Whether you live in a 40-unit community or a four hundred-unit community, as a board member it is imperative to understand your community and your role as a board member. Each community has unique needs as well as specific governing documents (master deed, condominium declaration, declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions, articles of incorporation, bylaws) with which each owner must comply. It is up to the board to enforce those rules equally, fairly and fully. It is also important to understand the needs of the community, as demographics play a large role in how easy it will be to enforce the rules and policies.
For instance, if you live in a community where many of the residents have pets and the community documents do not restrict pet ownership, then imposing new restrictions on ownership, size or weight of pets may not be in the best interest of the owners of the community. However; defining what is expected of pet owners, including pet maintenance, clean up, pet registration, limits on the number of pets and how to handle aggressive pets is extremely important not only in maintaining harmony within the community, but also making sure the pet owners’ and non pet owners’ concerns are taken into consideration.
It is also important to understand the maintenance needs of your community. It is the board’s fiduciary responsibility to maintain the common elements of the community to the best of their ability. Even when the current economic climate may not be favorable for an increase in assessments, it is important to create a budget that balances the maintenance needs of the community and not the financials shortcomings of the board members. This is a difficult decision for any board member; after all, it’s your money, too. But, if you manage your community like a business, and don’t look at it on a personal level, it’s much easier to make tough decisions for the benefit of the community as a whole.
No matter how large your community, or how long you’ve been on the board, it is always helpful to educate yourself. Contact your local township or municipality for community association education classes, Community Associations Institute (www.caionline.org) offers excellent live and online classes, books, articles and seminars for new and seasoned board members alike. You can also ask you management company if they offer board member training programs. The more knowledge you have, the more prepared you will be to manage your community with confidence and ease.
Mariah Page, CMCA®, AMS®, PCAM®
Community Manager
Kramer-Triad
Ann Arbor, MI
4 Comments
This is all too true but the reality of it is, you’re lucky just to get all the board members to show up at meetings. This would be an ideal board where all members regularly read and keep up with stuff like this but I don’t find that happening and haven’t in the past.
For instance, you ask someone about a rule and you usually get what’s been handed down to them as a rumor or hearsay. Never will you get an answer like,’Let me take a look at the covenants and I’ll get back with you on that’. Or, ‘I don’t think that’s in the bylaws’. Sheesh, great, yeah, you do that, buddy. Let me read them myself but then I’ll have a helluva time trying to convince you what’s right and wrong.
That is exactly what we are striving for, an “ideal,” well educated Board that understands their responsibilities as a volunteer Board member, attends meetings as necessary, understands the rules and regulations of their community and have read and understand their governing documents. That’s why educating the Board is so important in making sure the community runs smoothly. We aren’t here to convince anyone of what is right and wrong; we are here to educate, communicate and facilitate. An educated Board makes our job as the Manager so much smoother when we run into bumps in the road, or when we run into that difficult owner who doesn’t want to follow the rules.
The critical followup question is where do we find the material to educate our board? The logistics of preparing board specific material and training can be a quagmire in and of itself. For instance, a small board that rotates each year – who is there to teach or provide continuity? a large board that rotates a percentage does have the advantage of some continuity of continuing members. A property manager that has to deal with an uneducated board has a very hard challenge.
You are correct, obtaining the information in order to educate the Board is critical, but not impossible. There are many available resources available to Managers, such as the Associa library on the intranet, the Community Associations Institute (CAI) website, the United Condominium Owners of Michigan (UCOM), and the Condominium documents can provide you with some definitions of each Board position and responsibility, although limited.
If you prepare some educational materials specifically designed for new Board members, and provide it to them as they transition onto the Board, they will start off on the right path with a positive attitude towards the volunteer position they were elected to fill.