Departments

Hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires, and thunderstorms, hail storms, and other kinds of freak storms — no community association is immune to disasters these days. Most boards of directors recognize this, but they may find the very idea of disaster planning and response intimidating. This week’s article explains how managers can help their boards reduce the…

While few doubt the importance of disaster preparedness for community associations, boards of directors can find it daunting. And rightly so — well-intentioned boards can make emergency planning and response mistakes that ultimately cause more damage and even leave them open to liability. It’s up to association managers to provide some critical guidance and help…

You’ve probably seen it before — an owner adds some type of restrictive endorsement in the memo portion of a check in hopes of pulling a fast one. This week’s article explains how a condo association in Ohio has now spent years in court as a result of such an endorsement. The case provides some…

Attorney Daniel Miske, of Milwaukee, Wis., firm Husch Blackwell LLP, calls them “professional debtors” — the kind of people who try to evade their financial obligations by, for example, getting cute with the endorsements on their payment checks. An owner in Ohio dragged a condo association through years of litigation because of such an endorsement.…

Maybe your boards like cumulative voting because it strikes them as fair. Perhaps they haven’t even thought about it and just continue the practice because “we always have.” Or maybe they’re thinking about adopting it now. If any of your clients are in one of these scenarios, they need to know the full picture about…

Cumulative voting for board elections isn’t common, but community associations that do use it should take the time to evaluate whether it’s the right path to continue to follow. On its face, it might seem fairly democratic. In reality, it can give place too much power in some voters’ hands — including voters who don’t…

The so-called Internet of Things (IoT) continues to smash barriers in how people experience all aspects of life. This week, we explain why the proliferation of smart devices means those community association managers who aren’t on board risk falling behind and losing customers. The odds are good that some of your owners already are using…

By 2020, the global research firm Gartner expects to see 20 billion internet-connected devices; by the next year, it predicts that number will reach 25 billion. And these figures don’t include general purpose devices like smartphones; they capture only dedicated functional objects, often referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT) or smart devices. Odds…

Facebook groups can make it quick and easy for community association boards and their managers to foster communication with and among owners. Like so many other aspects of association management, though, it comes with some risks. This week, we explore some of the biggest risks and explain how to avoid them. 1. Failing to seize…

Social media are inescapable these days, so it’s no surprise that more and more community associations are establishing Facebook groups for their owners. Far easier to update than websites, these groups can prove invaluable when it comes to communicating with owners. They’re not without risks, though. Here are some potential stumbling blocks — and how…