the neighborhood news
DESCRIPTION
A Leadership Centre PublicationTRANSCRIPT
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VOLUME I • issue i | Spring 2015
Serving Arizona
Feature insurance Article page 10
“When It Rains, It Pours” water damage & insurance policies
COMMUNITY EDUCATION, FACILITATION, MEDIATION
The Neighborhood New s HOA & Community Leader Resource
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don’t waste your hoa dues
compilations+reviews+ audits O H M Y !
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CONTENTS
c o l u m n s
9founder’s message
the president’s corner
f e a t u r e s
T h e n e i g h b o r h o o d n e w s
The Neighborhood News is pub-lished by Del Publishing, LLC, in conjuction with the Leadership Cen-tre, all rights reserved.
The opinions expressed by the ad-vertisers and/or by the authors of published articles are not those of the Leadership Centre or Del Pub-lishing, LLC.
Reproduction in whole or in part of any text, photograph or illustra-tion is strictly prohibited without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher assumes no liability for in-formation contained herein.
…The Leadership Centre—a non-profit 501(c)(3), was created through a unique public-private partnership to provide information, resources, and tools supporting effective community leaders. Our partners include the City of Apache Junction, the Town of Gilbert, the City of Mesa, the Town of Queen Creek, the University of Arizona Co-operative Extension Maricopa Coun-ty, and Sunbelt Holdings.
The Leadership Centre does not dis-criminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or sexual orientation in its programs and activities.
Editor,Dale Stansel
design & layout
Del Publishing, LLC
advertising480-420-6338
hoa water management
Promoting hoa volunteerism
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16why professional management??? Winner 1998 “City Livability Award”
from the U.S. Conference of Mayors
www.theleadershipcentre.org
Ask Solve-It!
Feature Article page 10
“When It Rain, It Pours” understanding surface
water
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Landscaping can have a positive effect on the look of a com-munity. The appearance of the landscape is important to the community’s aesthetic value. Protecting that investment can be simple with the right knowledge.
Common area landscape water costs are a large component of HOA budgets. Powerful tools are available which can help protect that investment. Many city Water Conservation offices across the Valley can help answer most questions associated with landscape water consumption and maintenance. They are committed to water conservation but also committed to having great outdoor spaces for your residents to play. They offer non-biased, research-based information designed to help stream-line your budget and save your community money. Here's one way they can assist your homeowners association.
Landscape Irrigation Assistance ProgramThis program is available to help increase the irrigation effi-ciency of the “common area” landscapes. This will help an HOA understand the amount of water that should be applied to common area landscapes based on the selection of plants and/or turf in those areas. By using the square footage of turf and desert landscaped areas, staff analyzes how much water your landscape needs month-by-month. This customized wa-ter budget tool compares your landscape's water requirements with its actual use. Your community may realize a significant
cost savings by participating in a Landscape Irrigation Assis-tance program. Programs already in place have helped local HOA’s save millions of gallons of water!
The landscape irrigation spreadsheets also generate the cost of the water based on your water provider’s rates and show the results in gallons, dollars and easy-to-read graphs. Your com-munity may benefit from a significant cost savings just by ad-justing their irrigation scheduling and still have a lush-looking landscape.
This tool allows HOA board members, property management companies, and landscape contractors to communicate more effectively and share a common goal. Knowing how much water a landscape really needs gives you a reference point for making
HOA Water Management
By Cathy RymerWater Conservation CoordinatorCity of Chandler
Landscape IrrigationAssistance Program
Programs already in place have helped local HOA’s save millions of gallons of water!
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Next time: New products to increase your irrigation efficiency
Water Providers in the Phoenix Area
City of Avondale - www.ci.avondale.az.us/City of Chandler – www.chandleraz.gov/waterTown of Gilbert – www.gilbertaz.gov City of Glendale – www.glendaleaz.com/waterconservation/ City of Goodyear - http://www.goodyearaz.gov/ City of Mesa - www.mesaaz.gov/conservation/ City of Peoria - www.peoriaaz.gov City of Phoenix - www.phoenix.gov/waterservices/resources-conservation City of Scottsdale - www.scottsdaleaz.gov/water/conservation City of Tempe - www.tempe.gov
Cathy Rymer is the Water Conservation Coordanator for the City of Chandler and can be reached at [email protected]
Making a Difference.Every Day.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE IS OUR MISSION.As the Arizona division of North America’s community
management industry leader, we know what it takes
to create great communities that residents are proud
to call home. We start by putting the right teams in
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enhance the property values and lifestyles of those we
serve. That’s how we make a difference, every day, for
great communities like yours.
How may we serve you? Contact us today.
9000 E. Pima Center Parkway | Suite 300 | Scottsdale, AZ 85258Phone: 480.551.4301 | Fax: 480.551.6000www.fsresidential.com
changes. A Water Conservation staff person will set up an ini-tial meeting with your HOA board representative, the property management company, and the landscape contractor to assess the landscape and the goals the HOA might have. Best of all, there is no charge for this service.
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compilations + reviews + audits O H M Y !
by Tim Nitti, Senior Auditor
Butler Hansen, PC
For 2013, Arizona was home to an es-timated 9,100 community associations, whose 1.8 million residents paid their respective associations approximately $1.8 billion in assessments. That’s a for-midable sum of money, and it’s a prime target for fraud. So how do you defend against fraud? How can you help pre-vent, detect, or deter fraud from target-ing your association? Every year, Butler Hansen, P.C. performs financial report-ing and consulting services designed to do just that.
As you prepare your budgets this year, you may be wondering what level of
financial reporting service your associa-tion needs. Arizona Revised Statutes re-quire all associations to obtain an audit, review or compilation on an annual ba-sis. Consult your association’s organiza-tional documents, however, as they may specify if a certain level of service, like an audit, is required. If the level of service isn’t specified, then you’re free to choose whichever you feel is most prudent for your association. Here are some of the differences:
So how do you determine which level of service is right for your community? That depends, and the answer won’t neces-sarily be the same year after year. If your association is relatively small, has very lit-tle in the way of common areas, or you’re looking for more of a “bird’s eye view” into your financial information, then a compilation might be all that is required. If your association is a master planned community, has a large network of com-mon areas, offers additional services or amenities, or you’re really just looking for the highest degree of professional assur-ance a Certified Public Accountant can
give, then an audit might be the better choice. If you’re not really sure, that’s fine too, that’s what we’re here for. Butler Hansen, P.C., Certified Public Accoun-tants has been specializing in providing services to homeowners associations for more than 45 years. We’d be pleased to speak with you and not only help you de-termine what the most appropriate level of service for your association would be, but to provide it as well. For additional information and resources specific to community associations, please feel free to visit us at www.butlerhansen.com.Estimates obtained from the Foundation for Community Association Research, 2013 Community Association Fact Book for Arizona.
Tim Nitti is a Senior Auditor with Butler Hansen, PC, and has over five years accounting experience in public and private accounting. He is dedicated to process improvement and professional ethics, and is team-orientated and self-motivated with a commitment to provid-ing exceptional client service. Tim may be contacted at [email protected].
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D o n ’ t w a s t e y o u r H O A D U E S
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ONE HOAMCO
hoamco.com
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How do you lower HOA dues or at least keep them in check? It’s all about lowering the costs of maintaining major assets managed by your HOA. It is very common for the top expense listed in an HOA’s reserve study to be the maintenance of as-phalt streets and parking areas. With that said… if you don’t read any further, jot down this information: email [email protected] with the subject line of “lower HOA dues video.” Include your HOA name and your city and you will re-ceive a reply email with access to a video of an HOA Board President (who was awarded HOA Board Member of the Year by CAI) explaining how their community was able to take as-phalt maintenance from the largest expenditure in their reserve study down to the fourth largest. Lowering the cost of managing a community’s pavement assets largely rests on being proactive rather than reactive. Recently I met with not an HOA, but a city engineer tasked with managing a city’s streets. When I posed the question, “What strategy are you using to decide when you are going to maintain your city streets?” …the response I received was shocking, and frankly, incredibly disappointing. (It wasn’t an Arizona municipality, so I’m not throwing any local agencies under the bus.)
I’ve met in the offices of well over 100 municipalities through-out the country to do training focused on the preservation of pavement assets and I often assist in the creation of their long-term pavement preservation program. I’d say the majority of the public agencies that I work with are endeavoring to do the right things, but they are harnessed by budgets lacking the required funding. However, the response from this engineer really floored me. The response to my question was, “We’ve started keeping track of the phone calls we receive from residents complaining about road issues and wherever the complaints are determines where we go do our maintenance.”
Getting input from residents is valuable and certainly serious safety issues should be addressed ASAP. However, if the crux of a pavement management plan is reacting to problems as they are identified, failure is assured. With this plan, nothing
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proactive is happening. Don’t let your HOA manage the streets and parking areas where you are only reacting once you see distresses (such as cracking in the pavement) or you will experience very costly rehabilitation and prema-ture replacement. The following analogy seems to help illustrate the problem with managing pavements this way. If my kids were going to be outside in the sun at a swimming pool for most of the day, would I be using good parenting skills by only offering support to them that eve-ning once they came to me complain-ing that they had a painful sunburn? Of course the more responsible thing to do would be to ensure sunblock was applied proactively at the beginning of the day and likely repeatedly throughout the day to ensure they are properly pro-tected. The proactive approach should mitigate serious and painful damage to their skin.
This same proactive approach is essen-tial for low-cost pavement management. Being proactive and using the latest engineering advancements in preserva-tion such as High Density Mineral Bond (HA5) can be especially advantageous for lowering the costs of pavement own-ership.
MARK BEATTY is on the Advisory Board for the International Pavement Man-agement Association and consults with public agencies and HOAs throughout the U.S. He is a sought after presenter at public works events as well as HOA seminars. You can contact Mark at [email protected]
For advertising in The Neighborhood News Contact 480-420-8521 or [email protected]
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by Cynthis DunhamExcutive DirectorThe Leadership Centre
What is a Neighborhood Leader?
So, just what is a “Neighborhood Leader?” You are receiving this magazine because you have been identified as a Neighbor-hood Leader. You might ask, “why me and what have I done to be identified in this way?” Perhaps some of the following apply to you:
• You are someone who really cares about your community
• You excel at recruiting (inspiring others to help in their neighborhood
• You have vision
• You find creative solutions when resources are restricted
• You know how to build a team (after all, we really don’t accomplish anything by ourselves!
• When “the way we have always done this” becomes stale and neighbor participation starts to decline—you know how to change things up and get out of the rut
• You care more about the people in the neighborhood than the property—perhaps creating service projects to help neigh-bors who need extra help
• You are responsible
• You know how to bring people together and build com-munity instead of tearing others down
• You know how to find the gifts in people—helping them to
unlock their potential in helping the neighborhood
• You think things through—considering outcomes—before taking action
• You listen more than you speak
• You are always in a learning mode
• You know that winning in neighborhoods is a collaborative process
• Your leadership starts at the grass roots level top down is not your style
• You know how to resolve issues so neighbors continue to be friends
• You lead where you live!
There are many more attributes, philosophies, and behaviors that define a Neighborhood Leader. Perhaps as we move for-ward in the work of creating and sustaining great neighbor-hoods, we can help each other define this critical form of lead-ership.
This publication is designed to be a resource that will assist you in the work you are doing. On these pages you will find ideas from professionals in their field, answers to your questions, and thoughts from others involved in this leadership effort. We hope to stimulate conversations and further learning.
You are the Neighborhood Leader! Whether you were elected to the board of your HOA, volunteered to be a Block Watch Captain on your street, or the person in your household that makes sure your home is well kept and regularly take cookies to your neighbors. You are the frontline leader who provides the foundation for our neighborhoods and communities. Let us know how we can help you.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!
Cynthia Dunham is the Former Mayor, Town of Gilbert. Cur-rently she is Executive Director of The Leadership Centre & West Mesa Community Development Corporation. She can be contacted at [email protected]
Founder’s Message
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Arizona has experienced a lot of rain lately. With those torrential rains came property damage. With property damage came insurance claims. With the insur-ance claims, came denials of coverage. The following explains why such denials may have been made. Virtually all prop-erty insurance policies contain exclu-sions for loss caused by floods and sur-face water runoff. A typical flood or water damage exclusion found in homeowners’ and commercial property policies using standard Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) policy form language generally pro-vides as follows:We will not pay for loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by any of the follow-ing:(1) Flood, surface water, waves, tides, tidal waves, overflow of any body of wa-ter, or their spray, all whether driven by wind or not;
(2) Water which backs up through sew-ers or drains or which overflows from a sump; or(3) Water below the surface of the ground, including water which exerts pressure on or seeps or leaks through a building, sidewalk, driveway, founda-tion, swimming pool or other structure.The term “surface water” is rarely, if ever, defined.As described above, water damage gen-erally includes flood, sewer backup and seepage from water below ground. De-spite these seemingly self-explanatory categories, disputes often arise regarding whether damages caused by water are covered.While Arizona courts have yet to weigh in on this issue, the courts in several other jurisdictions have carved out scenarios where property damage claims may not be excluded by the surface water ex-clusion, such as where the origin of the water was not natural or the flow of the water was channeled by a structure on the ground.The Colorado Supreme Court held in
Heller v. Fire Ins. Exch., 800 P.2d 1006 (Colo. 1990), that spring runoff of melt-ing snow diverted from its regular path onto the Hellers’ property by three par-allel trenches constructed behind prop-erty was not “surface water” because trenches were “defined channels.” The court held that surface water follows no defined course or channel.In Cochran v. Travelers Ins. Co., 606 So. 2d 22 (La. App. 1992), the Louisiana appellate court held that rainwater that overflowed and seeped from the roof into the interior of the building was not “sur-face water” because it was not water that collected and lay on the ground. In Ebbing v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 1 S.W.3d 459 (Ark. App. 1999), the Arkan-sas appellate court held that water from a burst water main was not “surface wa-ter” because it did not accumulate from natural causes.In Aetna Fire Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Crawley, 207 S.E.2d 666, 668 (Ga. App. 1974), the Georgia appellate court inter-preted “surface water” to strictly apply to water on the surface of ground and not to rainwater falling on and flowing from the roof of an insured dwelling.The majority of courts, however, interpret the surface water exclusion broadly to apply to any damages that are caused
“When it Rains, It Pours” Understanding Surface Water and Flood Exclusions in Commercial and Homeowner Property Damage Policies
Michael G. Wales, Carpenter Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen, PLC
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by water that ran onto, over, or from some man-made object. For example, In Crocker v. American Nat’l Gen. Ins. Co., 211 S.W.3d 928 (Tex. App. 2007) the Texas court of appeal held that the sur-face water exclusion applies to damages caused by water that runs over various items even if the flow is altered by items built on top of the ground. The court noted that the term “surface water” was not defined by the policy and referred to other Texas cases that have defined “sur-face water” in the insurance context as follows:Surface water is defined as water or natu-ral precipitation diffused over surface of the ground until it either evaporates, is absorbed by the land, or reaches chan-nels where water naturally flows. “Flood water” and “surface water,” therefore, have a terranean nature, i.e., water over-flowing its natural banks or which does not form a well-defined body of water—as opposed to water below the surface, whether from a nature or unnatural source. In the Crocker case, the water entered the house from a raised patio. The par-ties agreed the resurfacing of the pa-tio caused rainwater to drain into the house instead of into the flower beds as planned. The Crockers argued that be-cause the rain hit the patio instead of the
dirt, and the top of the patio was 8 to 10 inches above the soil, the damage was not caused by water on the surface of the ground. The insurance company argued that it would be a strained interpretation of “surface water” to hold that it does not include rainwater that falls upon concrete and asphalt structures such as patios, roads, driveways, playground blacktops and parking lots—structures which are by their nature placed upon the surface of the ground. The court agreed and held that the ordinary meaning of the words “surface water” reasonably can include rainwater that has collected on the sur-face of their patio.The Illinois court in Smith v. Union Auto. Indem. Co., 752 N.E.2d 1261, 1266 (Ill. App. 2001), appeal denied, 763 N.E.2d 778 (Ill. 2001), also discussed whether
water could be “surface water” when its flow had been altered by man-made structures. In Smith, during a torrential rainstorm, the window wells in the base-ment of the Smiths’ home filled with wa-ter, causing the windows to break and the basement to fill with 5 feet of water. Water also came into the basement through the sewer drain. The court held that the av-erage reasonable person would not limit surface water to water whose flow has not been altered in any way by paved surfac-es, buildings, or other structures. Id. at 1267. Therefore, the court held the water entering the Smiths’ home as a result of a torrential rainstorm was surface water ex-cluded by their homeowner’s insurance policy.Generally courts have held that a flood means a large-scale inundation or deluge from a natural body of water. However, in Wallis v. Country Mut. Ins. Co., 723 N.E.2d 376 (Ill. App. 2000), the court found that a man-made watercourse was a body of water, and the water ex-clusion precluded coverage for damage caused when it flooded. Larry and Mae Wallis owned a home with the Rob Roy irrigation canal flowing about 150 feet away. The canal was not natural but was a man-made irrigation channel used by nearby farms.The insureds argued that the damage did not result from a flood because the wa-ter overflowed from a man-made source, which, they claimed, was not how the term “flood” had been interpreted in the past. In contrast, the court said, “The
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common meaning of a flood is ‘a rising and overflowing of a body of water that covers land not usu[ally] under water.” The creek was a body of water, the in-sureds’ home was not usually under wa-ter—ergo, a flood occurred. The court found no credence in the argument that a man-made body of water cannot cause a flood.Flood insurance is, of course, available for both residential and commercial risks through the National Flood Insurance Program. In the flood insurance policy, “flood” means either the overflow of in-land or tidal waters or the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source. A flood occurs when these waters invade land areas that are normally dry and inflict a condition—that is both general and temporary—of partial or complete inundation. Also in-cluded as flood are mud slides caused by flooding. Thus, flood insurance aims to
cover the traditionally uninsurable natu-ral forces (whether or not set in motion by man) that result in widespread damage verging on or equaling the catastrophic.
It is important that any unit owners’ as-sociation use its best efforts to obtain and maintain adequate insurance to protect the association, the association’s proper-ty, and common elements. This includes the obligation to obtain flood insurance for condominiums in a flood zone or an area potentially prone to flooding. While flood insurance is a common cover-age type that is foregone by many HOA boards, negligent failure to obtain flood insurance is typically not covered under a Directors and Officers Insurance Policy. This means that if there is a flood that causes damage to the common area, the board cannot simply cite “board member oversight” as a reason for not purchasing the coverage. If your community is going
to forego signing up for flood insurance, be sure the board has an ample supply of reserve funds.In conclusion, recent extreme weather activity in Arizona has made it clear that any HOA or homeowner near a canal, lake, drainage basin, river, or even a normally dry stream bed, whether man-made or natural, should be aware of the risk of potential for damage from a flood or from surface water and obtain proper flood insurance.
Michael Wales is an attorney in the Tempe office of Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen, PLC and focuses his practice on complex construction defect litigation in the western states. Michael can be reached at [email protected].
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How do we get more and better participation from our homeown-ers with board and committee work?Many associations experience a large degree of apathy from the membership when it comes to leadership roles or volunteerism. On the one hand, some folks want to reduce their amount of personal responsibility (carefree living). On the other hand, there are many willing and talented homeowners that could and would participate if given the right set of circumstances. Here are a couple of suggestions:1. Develop a regular communica-tion system to the membership.A frequent complaint of owners is not being kept informed. To draw out volunteers, it’s critical that they know there is an ongoing need. Also, some owners de-velop a suspicious nature about board motives when kept in the dark and resist being involved. Let them know what you’re up to early and often! Repeated pleas
Promoting HOA Volunteerismby Kirk Kowieski, Vice President, FirstService Residential
for help will have their effect. A newsletter and flyer distribution box [the kind used by real estate agents] is an inexpensive and convenient way to get the word out.2. Give credit where credit is due.People love recognition. Make sure that directors, committee members and homeowners are given formal recognition for their efforts in meetings, minutes and newsletters...any opportunity where there is an audience. Point out particular owners that show superior landscaping abilities. They are obvious candidates for the Landscape Committee. Consider awarding certificates of achievement at the annual home-owners meeting. Remember also that some tasks are ongoing and many faithful volunteers often get overlooked. It is a wise board president that makes a point of recognizing effort for its own merits.3. Provide opportunities for the membership to get acquainted
with each other.People tend to want to help those who they know personally. How-ever, many are shy and don’t eas-ily make friends. The association can promote socials to facilitate the process. Consider a spring clean-up party, pool party or just plain potluck. It will help create a real "community".4. Assign real jobs to do.It’s been said, "A committee takes minutes and wastes hours." There is nothing more futile and frustrating than a job with no job description or substance. There is real work to do at each asso-ciation. Volunteers and commit-tee members should have clear "marching orders" detailing ex-actly what the objectives are, the time frame and the money avail-able to help get the task done.5. Be an encourager.The board president should take the lead in promoting volunteers. The successful leader motivates by persuasion and not authority. Remember, "A servant does not
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lower himself but elevates oth-ers”. Getting the ball rolling to in-crease participation is one of the most rewarding efforts a board can achieve. In a motivated group of homeowners, a synergy devel-ops with a result that far exceeds the sum of the parts... a worthy goal indeed.
Kirk Kowieski joined FirstService Residential, formerly Rossmar & Graham, in 2006 after having spent his entire career in the hos-pitality industry. Kirk’s career path at FirstService Residential has included positions as Corporate Builder Division Manager, On-site Builder Division Manager, Port-folio Community Manager, On-site Master Planned Community Manager, and Division Director. Kirk holds his CMCA designation, and is currently working towards obtaining further industry certifi-cations. Kirk may be contacted at [email protected].
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“My neighbor’s dog barks well into the night and I can’t get any sleep! What can I do?”
“The feral cat population in our neighborhood is out of control,is there anything that will help us?”
These questions, and others like them, may seem very familiar to Arizona community managers and HOA board mem-bers. Resident complaints or con-cerns regarding animals seem particularly acute in communities where neighbors share common walls and common areas, and, therefore, common living space. When residents believe that their quality of life is affected by neigh-borhood animal issues, they will search for accessible avenues to help resolve the issue immediately and, often times, one of the first avenues is the HOA or community manager. Unfortunately, some animal concerns are very difficult to approach from a manager or board standpoint, and mediation may serve as a viable option for managers and residents to con-sider.
Mediation is an efficient, facilitat-ed discussion process that allows those in conflict to sit down with trained, neutral mediators and work towards permanent resolu-
tion of the issues, simply through open communication. I recom-mend that when community man-agers or HOA board members are faced with neighborhood animal complaints, they consider making a referral to a local mediation pro-gram or service, such as Solve-It Community Mediation Service, to assist the residents with turning their destructive conflicts into pro-ductive solutions. Referrals to me-diation services can be made at any point in the conflict life cycle, whether a new and developing situation or a long-standing issue.
Over 2,500 inquiries for service were received from the Phoenix-metro area by Solve-It! Commu-nity Mediation Service alone dur-ing the 2013-2014 FY—of these, 60% were concerning animal is-sues, the leader being neighbor-hood barking dogs. In almost all cases, police, animal control or other municipal offices had al-ready been called to handle the situation. In addition, in over 50% of the cases, HOA board mem-bers or community managers had previously been contacted for ad-vice and/or guidance. In almost all cases, the residents had not previously had any personal, face-to-face communication with the pet owners or other “source” of the animal concerns. By the time folks contact us, they are often ex-tremely frustrated and many men-tion that lawsuits are going to be their next course of action.
Mediation is particularly effective in resolving animal issues be-cause: (cont. page 18)
Ask Solve-It!
by Wendy E. H. Corbett: Wendy currently serves as the Program Coordinator of Solve-It! Community Mediation Service, a conflict resolution education program of the Leadership Centre. of the Leadership Centre
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legislative level. Taking cues from the majority, Members of AACM, have al-ready participated in amending or help-ing to defeat legislation that would greatly hamper homeowners associations’ ef-forts to effectively function. This type of participation at the state level requires a proficiency that only good management companies can offer, with direct benefit to their clients.It is for these and many other reasons that management companies play an in-trinsic role in the ongoing and successful fiscal, physical, and legal development of Arizona’s homeowners associations.
Gina Larsen has over 10 years of com-munity management experience and has spent nearly 30 years in customer rela-tions. She is very active in providing edu-cation, training and resource information to community management profession-als, HOA boards/committees and indi-vidual homeowners, and her passion for education in the industry has led Gina to volunteer not only as a training instructor for many professional industry organiza-tions, but as an executive board member of The Leadership Centre. Gina may be contacted at [email protected].
Why Professional Management?
Why Professional Management?
Many homeowners beg the questions “Why should we pay a management company? Are they really necessary?” Such questions provoke a range of an-swers as to the overwhelming benefits of engaging professional management ser-vices. The homeowners’ association in-dustry represents hundreds of thousands of homeowners and billions of dollars of real estate in Arizona alone, neces-sitating, among other things, objectivity, sensitivity to liability, and professional stewardship in a time when association legislation is being born. As each home-owners association is a non-profit cor-poration, business must be conducted always with legal ramifications in mind; this is typically a task that most volun-teer homeowners do no – and should not – assume without the expertise and resources of a professional management company to guide them.
As part of their application process, insur-ance companies providing coverage to homeowners associations always inquire as to whether an association is managed by an outside company. Policies are typi-cally more expensive for those associa-tions that opt to self-manage because of increased incidents of lawsuits in such communities. Statistically, management companies provide the kind of fair, equi-table, and reasonable advice that trans-lates into lessened exposure and there-
fore fewer claims.
In addition to offering the intangible benefits of reduced risk, management companies provide tangible resources and professional connections that well-serve their clients in educating neigh-bors about their association, obtaining competitive bids from reputable ven-dors, maintaining sometimes extensive amenities and securing short-term and long-term financial planning. Utilizing these vendors and industry profession-als minimizes the risks to Associations and their Boards as they allow them to rest in the safe harbor of the profes-sionals. Good management companies never lose sight of the fact that commu-nities are places their clients call home; they also understand the necessity of properly and objectively administer-ing the daily business of the corpora-tion and therefore representing all of its members in an unbiased manner.
Now more than ever, management companies are providing the vital ser-vice of representing their clients at the
TRI-CITY PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SERVICES, INC.
40 Year Leader in Community Association Management
Independently Owned Impeccable Financial Reporting On Site Inspections Performance Based collections State of the Art Software Community Websites 24 Hour Emergency Service Ownership Transfers Board Member Training Strategic Planning Water Conservation Programs Electronic Communications
Inspiring Confidence for over 40 years
760 S Stapley Dr • Mesa, AZ 85204 TEL: 480.844.2224 • FAX: 480.844.2061
www.tcpm.net
by Gina Larsen, Community Manager, Tri-City Property Management Services
With the permission of Linda Lang, Executive Director of Arizona Association of Community Managers (AACM), I have taken an article previously published by AACM and added a few points of my own.
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None of this would have happened without the dedication of our executive director, staff, TLC board members, volunteers and our partners, both towns and cities and the professional organizations who serve the HOA communities. Their time and of course, their money, have made all of this possible.
With this publication, we start a new venture in the field of HOA education. Every three months, thousands of people and com-panies involved in the management and operation of HOAs specifically HOA Board members, will receive this much-need-ed information. It is our hope to expand our current reach, letting broader audiences of boards and community members know there is help available for the betterment of their neigh-borhoods.
I look forward to reaching out to many new partners and com-munity members who have the same goal in mind – making their HOA the best in the state, and their neighborhood a place every resident is proud to call home.
About Les Presmyk:
Les, an Arizona native, is the long-time President of The Lead-ership Centre, is a Principal Mine Engineer at Salt River Project, and is former Vice-Mayor and Councilmember for the Town of Gilbert. His dedication to and expertise in thoughtful communi-ty leadership has benefitted neighborhoods statewide. Les may be contacted at [email protected].
Welcome! Since its beginning, The Leadership Centre’s mis-sion has been to provide educative opportunities for residents and their community leaders to come together and learn how to be better neighbors, to be more effective volunteers, and how to help boost those folks who just seem to need a little as-sistance getting there.
Our executive director, Cynthia Dunham, founded The Lead-ership Centre because there was nothing available 20 years ago to help HOA board members learn about their roles and responsibilities. She and I had both led HOA’s whose devel-oper has gone bankrupt and left the homeowners with many unresolved issues. I found myself with a great group of dedi-cated board members, as did she, but with no place to turn for help. The “sink or swim” technique worked for us, but only because of a lot of dedicated people and countless hours of work. There were no neighborhood services departments, few educational opportunities available to residents who were not members of a larger state or national organization, and several municipalities that created master planned communities but did not know quite what to do with them once the developers were gone.
In this journey, we have engaged experts in many fields, in-cluding HOA attorneys, landscapers, community managers and management companies, accountants, conflict mediators and HOA board members who have lessons to share from their own experiences. We have developed quite a list of helpful classes, with topics such as HOA basics, running effective meetings, board accounting, legal aspects, and even how to keep from hiring someone’s brother-in-law as a contractor! The Leadership Centre strives to address the growing need for edu-cation and assistance in HOAs, empowering people elected to a board to take up the mantle and more effectively manage and operate their HOAs for the benefit of their communities.
By Les Presmyk, PresidentThe Leadership Centre
The President’s Corner
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(cont from page 15)
• It is voluntary and driven by the self-determination of the parties to resolve the issues. Judg-ments are not handed to the par-ties, they work together to resolve the conflict, therefore making the terms of agreement much more durable and often permanent.
• Itistimeandcosteffective,which is particularly meaningful when parties have a more imme-diate need to stop/prevent a situa-tion from occurring. • Itdoesnotlimittheparties’options.
• It helps strengthen andpreserve the neighbor-to-neigh-bor relationship, which aids in preventing future conflict in your communities.
Animal issues that go to mediation are often resolved to the full satis-faction of all parties. Keeping me-diation in mind when dog barking, feral cat and other animal com-plaints hit their has the potential to save community managers, board members and residents,
ABOUT THE LEADERSHIP CENTRE
The Leadership Centre is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that provides Arizona residents with information, resources and tools that create and support effective com-munity leaders. Our focus is to empower all citizens to build better communities. The Leadership Centre was created in 1996 through a unique public-private partnership which now includes the City of Apache Junction, the Town of Gilbert, City of Mesa and the Town of Queen
Creek.
OUR HISTORY
The Leadership Centre began in re-sponse to one Arizona citizen's need for assistance for her neighborhood home owner's association. Raised awareness of the need for direct assistance to neigh-borhoods, HOAs and community asso-ciations led to a collaboration between the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Family Community Leadership program, Chandler-Gilbert Community College, the Community Associations In-stitute and the Town of Gilbert. A board of directors was formed and the first class, ABC's of Homeowner Associations, fol-
lowed in March 1996.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to provide leadership,education and mediation resources to protect, preserve, and enhance
Arizona neighborhoods and communi-ties.
alike, valuable time and resources when searching for resolutions.
About Wendy E. H. Corbett: Wendy currently serves as the Program Coordinator of Solve-It! Community Mediation Service, Chief Research Officer with the consulting group Advancing Dis-pute Resolution, and as a Faculty Associate in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University, where she is pursuing a Ph.D. in Justice & Social Inquiry. Since 2003, Wendy has trained over 3,000 Arizona residents in mediation skills through work-shops, seminars, peer mediation modules, and 40-hour courses.
Do you have a neighborhood conflict resolution question? Send it to Wendy at [email protected] — your question might be published in a future “Ask Solve-It!” article!
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A Leadership Centre Publication
Neighborhood Arizona 2015! Invites You to:
It’s a Party! Creating Community With Fun & Events
What: Neighborhood Conference & Tradeshow When: April 25, 2015 9:30am-2:00pm Where: Southeast Regional Library (Southeast Corner Greenfield/Guadalupe in Gilbert) How: No cost to attend, lunch included Register: www.theleadershipcentre.org Brought to you by: The Leadership Centre a non-profit organization formed by Cities and Towns in the East Valley in support of neighborhoods
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