On April 12, 2012 FCS Community Management celebrated its 13th birthday! Thank you to all of our amazing clients, vendors, and employees who have made the past 13 years such a great success!

UCCAI HOA Roundtable – Sponsored by FCS
Wednesday, April 11 from 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
SLCC Miller Campus (9750 South 300 West) in Sandy

This is a valuable education session for both homeowners and board members. Best of all, there is no cost to attend! We will discuss types of assessments, fines and enforcement, pets, and insurance deductibles. Visit the UCCAI website to register for this event.

UCCAI April Leadership Luncheon
Friday, April 13 from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Cottonwood Country Club (1780 East Lakewood Drive) in Holladay

This leadership luncheon will include a Legislative Session Recap. Click here to register for this event.

FCS Community Management, Utah’s community and property management leader, reimburses client board members $10 towards the cost of any industry education events they may attend.  Additionally, FCS has guest passes available for non-client board members.  Contact us at manager@hoaliving.com for more information about these events.

After what has seemed like a lifetime of waiting, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has reached a decision regarding the proposed regulation on transfer fees. The ruling will not affect exisiting deed-based transfers fees. This is a huge win for homeowner associations, as the proposed regulation would have had a drastic impact on 49% of all community association housing. However, the recent ruling will not have an affect on condominiums seeking FHA approval, but this is a step in the right direction. Click here to read more about the ruling and how it affects the community association industry.

We hear the term Risk Management a lot. What does it really mean? Risk Management is the process of making and carrying out decisions that will minimize the adverse effects of accidental losses upon the community association. Or in other words, being proactive, instead of being reactive. The best way to be proactive is to implement the following five steps:

1. Analyze your community association’s exposure to possible losses

2. Examine alternative risk management techniques

3. Select appropriate risk management techniques for your community association

4. Implement the techniques

5. Monitor the results of your risk management program.

Some of the best ways to analyze and identify your association’s exposure to loss are conducting surveys, examining financial statements, making personal inspections and hiring experts like reserve specialists and accredited community managers. There are two examining techniques to treat primary exposures to loss: risk control and risk financing.

Risk control includes exposure avoidance, loss prevention, segregation of exposure and contractual transfer. Exposure avoidance means avoiding circumstances that would expose the community to certain types of loss, like not allowing alcohol in the clubhouse. Loss prevention is taking steps to reduce the frequency of a potential loss. For example, conducting quarterly inspections to make sure there are no tripping hazards. Segregation of exposure is establishing some type of backup to prevent loss, like offsite data storage. Contractual transfer involves entering into a contract that will transfer the association’s legal responsibility for any loss. For example, having the landscaper’s insurance covering landscaping liabilities.

Risk financing includes retention and transferring. Retention is covering a potential loss with your own savings. For example, if your clubhouse is worth $3 million dollars, keeping $3 million dollars in your savings to cover the potential loss. Transferring is taking the financial obligation and having another party be responsible for it, like buying insurance for your association. It is important to select techniques that work best for your association and immediately implement them. You will need to monitor your risk management techniques to ensure they are the best alternatives for your association. By being proactive rather than being reactive, you can minimize the risks in your association.

FCS Community Management – Utah’s community and property management leader – reimburses client board members $10 towards the cost of any industry education events they may attend.  Additionally, FCS has guest passes available for non-client board members.  Contact us at manager@hoaliving.com for more information.

FCS Community Management – Utah’s community and property management leader – reimburses client board members $10 towards the cost of any industry education events they may attend.  Additionally, FCS has guest passes available for non-client board members.  Contact us at manager@hoaliving.com for more information.

A condo association in Park City and their management company have garnered a lot of unwanted attention due to a recent lawsuit brought upon them by the U.S. Justice Department. The association will be forced to pay $20,000 to a disabled veteran for not accommodating his need for a service dog. To say the least, Fair Housing laws can be a tricky and troubling subject. This story is a prime example of why it is so important for Homeowner Associations to contract with a management company that is well versed in FHA matters. Click here to read more of this story from the Salt Lake Tribune.

Fair Housing is the topic at the next UCCAI HOA Leadership Luncheon. The luncheon will be held on Friday, March 9^th from 11:30 – 1:00. Visit www.uccai.com for more information.  FCS Community Management – Utah’s community and property management leader – reimburses client board members $10 towards the cost of any industry education events they may attend.  Additionally, FCS has guest passes available for non-client board members.  Contact us at manager@hoaliving.com for more information.

Each governing document of a community association is an essential piece that holds the association together. The governing documents create a legally binding relationship between the owner and the association, allow for a well-defined operation of the community and promote harmonious living. One of the most important things to understand when dealing with a community association’s governing documents is the hierarchy of authority for these documents. Understanding this hierarchy is essential when enforcing rules, drafting resolutions or dealing with already existing conflicts between documents. The hierarchy of documents is best summarized by the Governing Documents Pyramid.

Documents that fall lower on the hierarchy cannot conflict with or change any of the documents that are above them. It is critical that boards check the documents that fall higher on the hierarchy before amending documents or writing resolutions. For example, if a board decides to increase the association’s late fee, they should first check the declaration. If the declaration explicitly states that a $10 late fee be imposed, then the board cannot raise the late fee without first amending the declaration, which will require a vote by the owners. By doing their due diligence, the board will minimize the headache that inevitably comes along when dealing with conflicts between documents. Case law, federal law and state law should also be taken into consideration, as they trump all of the governing documents of a community association.

Often conflicts between documents will already exist. In this case, the higher document will take precedence. It is important that boards seek legal counsel, or the counsel of their Community Manager, if they discover a discrepancy between their documents, or if their documents conflict with case, federal or state law.

For further reading on this topic please refer to: M100 Participant Guide: The Essentials of Community Association Management by Community Associations Institute