eAlerts

Many board members have other obligations outside of association life, such as jobs, families, and extracurricular activities. The volunteer nature of serving on the board sometimes means that corners are cut to save time. If decisions are made and carried out in a way that doesn’t short-shrift the community, a failure to precisely follow the declaration might stay under the radar. But could this undermine the board’s authority?

If your community is like most, you rely on a variety of outside contractors or vendors to perform services. For example, landscaping, plumbing, or electrical work are commonly farmed out to vendors who send their own choice of workers. This means that individuals will be in your community whom you don’t know anything about—and who potentially don’t respect the association’s members or rules.

Group “re-lamping”—that is, replacing the bulbs, or “lamps,” in a certain area, such as common areas, according to a set schedule—is more efficient and less expensive than replacing them separately as they burn out. That’s because group re-lamping saves labor costs and improves lighting for members. Most managers replace bulbs as they burn out, but this approach wastes employees’ time.

For many members, the upside of community association living is the ability to have some control over their lifestyle by agreeing to comply with rules aimed at creating a pleasant environment. Governing documents and bylaws that set rules and expectations for peaceful living and provide mechanisms to enforce compliance—like fines—go a long way toward keeping things in check.

Too often, speeding in the community endangers homeowners and guests, especially children. Reducing traffic speed on community roads is key to ensuring a safe environment. So, before tragedy strikes, explore whether “traffic calmers”—also known as pavement modifications—are an option for your community. Traffic calmers are physical changes made to a road, which prevent cars from speeding. These changes include speed bumps, speed humps, and speed ridges (also known as rumble strips).

If there are disabled members who use wheelchairs in your community, you may notice damage in common area spots. Fortunately, by installing a few inexpensive devices, you can prevent most of this damage. Have your maintenance staff install these devices to protect the three parts of common areas that most frequently take abuse from wheelchairs:

You may think that if something needs to be done in the community you manage, you have some leeway in how to tell members. After all, if repairs are truly necessary, does it matter how this is announced? The answer is yes. You should follow the declaration precisely in this situation, in order to preserve the board's authority.

Although members on an association’s board of directors are volunteers, their roles in the operation of the community are important. Mistakes by board members can lead to liability for the association. But sometimes, especially if they are roped into serving on the board, members don’t understand the functions of their positions and the best way to carry out their responsibilities.

Q: Our community allows pets, as long as they’re 25 pounds or less. A resident requests a reasonable accommodation to keep his large dog as an assistance animal and submits documentation to show that he has a disability and that the dog provides emotional support to alleviate the symptoms of his disability. Although his dog is larger than allowed under our pet policy, could we face a discrimination claim if we deny his request to keep it?

The day-to-day focus of the association manager, members, and the board might center on their roles in keeping the community running smoothly—abiding by the governing documents, quickly dealing with problems that pop up, and making decisions that affect the community, respectively.