Does your Association have an operators manual for the Board?

One of the threads on this forum reiterated the point that most of us have had little to no training in how an HOA is to function. This led me to the process of making an operators manual for each office position. I was wondering if anyone has something similar in their Association?

I'm basing the Presidents manual on what needs to be done when
with examples of how it can/should be done.

Example:

For the Month of November I have the following:

First Meeting of New Board
Appoint Officers
Approve Budget
Establish Annual Assessment
Annual Assessment coupon books to be printed / mailed
Comply with Admin Resolution 3:
Review/Reaffirming Current Fees
Update Association Disclosure Statement Cover page
Update of PUD Statement
Newsletter to be published in Nov:
No Trash Pickup on Thanksgiving
List of Fees
New Officers
Results of Annual meeting
Decide when to meet for future dates
Consider Santa Visit –
Volunteer to play Santa
Volunteer Fire Dept.
Annual Report to Corporation Commission (initiated by Lawyer)
Annual Report to CIC board (due 11/30)
Notification to Registered agent of new Directors/Officers
Alternative Yard Waste Recycling System Certification (every 2 yrs)
Arrange for entire Board to sign signature cards at bank (within 2 weeks max)
Outgoing President or Secretary prepares memo for bank

Then there would be examples in various tabs of an agenda, how to fill out the reports, explanation of how budgets work, etc.

have not but it may be a good idea if you can pull it off!

I've been wanting to do something like this for several years - I keep asking for a copy of our current board manual and it appears I'll have to go to my property manager's office on my next day off and shake it out of her! We can use something like this to update the thing.

(At least I'll get a chance to stop at a lovely wine shop while I'm there)

Melissa's correct about reviewing the documents every five years or so - I've heard it called a legal audit in some circles. Your attorney (and/or a really smart board member or two) reveiews the rules to see if ther3e's something that needs to be updated to reflect current state law, as well as homeowner desires for rules that are easier to understand and more enforceable. The enforcement is a big issue in Indiana because case law here doesn't allow HOAs to levy fines (something about an HOA isn't a government agency and therefore doesn't have the authority).

Tim, our first Management Company had a generic Welcome to the Board letter that we used to give new members. I would also suggest a Policy and Procedures Manual so each new Board has a guide to how things are done. That way they are not having to reinvent the wheel or relying on "Old Joe" to remember how things used to be done.

I have a sample of a Policy and Procedures Manual that used to be on-line but seems to have disappeared. Since I don't own the copyright I won't post it but if you send an email to [email protected], I'll send it to you.