TROUBLE FROM DERAILING YOUR ASSOCIATION

By Dan Haumann, President, Advocate Property Management

In the popular board game “Trouble,” players move colored pieces around a board, and when one player lands on a space already occupied by an opponent, the opponent’s piece is sent back to start (hence, the “trouble”). The object of the game is for each player to gather all their pieces into the final “home” spaces where they can elude the “trouble.”

Every association faces trouble in one form or another over the course of time. Some boards do a good job of preventing trouble, resulting in few occurrences, while other boards

Similar to the board game, board members often get into “trouble” when they want to occupy the same metaphorical decision-making “space.” This article focuses on five best practices for preventing and resolving trouble in an association.

seem to constantly be battling trouble, both on their board and in their association. Similar to the board game, board members often get into “trouble” when they want to occupy the same metaphorical decision-making “space.” This article focuses on five best practices for preventing and resolving trouble in an association.

One of the top reasons for association trouble is an unbalanced board. Boards are typically comprised of three to five members holding various positions, representing a cross-section of the ownership. All board members are elected by the owners, and have an equal vote in decisions affecting the direction of the association, regardless of their position. Trouble starts when one member of the board tries to control all decisions on the board, also known as autocratic decision making. This manifests itself in many forms, including raising their voice, openly criticizing others, and possibly even making edicts instead of taking board

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votes. When this happens, decisions can become very one- sided and only represent the opinions and prejudices of that one member. This situation leads to board resignations, because their opinions are not valued. It also can lead to unhappy homeowners because their interests may not be adequately represented. Autocratic decision making can be addressed in several ways. First, try to talk it out. Partner with the other board members to address it with the strong member. If that doesn’t work, try changing the positions on the board. It is healthy to rotate the positions on the board to ensure a balanced approach to association decision making. If trouble still occurs within the group, utilize the annual election process to change the board membership. Any board member can solicit proxies from owners to

help in making a shift in the makeup of the board. Having a balanced board makes for a happy community.

Another common source of trouble for associations is when homeowners are not treated equally. If imbalanced treatment of owners exists, it commonly appears in two areas; maintenance and collections. One of the worst forms of homeowner inequality is when board members are favored over homeowners. When no action is taken on board members for past due assessments or they receive repairs and upgrades before the rest of the homeowners, it deteriorates homeowner trust in the board. The same occurs when friends and neighbors of board members get preferential treatment over other homeowners. When someone joins the board, they must leave their personal agendas behind. They are entrusted to represent the homeowners equally. One way to ensure equal treatment is to adopt written policies voted on by the board. A successful

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