A homeowners’ association is a common way to protect the value of a homeowner’s property and the quality of life in their neighborhood. While an HOA requires an investment of time and money, the community benefits make it worthwhile. Working with a professional HOA management company helps both real-estate developers and homeowners get the most from their investment.
Services Offered by a Professional HOA Management Company
Operating a homeowner’s association is time-consuming and requires careful attention to detail. Here are a few examples of the services an HOA management company can complete on your community’s behalf:
Draft the Association’s Governing Documents
HOA governing documents define the responsibilities of the HOA and the homeowners. They also give the association the tools and powers it can use to fulfill its duties. The HOA’s requirements and restrictions serve the community in two ways: They create an environment that is an appealing place to live and they preserve the value of homes in the community.
These documents are a legal agreement between the residents of the community. There are state and federal regulations that affect what the HOA can and cannot do. Poorly written founding documents can be voided—at least in part—by violating these laws.
An HOA’s founding documents need to be carefully written. They need to meet the needs of the community while complying with local and federal laws. An HOA management company specializes in working with homeowners associations and the laws that govern them. These companies provide the expertise that helps the community association can function as intended.
Oversee the Maintenance of Common Areas and Amenities
Many planned communities feature parks, swimming pools, green spaces, and other amenities. Even communities that lack these amenities will have pathways and other common areas that need to be maintained.
These features are appealing additions to the living area, but their upkeep takes time and manpower the developer can use elsewhere. The HOA’s founding documents put the care of these facilities in the hands of the HOA, but it can take time for newly developed communities to attract enough residents to take over this responsibility.
An HOA management company can meet this responsibility while the development grows from a few new houses to a thriving community. The management company has the resources to oversee the maintenance of common areas, and the expertise to ease the transition of this responsibility from the developer to the homeowner-led community association.
Process Alteration Requests
The HOA’s responsibility for maintaining common areas has been mentioned previously, but private areas of the community will also need maintenance. While the HOA is not directly responsible for this maintenance, changes will need to comply with the association’s architectural controls.
The homeowner will need to submit plans for review by the HOA’s architectural controls committee. A management company can process these requests on behalf of the HOA. They can also provide resources that simplify the submission, review, and approval process. Streamlining the review process will reduce the time spent on managing alteration requests, while also making it easier for the homeowner making the request.
Conduct Site Reviews and Compliance Enforcement
The HOA’s architectural controls are just one example of the restrictive covenants imposed by the association’s founding documents. These rules are intended to maintain the appeal of living in the community and the value of the homes within it. Homeowners’ associations are required to fairly enforce these standards to benefit the community.
Enforcement of the HOA’s restrictive covenants can be a time-consuming bureaucratic endeavor that requires the attention of staff or volunteers who have other concerns; the bookkeeping and paperwork involved in compliance enforcement are not an effective use of a developer’s time, and they reduce a homeowner volunteer’s ability to enjoy the benefits of living in the community they serve.
An HOA management service can reduce this burden. They can provide manage the paperwork involved in processing compliance violations, and perform the legwork of serving notices of violation when necessary. A management service can also provide tools that make appealing and resolving compliance violations less of a burden for the board of directors and the residents of the community.
When working with an HOA management company, board members enjoy the support of experts who specialize in helping communities realize their full potential.
