“Problem Boards and Communities Can Be Turned Around” by Michael G. Rouse
(Excerpt published in CAI’s November/December 2006 “Minutes” as “War Stories:Reform A Problem Board”)
When a board and community hit rock bottom they have no where to go but up. The rebuilding of a board and community can be very challenging in a community where most residents have given up.
Living in my community of 398 townhomes for almost 20 years, I rarely attended a homeowner meeting and spent many evenings with other residents complaining about the poor state of our community and ineffectiveness of the board. Our community was on a fast downward slide. Owners were leaving in record numbers and rentals were increasing. I had two options, move out or get involved. I chose the latter and soon became a regular at the poorly attended monthly HOA meetings.
After attending a few meetings, it was clear that board infighting and the board’s inability to work with the property manager were contributing to our community’s downfall. Bad boards make it impossible for a management company to manage. With the board and management company infighting, this community was easy prey for predatory contractors who did little more than submit invoices for jobs they did not do. Since I was one of the three residents who bothered to attend the monthly HOA meetings without a complaint, I was invited to join the board. Although reluctant, I realized that this was my opportunity to try to a make a difference in my community. After joining the board, I quickly realized that many of the board members did little more than occasionally show up for meetings and the board president was so overwhelmed with disgruntled residents, lawsuits, contractor problems, indifferent board members and maintenance problems that he was ineffective. I immediately started taking on tasks to help him out and successfully completed a number of them.
Within one year of being appointed to the board, I was elected as its president at the annual meeting. This was the first time I had ever served on a HOA board let alone serve as its president. I immediately laid out a plan to turn the community around and sought out community management educational opportunities which I found through CAI. Board members with negative attitudes were replaced with volunteer board members who wanted to make a difference and were willing to take on tasks. Within the first three months of becoming board president, monthly meeting attendance went from two residents to over twenty per meeting. We began receiving more compliments than complaints. By the end of my first year it was not unusual to have fifty or more residents attending a meeting with very few complaints.
We started having community events like block parties, game nights, homeowner appreciation dinner, etc. Residents began planting flowers and spending money upgrading their units. The rental rate has started to come down as more units are being purchased by people who want to live here. The atmosphere of the community over the last few years has changed from a depressive one to a very positive one with many residents taking part in community activities.
Contractors who did not perform were given an opportunity to perform or be replaced. Within the first year over half of our contractors were replaced with contractors who actually wanted to work.
I joined CAI and started taking educational classes. Eventually, I got a CMCA certification, a rarity for a volunteer board member. Several other board members, also, joined CAI and we all attend educational events on a regular basis. It is not unusual for board members to get compliments on a regular basis from residents and be thanked for all the work being done in the community. This turn around could not have been accomplished without dedicated board members, support from the community, the property manager, the management company’s staff and educational opportunities offered by CAI. Below are a few ideas that we used to turn our community around.
Don’t Be Afraid Of Failure. One thing for sure is that every event will not be successful. Residents would much rather have a board that tries different things than one that doesn’t try because of fear of failure. You just might be surprised at how much support you get.
Deal With Disgruntled Residents Before Meetings. One of the biggest turnoffs to residents who attend meetings is listening to the resident who comes with an agenda to fight and argue. Boards and their management companies need to deal with disgruntled residents before the meetings so they do not dominate the meeting. There is nothing that poisons a meeting more and reduces your attendance than to have an angry resident take control of a meeting.
Advertise, Post Notices, Mail Fliers, etc. Advertise, advertise, advertise….you can never advertise and publicize enough. No matter how much you do, there will always be those who will claim they did not know.
- Post notices on mail houses and bulletin boards
- Advertise in your newsletters
- Distribute fliers
- Use banners
Make Meetings/Events Exciting - Thinking Outside The Box. As a board, you need to try and get a sense of what makes your residents tick. This can be done through surveys or by trying different events to see what type of response you get from your residents.
- Don’t be afraid to ask your professionals to come and speak to your residents.
- Try to get residents to chair community events. This will give them a sense of empowerment.
- Combining your board meeting with an educational event like one of the following:
- Financial meeting - Invite your Management, Investor, Insurance Agent, etc…
- Safety and Security – Invite the Police, Fire Department, Security Company, etc…
- CCR, Rules Meeting - Invite your attorneys
- Invite your vendors to speak with the residents
- Contact your local home repair or garden shop to discuss home repair issues such as tiling, painting and gardening.
- Some community activities you can try are:
- Garage Sale
- Game night
- Community Cook Book
- Pot Luck
- Block Party
- Community Craft Show
- Magic show for children
- Single night, etc
Serve Simple Food. You do not have to spend hundreds of dollars, but serving simple items at your meetings can make it more enjoyable for residents to come since most meetings are held around dinner time. You may serve:
- Finger sandwiches, submarine sandwiches, pizza, etc
- Egg rolls, etc.
- Veggie, fruit plates
- Cookies, candies, etc.
- Non-alcoholic drinks, water, sodas, coffee, tea, etc.
Time Management. Everyone’s time is valuable and residents respect boards that effectively manage time. By keeping meetings productive and within a two hour time frame makes it more desirable for an owner to become part of the board. Here are just two suggestions to help reduce the time you spend on issues and the number of meetings:
- Using emails to conduct board business can reduce the amount of time spent on discussing issues at your meeting.
- Most Bylaws do not require monthly meetings. Conducting business via email can reduce the need for monthly meetings. Fewer meetings will encourage owners to join the board.
Meetings and community events can be a fertile ground to recruit future board and committee members.