HOW TO KEEP YOUR ASSOCIATION OFF
RICHARD KUZIOMKO mba, cmca, ams, pcam
Alth Although the h the ho ida holliday se day season ison is
over, community associations are constantly striving to stay off the naughty list. Turn to any news feed like Google News, Apple
News, MSN, or social media and it does not take too long to see a story disparaging community associations. Almost always they refer to HOAs in a generic way even though it also includes condominiums or co-ops.
Some recent headlines for example were:
“HOA dictates only white clear lights permitted on holiday decorations”
“Owner received a notice about their ’illegal’ emotional support animal”
“An owner was cited for too many cars parked during a wedding held at a home”
“Assessments were increased by 25% with no explanation”
The vast majority of community association residents are happy to live within their governing documents. For the last several years the Foundation for Community Association Research has consistently found that over 80% of residents rate their community experience as very good or good and are happy with their board of directors. The growth in community associations continues across the country, so owners purchasing residences
3 0 JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2025 willingl ngly bu buy iinto cnto to common interest communities.
So why the dissonance between its perceived reputation and the actual overall satisfaction of the owners? It comes down to individuals who do not understand what living in a common interest community entails. Even with steady growth every year, still less than 30% of homeowners live in an HOA or condominium across the country. Despite signing an agreement to abide by the governing documents, most people do not take the time to read the massive number of pages before buying.
This, of course, leads to the misunderstanding that a community means just that, a group and not every person for themselves. How often do residents claim, “my home is my castle or it is my First Amendment right to express myself!”? All true, but when you buy into a common interest community, you are giving up some freedoms for the benefits that come with it.
So how do associations handle this? There are several ways which go a long way to bring down the level of discord. The primary one is increased communication. Starting with the disclosure package, include a simple one- page summary of the benefits of living in the association (maintain property values, upkeep of
common areas, utility and ommon a e
landscape services, etc.). At the same time, highlight that all
owners agree to abide by the rules and regulations.
On a continuous basis, communicate regularly with residents to keep them informed of why rules are made and why it is important to follow them. For example, do not just say parking is only allowed in designated areas and not on the streets. Explain that the streets are fire lanes and not wide enough to have parking on one or both sides, or some other logical reason why the rule exists. Rules and regulations may be many pages – why not make a short summary document and publish it every year as a reminder of the most important ones? Before new rules are introduced, get community input and modify them if necessary. Unilateral pronouncements with no advance warning or input just gets people angry.
On a regular basis, review the rules and regulations of the association. Some rules may be out-of-date or have outlived their use. Have a town hall meeting and seek input from residents to discover hot topics. Even though the rules may still be required, you can lower the level of tension by listening to residents. For example, original fixtures may
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