HOA records generally fall under two broad categories, financial and corporate, with retention requirements varying from "retain forever" to "dump at will".

Financial records that might be subject to an IRS audit or to an accounting-related challenge include: accounts payable and accounts receivable ledgers, expense records, canceled checks, electronic payment records, purchase orders and vendor invoices. These records should be retained for at least seven years. Important financial documents, such as bank statements, deposit slips, budgets and petty cash vouchers should be held for at least four years.

HOAs should also retain most records related to former employees for at least seven years, with the exception of their medical records, which, some experts say, should be retained for at least 30 years.

Seven years is also a good retention benchmark for expired contracts and old leases, insurance records, accident reports and settled insurance claims. Minutes of board meetings should be retained as long as the policies and decisions they document can be challenged in court, if not forever.

A similar retention policy applies to the recommendations and actions of committees and records documenting complaints filed by homeowners and how they were resolved.

Records relating to individual units or unit owners should be retained in separate unit owner files. General correspondence with unit owners, copies of work orders, complaints and violation notices should all be retained until the expiration of the statute of limitations on any legal action they might trigger. Requests for architectural modifications, decisions on those requests and other documents related to them should become part of each unit’s permanent record to provide the background information future owners will require.

2. Do I work well with others? A board of directors is not a place for loners or rebels. To function well, board members must work as a team.

3. What is the underlying reason I want to be on the board? While there is no one right reason, you should know what is motivating you to volunteer. Does it conflict with the goals of the board? Is it your desire to be a change agent?

4. What if I am sued personally for something I do as a board member? Does your homeowner association have comprehensive Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance from a company that specializes in providing this type of insurance to HOAs that shifts the risk to the insurance company? Has the board done everything it can to limit liability? Is the board required to indemnify you if you are sued?

5. Have I examined the financial records? Before committing yourself you should know the financial condition of the HOA. If it is less than solvent, ask yourself if you want to spend most of your time dealing with financial issues such as reserves, assessment increases and deferred maintenance.

6. Do I know what the expectations for board members are? Are there high expectations regarding how much time is to be spent on HOA business? Are you going to be asked or expected to do or go along with something you have strong feelings against?

7. Do I have thick skin? Serving on a board is not for the faint of heart or overly sensitive people. You will likely receive more criticism than praise during your term. And some of that criticism may even be personal in nature.

8. Will I be committed to seeing my term through? HOAs don’t need board members who serve only a few months. It takes that long to get a good understanding of the issues and how the board operates, not to mention the personalities. Don’t volunteer if you’re not committed to serving your full term.

To All Members of Nottacare Condominium,

At the Annual Meeting to be held April 1st, two positions for director of the board will be voted on. Anyone that is a owner in good standing of Nottacare (current in HOA payments and no outstanding violations) is eligible to run in this election.

Overview of Director Duties. The board has the authority to direct Nottacare business including maintenance and financial oversight, rules enforcement and architectural design approval. The board has the authority to hire and oversee the professional management company.

The board meets four times a year for two hours to review Nottacare business and to make decisions and enact policy. Between those meetings, there may be an occasion special meeting to deal with an urgent matter that can’t wait for a regularly scheduled board meeting. The President has the authority to act on behalf of the board between meetings as long as the matter is authorized by the governing documents or in line with the approved budget.

Serving on the board gives you direct impact and influence on how Nottacare business is handled. While a management, financial or construction background is helpful, no special training is required other than the willingness and availability to serve. The office of director carries a term of three years each.

Managing HOA Records
A homeowner association is a business and, like any business, it generates documents and records Invoices, bank statements, meeting minutes, contracts, communications with owners and vendors, committee reports...the list is endless and the document management task can be onerous.

While not all HOA documents are of equal importance, what is essential and what is not essential can be unclear. However, good business practice dictates which records should be preserved and for how long.

Homeowner association records generally fall under two broad categories, financial and corporate, with retention requirements varying from "retain forever" to "dump at will".

Financial Records. Most financial records should be kept permanently because they chart the financial history and because they could contain information that would have a bearing on current decisions. This list includes the general ledgers and journals along with year-end financial statements, tax returns, audit reports and depreciation schedules.

Financial records that might be subject to an IRS audit or to an accounting-related challenge include: accounts payable and accounts receivable ledgers, expense records, canceled checks, electronic payment records, purchase orders and vendor invoices. These records should be retained for at least seven years. Important financial documents, such as bank statements, deposit slips, budgets and petty cash vouchers should be held for at least four years.

Corporate Records. These represent the HOA’s infrastructure and should be permanently retained. These include the governing documents (CC&Rs, articles of incorporation, bylaws, rules and regulations, deeds, easements, contracts and board resolutions). The historical perspective these documents provide is important because as the membership of a board changes, the collective memory remains in tact with these documents. Additionally, new board members need a basis for understanding the policies and procedures established by former boards and long serving board members have a written record to remind them of the reasons for previous decisions.

HOAs should also retain most former employee records for at least seven years, with the exception of their medical records, which should be retained for at least 30 years. Seven years is also a good retention benchmark for expired contracts and old leases, insurance records, accident reports and settled insurance claims. Minutes of board meetings should be retained as long as the policies and decisions they document can be challenged in court, if not forever.

A similar retention policy applies to the recommendations and actions of committees and records documenting complaints filed by homeowners and how they were resolved.

Records relating to individual units or unit owners should be retained in separate unit owner files. General correspondence with unit owners, copies of work orders, complaints and violation notices should all be retained until the expiration of the statute of limitations on any legal action they might trigger. Requests for architectural modifications, decisions on those requests and other documents related to them should become part of each unit’s permanent record to provide the background information future owners will require.

Storage and Recovery of Documents. Procedures should be established to ensure the safe storage and rapid recovery of all vital HOA documents. Among other measures, boards should:

• Centralize hard copy file storage for ease of access.
• File storage facility should be weather (rain, floods, etc.) and fire proof
• Regularly back up computer files in a secure, off-site location.

Records Requests by Members. Most HOA records shall be made available for examination by members or a member’s representative. Certain records may be withheld such as:

1. Privileged communication between the board and the HOA’s attorney;
2. Pending litigation;
3. Meeting minutes or other records of an executive session;
4. Personal, health and financial records of al member or employee, and
5. Records relating to job performance, compensation or complaints against an employee

Properly managing homeowner association records is a mundane but necessary task. Follow these guidelines to get your records in record time.

Excerpts from an article by Beth Mulcahy     BACK

Newsletter Gold
Homeowner association newsletters are a great way to enlighten, inform, remind and encourage. Inviting the membership to HOA events and meetings helps neighbors meet neighbors. Frequent reminders of important rules or architectural policies helps build a friendlier and more harmonious community. Recognizing volunteer efforts encourages others to step up. Newsletters needn’t be long and involved, just relevant. The more you do it, the easier it gets.

Here are some tips to make your newsletters pure gold:

Focus on Building Community. Get HOA members to become participants rather than observers. Offer opportunities to do that on committees and social events.

Understand Your Audience. How old are they? What is their financial status? How do they like to spend their time? Find out by getting feedback from your readers with a questionnaire.

Inspire Your Readers. Make sure events, activities and volunteer opportunities are well publicized. Create headlines to grab the reader's attention.

Be Consistent in Layout and Content. If you have a "Rules & Regs Corner" which highlights a particular HOA rule or policy, publish it in every issue. Always include current board and management contact information (mail, email and phone).

Dash the Draft. Write the rough draft as quickly as possible and then go back to polish and flesh out the details.

Archive Your Newsletters and Articles. Many articles bear repeating and as time passes will have new eyes that see them for the first time. Repeat seasonal reminders. Create folders on your computer for the months you publish your newsletter and put article files in the months they fit best. In time, you can build a reservoir of content to draw upon that will make newsletter writing much simpler and quicker.

Lead With Your Strong Suit. Put the most important information up front. Organize the strongest points of an article before you write it.

Keep Articles Short. If an article is long or complicated, readers will move on. If there is simply too much good content to abbreviate, break the article into several articles.

Give Credit & Contact Information. Include the newsletter committee, writer and editor names and contact information.

Be Positive & Uplifting. While criticism has its place, too much of it is a downer and chases most readers away. Strive for the positive. Be upbeat.

Proofread. Editing is a rewording experience. Carefully review your work for grammatical and spelling mistakes or get a detailed oriented person to do it for you. Make sure your facts are straight.

Reprint with Permission. Search the internet for content that would be of interest to your readers. If you find an article that includes author and contact information, be sure to get permission before reprinting and give credit where credit is due. (For an archive of over 1100 HOA related articles sorted by subject, see www.Regenesis.net Article Archive.)

Have Fun With It. Give them a giggle or two. The internet is full of jokes, puns and cartoons.

Publish Pictures. Folks love to see themselves in the paper. Share event pictures, photos of board members, the manager, committee members and other volunteers.

PDF It. Programs like Adobe Acrobat make it possible to convert word processing and newsletter programs into Portable Document Format (PDF) which can be posted on the HOA website or emailed to those that do email. PDF was designed with HOAs in mind. Using it can save thousands of dollars in printing, supplies and postage each year plus countless processing hours each year required of paper newsletters.

Get Advertisers. If your community is large enough and newsletter regular, it may attract advertisers like real estate agents, insurance agents, painters and remodelers and help pay for itself.

Newsletters are a wonderful way to bind your community in a custom way. Keep your homeowner association in the know with timely and relevant newsletters at least four times a year. Build community through communication.

For more on this topic, see Newsletter Basics.    BACK