The Uncommon Area



A discussion with hospitality expert Kevan White on how hospitality services are important to HOAs and what good service looks like.

Read our Action story featuring Kevan!

The post When HOAs and Hotels Collide | Ep. 54 appeared first on Action Property Management.

Are your CC&Rs from the dark ages? Even if they are only 10-15 years old, they might be. Attorney Sandra Gottlieb talks about what you need to know about updating your CC&Rs to minimize problems that could arise from them being outdated.

New California case law changes the restrictions for an HOA board regarding how it may communicate and discuss HOA issues by email. Attorney Jeff Beaumont discusses what boards should consider with the new legal landscape on this topic.

Resources:

Beaumont Tashjian

The information provided in this podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, medical, or any other type of professional advice. Listeners of this podcast should not rely on the information presented as a substitute for professional advice or services. Listeners should contact their attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular legal matter.

The insurance market for HOAs is very volatile right now. Jonathan Naranjo from Newfront Insurance discusses how various kinds of HOAs should think about budgeting for these important premiums.

Resources:

Newfront Insurance

Attorney Jeff Beaumont discusses the legal ramifications of budgeting mistakes that boards commonly make. He dives into topics such as borrowing from reserves and special assessments.

Resources:

Civil Code 5610 on Emergency Special Assessments

Beaumont Tashjian: https://www.hoaattorneys.com/

The information provided in this podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, medical, or any other type of professional advice. Listeners of this podcast should not rely on the information presented as a substitute for professional advice or services. Listeners should contact their attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular legal matter.

Don’t let your HOA get into a position where homeowners cannot get Fannie Mae re-fi’s and mortgages. Attorney Jeff Kerrane addresses how to avoid this pitfall for your HOA.

Resources:

https://kerranestorz.com/

Missing something small in a contract can lead to a very big consequence. Attorney Sandra Gottlieb talks about how to avoid big mistakes in contracts.

Questions don’t have to drag out your board meetings.

Too many board meetings go way too long, and one of the main reasons is lack of preparation, and this can be true of both a manager and the board members. Managers, one of the most important things you can do is to find out what information your board members need in order to make decisions at the meeting, so be sure to give them information well ahead of time.

But don’t leave it there. Contact your board members before the meeting and ask them if they have any questions about anything on the agenda or any of the material that you sent to them. Find out ahead of time what they need to know so when you get to the meeting, discussions can be shorter and you can get to votes on the matters faster.

And board members, there’s no value to wait until a meeting to test your manager and see what they know. Let them use the resources at their disposal on their team and ask all of your questions before the time of the meeting. Give the manager time to pull together information or do any needed research.

Bottom line, if managers solicit questions ahead of time from the board, and if the board members proactively ask their questions in advance, the chances are much better that the board will be prepared to make decisions more quickly at the meeting.

A practical way to give attention to what really matters.

If everything is a priority, then nothing is. Yet many associations and many managers operate as if everything is a priority. The reality is that neither board members nor managers have the bandwidth to pursue every objective in an association has equal priorities. However, too few managers and too few boards ever discuss how to prioritize what is being addressed in the association.

This can be remedied by regularly reviewing the priorities in a ranked order at each board meeting. It’s a good thing to do at the end of a meeting. Having this discussion each month ensures that all board members and management are on the same page regarding what will get the most focus and attention in time.

A manager can set the priority list each month and get pretty accurate at forecasting what the board will prioritize. Ultimately, this discussion can be relatively short each month if the board agrees with the manager’s priority order, but the discipline of discussing this a few minutes at each meeting ensures that everyone is on the same page and gives opportunity for course correction if board members don’t all agree with each other or if the manager does not have the priorities in line with the board’s desires.

Having clarity and agreement with priorities goes a long way to ensuring the right progress is made on the right things at the right time.

Nathan McGuire talks about California’s changing climate and its impact on the future of homeowners associations in the next ten years.