasurers tend to avoid confrontation and defer the problem until it grows out of control. If this condition exists at your community, consider enacting a Collection Resolution that has teeth and hire either a professional management company or outside bookkeeping service. This is simply too important an issue to hope it will resolve itself. Plug this gap today! Another Gap in the Budget - Does your Board routinely overspend? There could be several reasons: - Failure to adhere to the approved budget. There is always more needs than money to fund them. There is a tendency by some Boards to yield to the squeaky wheels in the community and rob the cash from reserves. Bad Board! Bad! Reserves are designed for specific future maintenance and repair items. To use reserves for nonemergency and unbudgeted expenses is plain wrong. One of the Board's most important jobs, when it comes to overspending, is to "just say NO".
- The Board is systematically under budgeting (Trying to squeeze blood out of a...well, you know.) Under budgeting is often the result of the Board yielding to the pressure to minimize the assessments in spite of growing costs. Since the utilities and other services must be paid and there is no Tooth Fairy, budgets need to be reality, not wish based. Use actual prior year expenses to craft the next year's budget adjusting for inflation and known increases (like contracts, utility rates, etc.) to close this gap.
Gap in the Community Is the "community" missing from your community association? Aside from the economic benefits of pooling costs and sharing the work, associations afford an opportunity to develop a "village" in the neighbor sense. Have you considered facilitating social events that bring your neighbors together? To get started, you don't even have to make up an event: The annual homeowner meeting can be turned into a potluck with prize drawings. Add contests for Best Christmas Lights, Patio Garden or Community Volunteer Award. Recognize your members in any way you can to encourage involvement. Gap in the Management Is the Board under utilizing the property manager? Managers have a wealth of experience that the association is paying for whether they use it or not. Why not ask for an opinion on significant matters? The manager also has a broader perspective on issues than the Board. As an outside observer, it is much easier to see what's really going on in board meetings (hidden agendas, conflicts of interest and personality conflicts) that interfere with productive results. Encourage your manager to make constructive observations to help keep the Board on track. Gap in the Governing Documents Archaic governing documents, rules and regulations can be an ongoing aggravation. Certain provisions that made sense 20 years ago have outlived there usefulness. In some cases, because of the Fair Housing Act, they are downright illegal. Contact your attorney for a review and plug these gaps. Gap in the Maintenance Is the association paying for maintenance and insurance claims that are not the association's responsibility? Just because a washer overflows flooding the neighbor's unit doesn't mean that the association should necessarily come to the rescue. All condo owners are supposed to carry appropriate insurance to protect against damage to their unit interior and personal property. Unless the damage originated from the association maintained common area, the owner and owner's insurance is responsible for the repairs. To clarify, develop an Areas of Responsibility List using the governing documents as a guideline. For more on this subject, see www.regenesis.net Closing the gaps in your homeowner association should be a top priority. Each seemingly minor gap can add up to a royal pain in the rear. By that's another gap and another article. | 
