Pilot Property Management

Serving Coastal North San Diego County (Vista & San Marcos), too

Association Management: Administration

How to get quorum

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Since the law changed to demand secret ballots for the annual elections it has become increasingly difficult for some associations to get quorum at the first attempt. Whereas in the past, members came to the annual meeting to meet the candidates and catch up on the local musings of the board and some of its members and to enjoy an afternoon of socializing, now the voting is secret with specially appointed ballot counters to ensure correct counting and anonymous votes, everyone attending has almost nothing to come for and in many cases they simply forget to vote or choose not to exercise their vote. Reminds me a of a large English speaking country close by, really close by.

What’s a board to do?

Here are a couple of suggestions.

Hold a raffle drawing names from all those who vote for a prize or two.

Save a gift certificate to a local restaurant movie theater, 2 tickets to a community event etc etc

Give one month or more of free monthly dues to the winning voter.

Publish the names of all those who voted and the winner of the contest and their prize.

1073

How to quiet the noisy director/member

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Every now and then a member seems to want to interject their thoughts questions or comments, sometimes heatedly. We once had a 6 foot 8 marine announce he was coming to a meeting. He arrived in full fatigues thankfully without weapons and proceeded to thump the board table and demand action. Sometimes a director wants to hog the floor and seems perhaps to want every other word and the last word on any topic.

What’s a board to do?

Here are a couple of suggestions. Many associations clearly state that they are governed by Roberts’s rules of order and, many others make reference to some rules of order in the bylaws. In this case the president can ask for a motion before any item on the agenda is addressed, rather than a discussion. Some larger organizations have a mini meeting a week before the board meeting to determine the agenda and formulate the motions so that s speedier decision making process occurs when the members are present. It of course allows for perfectly coined motions which may still be amended at the actual meeting. But this is a rarity in my observation. Most of us follow the agenda and spend considerable time debating the issue before a vote. The president can change the procedure very swiftly by asking for a motion and a second without which there is no debate. After the motion has been made and seconded he or she can call for discussion allowing each member to speak once before a member director may speak a second and final time. Calling the question is the Roberts rule phrase to end a motion and vote. The president will then declare the ayes or nays have it, and on to the next item on the agenda.

One particularly valuable tool has come out of the recent change in the legislation whereby only items that are on the agenda may be discussed except in true emergencies. Emergencies must be determined to be just that by vote before a discussion on the subject can take place. Given that a president or the manager may elect to give a certain time allotment to each section or item on the agenda. If consensus or a vote is not reached the matter is tabled until a later date and the meeting moves forward. Sometimes having a timer or an hourglass can be a helpful visual aid. Members comment time can take a ton of time if it is not limited to say a fixed period with a maximum time per speaker. In the event there seem to be a large number of speaker speakers slips can be used and the president may select a few or ask if there is a spokesperson for a particular topic. Often many people will want to speak to the same issue but one spokesperson may eloquently present their combined views in a few minutes.

And now for the angry sergeant. I was forewarned a rampage was possible, with looting and pillaging anticipated.  For what happened next email us at info @pilotprop.com

2823

 

How to use Robert’s rules of Order.

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Robert’s rules were created over a century ago to help organizations and debating groups to have some kind of order. They for instance allocated reasons when it may be permitted to interrupt a speaker, the number of times a speaker may address a certain subject. It sets the normal order for a meeting, it explains what a motion is and how one is made, whether it needs a second or not (some do others don’t) Most associations governing documents require the use of Roberts Rules or a similar set of rules proclaiming in their bylaws that parliamentary procedure shall follow Roberts Rules of Order.

One of the benefits of the rules is that there is a standard order of business which provides a framework for an association to conduct its business. Not only do the rules provide a certain order to meetings and the decisions reached but a fair hearing is granted to both sides of a debate. The usual and formal procedure is this. The Chairman recognizes the maker of a motion. It is promptly seconded, Failure to do so means it will not again come up for discussion at this meeting) the chairman then restates the motion. and debate begins. Following debate the chairman will call for a vote and the majority will usually rule.

The motion will then be recorded in the minutes of that meeting. The normal procedure is for the chair to recognize those who wish to speak in the order they seek recognition.

The chair would be wise to alternate recognition between those in favor and those opposed and only offer a second time after everyone who has a right to speak has spoken first. A good presiding officer will preside impartially and not be drawn into the debate, allowing rather the members to debate. Robert’s rules call for a motion and a second before debate begins. Occasionally it might be prudent to let a member briefly discuss his or her reasons for making a motion before doing so. Unanimous consent to this will allow you to suspend this major rule. This is unlikely to occur in homeowners associations as they now have to approve and distribute an agenda 4 days before any meeting listing the items for discussion at that meeting. No discussion leading to a vote may take place if the item is not properly placed on the agenda. Emergencies are one of those items but even the need for an emergency discussion needs first be voted before an item may be discussed as an emergency measure.

2398

The key to good communication

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The oft spoken complaint from both directors and homeowners in Community associations is “they never return either my phone calls or my emails”.
The truth of the matter is we all delay returning some calls sometimes even with good reason. We want to check the facts, we want another opinion, maybe even a legal one, and we want the customer to cool down first. Most of the time however we just don’t want to take or return the call because we know it is going to be awkward, difficult, stressful, obnoxious and certainly not pleasant. Our day would go a lot better if we attacked the problems first and having dealt with them however bad they might be we now have the ability to focus on managing the routine functions without the dreaded call or email waiting out there for us.
If we could only realize that prompt attention to the difficult saves us from worrying about it all day. The news or complaint or request or demand may not be what we want to hear but now it’s over and we can move on to other things rather than be suspended inanimately waiting to deal with the dastardly call. If we recognized that our job is to sooth the fevered brow, to lower the temperature as I call it, we should be ready and eager to learn how better to do something. Owning up to a mistake, omission failure is in itself cathartic, it allows our emotions to relax and slow down. Instead of building up a fever postponing the inevitable we are able to release some of the tension as the difficult emotion has passed. The goal of management should be to answer all calls and emails in a reasonable time. Each person has their own definition of what is reasonable. A blackberry user probably has a shorter fuse than someone who still has a rotary phone at home. Whatever the standard adopted by the management company it should stick to it. There is even some software that tracks phone calls.
1872

How to increase reserves – gently

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This time I have included the answer in the title. No-one wants an increase ever. No-one wants more taxes ever no-one wants to pay for a bond for a dam, a school (maybe if you have a bunch of young children..) a library, a freeway, the list goes on with people being more or less averse to the additional cost. Almost every association is California is under-funded. Why? Because the law presently does not require fully finding reserves or even that they be funded partially. A new regulation imposed by the government lending agencies requires that a certain percentage of the annual expenses be placed in reserve each year. Presently it’s 10%. But they left the back door open allowing associations to spend that money each year; so no actual increase may ever really occur. Some years ago they introduced a provision that said Boards must now inform the membership how much the funding shortfall is, and what if anything note if anything, the board plans to do about it. Boards didn’t take long to realize they could say with impunity they planned to do nothing about it and while members could read that, some would sigh in relief, knowing they had been spared another increase in their dues. My view. Decide upon a funding plan for 5 to 10 years share it with the members in advance and start collecting. The plan need not solve all the underfunding issues of the association in one stroke but should have the goal of reducing the shortfall by a certain percentage or increasing the funding to a certain figure or percentage by the year… If the goal is reasonable and the members swallow the bitter pill, then keep on until it is complete. As for the future.. Perhaps more of the same a long term plan to reduce the shortfall still further. It may take 50 years to fully fund but at least the association has a plan and its members are on board. If the members balk at the plan in sufficient numbers, elongate it, allow it to take a shade longer but stick to the final version when at least a vast majority are on board.
2028

How Condo Certs works?

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Condocerts.com is an internet company that simplifies the process of ordering and obtaining association documents for homeowners, buyers, agents, escrow firms, title companies and appraisers.

Pilot chose to work with Condo Certs because it alleviated the time it took our staff to process these requests. Condo Certs dispenses this type of information on a daily bases which allows Pilot and their managers to focus on other tasks. If an issue should arise Condo Certs resolves the issue within the same day and they always have a representative available for us to communicate with it. This day in age everything is either done by an email request and with the availability to upload, download documents, they have created a better way to expedite this important request for a buyer or seller. Another incentive is that Pilot is progressing with choice to become Green, before all packages were done in paper form, now with Condo Certs the client has an option to order the documents and have them emailed to them in a PDF format or a paper package. If an owner needs just an individual document they can order and have it downloaded and saved on their computer eliminating all the paperwork to pile up. We are completely satisfied with our decision to use Condocerts.com, and now understand why so many other management companies use them.

On Condo Certs, you will be able to access all governing documents, minutes, budgets, financials, insurance declaration pages, reserve reports and other information that a buyer or seller might need to complete their transaction.

Lenders can obtain a condo questionnaire which Condo Certs created that covers the typical questions that a lender requires to approve a loan. If you should need a specific questionnaire to be manually completed, Condo Certs customer support will be able to assist you with the order. If a buyer, escrow company, lender, agent has additional questions after the order has been completed you can contact Pilot and ask to speak with the Escrow Department.

Using Condocerts.com is simple, you log on to: www.condocerts.com to create an account at no cost. There you will be able to find the association and can begin ordering the documents you need. You have the choice to order a full package or individual documents as well.

Condocerts.com has a great and friendly staff that will assist you with any of your questions. You can also reach us here at Pilot if you should need additional assistance.