Community Spirit

Creating community spirit is easier than creating the conflict many HOA boards seem to be so good at creating.  All it takes is to change focus from ourselves to helping others. 

Creating goals and challenging residents and owners to achieve as a group creates teamwork.  Something as simple as a annual or semi-annual food drive, toy drive, household item drive, putting up Christmas lights on all the homes with a theme, or even collecting money to donate to a cause.  If the goal is achieved a party to celebrate achieving the goal is well deserved. 

Giving people the sense of accomplishment by achieving a goal, and helping others brings people together like nothing else.  Making it a community tradition is something the community can be proud of. 

Missing the Big Picture

The video below is an example of how people tend to miss the big picture.  For instance when deciding on something like paint colors board members and committee members will use a single home as an example.  They get tunnel vision if you will and don't look at the big picture.  Some may even be intimidated by the project and refuse to look at the entire community.  Resulting in colors that look good on some homes but not others.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and that Santa Brings Everything You Wished For



 

 

Community Relations Director

HOA BoD are supposed represent the majority of the ownership.  If we only lived in a perfect world.  Since we don't, we all know that what is really represented is only about 5 to 10%.  Which is why there should be a non-voting position entitled Community Relations Director or Homeowner Advocate on the board. 

Reduce Board Meeting Drama

We've all heard and seen the videos showing people getting out of control at board meetings.  Reducing it doesn't mean hiring an off duty police officer who is not a member of the association to serve as a bouncer.  It actually starts before the meeting ever gets started. 

Board members have busy lives in most cases.  They work, have families, & have obligations to fulfill, just like everyone else does.  Anyone with kids knows there isn't enough hours in the day already without adding last minute HOA business to it. 

Top Five Ways to Protect Association Assets

1.  Auditing the books yearly is one of the first steps to protecting against theft.  A full audit is a deterrent.  A summary audit is basically just a re-writing of the financials and is not a deterrent of any kind.  A full audit is not a forensic audit which is used when a full audit discovers that something is wrong.  Full audits protect against current threats and future threats. 

2.  Maintain an emergency fund.  Keeping an amount equal to the insurance deductible plus one half to one months of dues in an account named "Reserve Account Emergency and Insurance Deductible Fund" keeps the money separate and labeled for a specific purpose.  This safeguards against special assessments and prevents making insurance claims without ownership knowledge.  This will keep rates low and raise confidence in the financial health of the community. 

3.  Landscape lighting not only protects against trip and fall claims but also protects plants during freezing temperatures.  This is important since landscaping is also an association asset. 

4.  Write into all contracts that vendors are to provide the board with a country wide background check for all employees who work in the field and anyone who will work with association funds.  People who commit crimes aren't always prosecuted by the company when it is discovered.  Many of them just fire them to prevent it from coming public and escape liability.  When this happens the offender just moves out of state which is why a country wide background check is needed.  Also a Dunn & Bradstreet Report on the business its self tells you if the company is a legitimate business.  Websites can lie about years in business but a D&B does not.  Licenses and insurance documents can be forged so know who your doing business with and who they employee.  This includes management companies and managers even if they are contractors for the management company.  You never know who you are doing business with.  Criminals are charming, smooth, crafty, appear trustworthy, educated, smart people who you never would suspect.

5.  Supervise vendors on site.  Supervising entails more than making sure they are doing their work or doing it right.  It also is a means of making sure one doesn't wonder off.  Vests and other identifying clothing can be removed preventing owners from knowing that they work for a vendor.  So, uniforms aren't a fail safe if someone breaks into a home during the day.  When a group of people are working it is easy for one to slip away without anyone noticing.  If they are supervised it's not so easy. 

Thank you for visiting and reading my blog. 

Wishing you and yours a

Peaceful & Happy Holiday Season! 

Waste Not Want Not

To all Self Serving Board Members,
Managment Companies & Vendors

Sometimes it amazes me just how lazy people are and the things companies (management companies specifically but it goes for all companies) will do to rack up the charges. 

Quotes of the Day

We in America do not have a government by the majority, We have a government by the majority who participate.



--Thomas Jefferson



For every person digging at the root of a problem, there's a hundred hacking at the leaves.



--??  not sure but it wasn't me.

Top Five HOA Improvements *Updated*

Here are my top five changes to improve HOA's visual appearance.

1.  Hide utility boxes with plants.  If it cannot be done so that it flows with the design then use faux rocks made for disguising utility boxes. 

2.  Install decorative street lighting.  Replace those ugly street lights with shorter more decorative poles that use covers or lights that will produce a white light, and direct the light down.  Using white lights will reflect the true color of objects where amber colored lights do not.  If the city services your street lights you can see them for information, pricing, and pole selection.  Also make sure that the street lights will light up the sidewalks, driveways, and yards of all the homes even if the homeowner does not have the front porch lights on.  Street lights are a safety measure as such there should not be any places where someone could hide in the darkness when homeowners turn off their porch lights.

3.   Locate and test soil in areas where summer grass will not grow no matter what you do.  Then test it for fungus by send it for independent testing.  Test each and every spot do not just test some yards. Then fix it how ever the lab tells you to (not the landscapers).

4.  Try installing a grass that stays green year round.  Yes, hybrid grasses will stay green in the summer and winter in the valley.  It costs a bit more but cuts headaches in half and could be cheaper in the long run. 

5.  Replace missing shrubs with same sized and kind.  Or replace them all but don't leave holes or wait for the shrub to fill in.  It just looks ugly for way to long.  Some shrubs may never get to be the same size. 

The board has to maintain the community in like new condition or better.

Political Figure Admitts to Role in Nevada's HOA Construction Fraud

Here is a little background on the first person to cop a plea in the Nevada HOA Construction Fraud scheme, Steve Wark.


Behind the scenes, Wark was effective grass-roots operative - News - ReviewJournal.com

Nevada HOA Fraud Releases More Details

This may very well may be a scheme that extends beyond Nevada's state lines.



Prosecutors place another piece in construction defects puzzle - News - ReviewJournal.com