Won't You Be My Neighbor?

As Community Association Managers, we facilitate the administrative needs of the Board of Directors who employ us. We provide insight, experience and competency to Boards who need assistance running their corporations. We are a point of contact for homeowners, vendors and the real estate community. Often, association managers are labeled as the ones who wear the black hat. The enforcers. Even, the enemy.

Often times, this administrative shield between the Board and the membership can be a very effective communication tool for the association.  However, if not handled with a sense of mutual respect, the relationship between the membership and the manager may create animosity and angst in an otherwise healthy community.

It is important for managers to remain neutral and nice, never negative. There are many times when we are given the task of communicating difficult and even unwanted news to a resident. Empathy and respect are important traits that must be utilized in these delicate situations. Although there are many black and white areas of legal responsibility in association management, there are even more gray areas that require the manager to defer to the Board, or even to suggest the solicitation of legal advice from qualified counsel, and in doing so, must remain open to each Board's unique deliberative process.

It is important for managers to remember that open and transparent deliberation of the Board must be nurtured and encouraged at all times. This is not our home, it is yours. You employ us, not to manage the Board per say, but to manage the corporation, under the Board's direction. We facilitate your decisions. Every Board achieves a specific outcome in a different manner. The process that the Board chooses to follow, may not be the way the manager would have done it, but this is not what is important. If the actions are not illegal, unjust or harmful to the community as a whole, we as managers, must respect the fact that this is the path our clients wish to follow, and part of our job is to make them feel comfortable and supported in their decisions. An effective Board feels ownership of their positions and shares pride in the decisions they make, strengthening the community as a whole and encouraging trust.

When it comes to the enforcement of governing documents within an association, managers must remember to be tactful and to communicate to the membership with respect. Enforcement processes rarely succeed when addressed aggressively right out of the gate. Most violations are simple oversights by owners, or even misunderstandings of the requirements of the association. We find that many owners simply lack education because no one had taken the time to explain the covenants, conditions and restrictions of the association in which they live. When managers succeed in explaining the impact of the infraction or even communicate the Board's intention of preserving property values and protecting the common area, many owners seem more willing to comply.

We have learned all of this through the experience of assisting Boards of Directors in our local communities for over twenty years. In staff meetings, we often brainstorm on practices that are working and not working for our communities. We attempt to adapt to our ever evolving membership and legislature, revise our communication practices and tactics, and nurture a sense of community within the associations we manage. No one is perfect and sometimes, no amount of tact can resolve a highly emotional homeowner. What we must remember is to take a step back and think about how it would feel to be on the receiving end. If we can better empathize with our clients, we can be more effective at the true goal of association management; to nurture a sense of community and to support the Board in making positive decisions that will protect and enhance the common area.

Transparency is Key

On January 1, 2012, California Civil Code 1363.05 was revised to include electronic communications, such as email, as a qualifying format for holding a meeting. This meant that now a majority of Board members deliberating on association related business through email was prohibited. This is an extremely important evolution in legislature and dramatically changes the way most Board members are used to communicating with their managing agents in between meetings.

The important concept to remember here is the need for transparency and the preservation of the spirit of the Open Meeting Act. While it may seem to some of us that most homeowners are apathetic when it comes to attending association meetings, the membership must always have the right to witness most association deliberation, should they choose to become involved.

The requirements regarding the successful notification of meetings were also modified to enhance the preservation of transparency. Regular meetings of the Board have always been open to the association membership and require at least a four day advance notice and an agenda of the topics scheduled for discussion. Now, executive session meetings of the Board need to be noticed at least 2 days ahead of time and are to include a general description of the matters under deliberation. This allows for transparency to the membership, even though they are not allowed to attend.

In contrast to much of its usefulness, email is extremely dangerous for Boards and management companies due to the ease with which informality may manifest itself. Board members may use casual language or even criticize members or vendors in jest, but these transmissions or series of discussions become integral pieces of documented history for the association. Should the need for research surface, these emails may be publicized, even read aloud in court. Words and sentences are now literally dissected and what was once innocent humor now looks horribly insensitive and unprofessional.

More than that, when a Board member communicates to management or vice versa, this can immediately spark the need for a discussion. If other Board members are included, the conversation usually blows up into a series of opinions and explanations. Suddenly, the Board is deliberating in an environment not open to the rest of the membership. Owners' rights have become violated and the Board and management have now destroyed any trust the membership may have previously had in them.

If your Board meets quarterly, the use of email is probably considered a lifesaver in assisting the Board with conducting their regular business. It may seem harmless because both the Board and management are confident in their authority and their ethics. Association Board members are unpaid volunteers. They value the use of their time and email was a great way to not have to sacrifice a chunk of their day. From a homeowners' point of view, however, this "closed circuit" of communication provides way too much room for error.

Having to conduct business in an open meeting forces all of the Board members to become involved. It guarantees healthy deliberation that the membership is able to witness. It also guarantees that everyone involved is who they say they are, and that parliamentary procedures can be followed. If you have a good management company and/or an educated and dedicated Board, being in the same room together allows your decision making to be made openly, and with the confidence of following the law.

So what can we email? It is important to realize the difference between transmitting information and actual deliberation. A majority of directors may not use email to discuss association business, but they may discuss non-business items, such as setting the dates and times for meetings, distributing information for meetings, requesting that items be placed on the agenda or relaying project progress to the Board. It is important to include all Board members when exchanging information, even if it seems insignificant to some. As the Board is able to create distrust with its members by not being transparent, so can a management agent create distrust with the Board, should their communication not include all directors.

While calling and appropriately noticing a special meeting is always the best way to handle business that may come up in between meetings, depending on your dynamic, you may choose to delegate authority to either the President or your association manager for some of the usual decision making needs that surface between meetings.

Emergency needs are exempt to this requirement, however, Boards should be extremely careful when qualifying a topic as an emergency. Improper use or abuse of this classification may result in more distrust among the membership, but also may make the decisions challengeable in court.

Your Boards work extremely hard for you. Regulations like this although justified, increase the time involved for these volunteer directors and take away from time spent with their families, friends and careers. The next time you see your Board member walking down the sidewalk, stop to shake their hands and thank them for all that they give to your community. You don't have to attend a Board meeting to smile and say thanks, but we hope that you do.

And So It Begins

For many years, Steward Property Services, Inc. has hoped to offer a blog to its community association clients that would be a source of tips and guidance, and provide information about industry trends and legislative changes. The process has had a history of stops and starts as the reality of the day to day paper crunch that exists in this industry often crushed good intentions and forced them onto the back burner. However, technology has once again come to the rescue! Thanks to the forward thinking of our President, Mr. Jeff Farnsworth, the possibility of creating and maintaining a company blog has made better client communication a reality. 

Steward Property Services, Inc. also maintains an electronic company newsletter titled Community Lights. The newsletter includes information about Steward Property Service's news, industry news and legislative updates, community and volunteer highlights, and many other special features. Although aimed at our Board member clients, any homeowner may sign up and the newsletters will be archived on our Steward Property Services, Inc. website (www.stewardprop.com).