Agenda preparation for monthly meeting

BernardH (Virginia)
Posts: 28

Posted:

I am a new board meember and I did not see any record of owner inquiry in the agenda and the minutes. I have request to the management company to have them included and documented for a easier discusssion. I have been writen back by one of the "old" member.
"We have restrained from individual Board members making demands on our management representative. Any requests have in the past been sent via our President so that we do not overwhelm the management representative, make conflicting demands or ask for more than we are entitled."
In the news letter the manageemnt representative is stated as support management to all homeowners. I have seems him bending by the president rules which I seem restritive on record and information to all the homeowners.
Please let me know your comments.

DwightT (Idaho)
Posts: 664

Posted:

Bernard -

It's not uncommon for there to be a single point of contact between a Management Company and the Board (specified person at the MC that handles your HOA, and a specified Board member who handles communications with the MC). This can cut down on incidents where one Board member tells the MC one thing, while another member tells them something else. However, this designated Board member should be passing on directions to the MC that the entire Board has agreed on, not just his own personal agenda. Note that this single point of contact does not necessarily have to be the President. If the other Board members feel that their instructions are not being properly communicated to the MC, they can always designate some other member to be the point of contact.

As to the management representative being "support management to all homeowners", that is a separate issue. The MC should be available for all homeowners to contact if they have a concern, but that does not mean that all homeowners should have the ability to direct the MC actions. The MC should be the point of contact for homeowners to get in touch with the Board or for any issue that comes up within the HOA. The MC will either handle the issue directly (for example, call the landscape company about a down tree) or get in touch with the Board (again through the designated point of contact) if a Board-level decision needs to be made. Trust me - you don't want to have individual homeowners calling you at all hours trying to get a late fee waived because the homeowner "forgot" to send in his dues payment.

You are not wrong to want to see the owner inquiries in the agenda and minutes, but the place to request that they be added is at your regular Board meeting, not just on your own.