5 Must Have Documents For Comm...

We’ve established that listening is a big part of being a board member of an HOA. However, it’s also important to be able to communicate to your community members. HOA’s should aim to be as transparent as possible when it comes to conducting business and letting members know the obligations that fall upon them.

When a member requests information or documents from the HOA, the HOA should provide the information to their community members in a hassle free way. Here’s a list of just some of the items we feel each HOA should make readily available to their members:

1. Rules & Regulations
• These are all the Governing Documents that each HOA member must adhere to when they join the community. These should be readily available at all times without any delay to members upon request.
2. Community Newsletters
• The newsletter contains all the information about what has been going on in the community and keeps members in the loop on important dates, events, and information. Members need to be in the loop so this holds almost as much weight as the Governing Documents in terms of ease of access to.
3. Ways To Get in Touch
• Community members have the right to get in touch with necessary board members and managers to find out information and ask questions. They should have access to their contact information.
4. Finances & Long-Term Plans
• While the members of a community don’t need to oversee the day-to-day finances on a day-to-day basis, they should have access to the financial reports. Since finances are covered by the members of the community, each member has the right to have access to how their funds are being spent as well as saved for any unexpected expenses and long-term planning for the community.
5. Any Legal Action
• Members have the right to know what legal actions could be going on against the Community as it could impact potential buying and selling of properties. Transparency in this department also prevents the Board from being viewed as shady or secretive.

We can’t stress enough how important transparency is with the members of the community. By making as much information as readily available as possible, it prevents a lot of headaches caused by arguing with members who claim to have been left in the dark. A happy community is a community that knows how to communicate well.