Routine Preventive Maintenance Checklist

Simple tasks performed at regular intervals throughout the year can make or break a homeowner association.  We have included a checklist containing routine preventive maintenance focal points, which has been taken from this website. (http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/111478)

Here are some things to keep in mind for routine preventive maintenance:

·         Roof:

o   Look for wear in asphalt shingles

o   Look for damage in clay tiles

o   Slate, while more durable, needs occasional inspection to look for damage.

o   Look for Corrosion in metal

o   Look for air circulation in wood shingles.

o   Look for leaks in built-up roofs/membrane roofs.

·         Roofing Elements:

o   Look for projections that may cause leaks.  Example of branches, loose joints, etc.

o   Look for corrosion caused by Galvanic Action, such as ferrous metals touching dissimilar metals.

o   Look for damaged cornice.

o   Inspect the underside of the roof for projection, including the eaves.

o   Inspect flashing for damage.  Flashing is installed on every protrusion through the roof and every joint where the vertical edge intersects with the roof.

o   Inspect gutters and leaders for clogged ice or other materials.

·         Exterior Wall Material:

o   Inspect mason and mortar for loose joints, stains, wet spots in the walls.

o   Look for loose stucco or plaster.

o   Inspect siding, shingles, and sheathing for damage (broken/missing boards, rotted or missing members, or signs of veins of dirt that indicate termite tunnels.

·         Exterior Finishes:

o   Inspect paint for cracks, damage.

o   Inspect any ornamental elements including cast iron and stone/terra cotta.

·         Fenestration (doors and windows):

o   Inspect doors for proper alignment and for any signs of deterioration.

o   Inspect windows for strength in joints and structural support.

·         Exterior Ceilings/Decks

o   Inspect porches for damage as a result of poor drainage.

o   Check wooden supports for damage.

o   Check for any insect infestations.

·         Grounds

o   Check for cracks/damage in driveways and sidewalks.

o   Check for leaks in window wells.

o   Inspect any storm drains.

o   Inspect retaining walls for damage.

o   Check for proper draining around foundations

o   Inspect landscaping for dead bushes, diseased plants

·         Interior Inspection

o   Load bearing masonry wall.

§  Check for cracks, damage.

o   Check caste in place concrete walls for

§  Settlement.

§  Cracks.

§  Other damage.

o   Inspect wood joists and beams.

o   Inspect steel beams, concrete decks for sloping or other degradation.

o   Inspect

§  Concrete floors

§  Wood floors

§  Carpet

§  Ceramic tiles

§  Interior walls/Finishes

§  Ceiling finishes

§  Fireplaces

§  Interior decorative masonry

§  Metal surfaces

§  Stairs

§  Interior doors/windows wood trim

§  Kitchen cabinets/counters

·         Mechanical/Electrical:

o   Make sure there is sufficient power to run all appliances.

o   Look for any deterioration in plumbing/mechanical systems.

·         Attic:

o   Look for condensation that might cause damage.

For more information about routine preventive maintenance, click on the following link: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/111478

Hot and Cold

This has been a strange year so far in terms of temperature.  On Tuesday, it was 50 degrees, fairly comfortable.  Yesterday, it dropped down to the mid twenties with snow added into the mix.  Today, it’s cold as well.   This is because the jet stream.  The flow of air that dictates weather patterns in the United States is taking an odd path, pushing cold air to the south and pulling warmer air to the north.

Based on this, it is important to keep an eye on your pipes with all the freezing and refreezing going on.  Did you know that when water freezes, it also expands?  Which is why routine preventive maintenance is necessary for your community.  This way, you can be sure that you do not experience any problems in your community that could have been prevented through routine measures.

2013 Winter Board Review

Presentation Dinner

Now that winter is underway, it is time to think about preventive maintenance.  We can help.  LandArc is holding a presentation on Tuesday, February 26 at 6:30 pm. Among the topics that will be discussed are: routine preventive maintenance, handling delinquencies, and saving money. This event will take place at the Station 885 at 885 Starkweather, Plymouth, MI, 48170. Dinner will be included. 

Call (888) 646-9888 or email rcomins@landarc.com to register.

A drawing and giveaway will be held at the conclusion of the evening.

Cold Concerns

It’s cold outside in Southeast Michigan.  While driving into work this morning, the thermostat in my car read 4 degrees and that is without wind chill.  When it’s this cold outside (and you can usually tell by the squeaking sound snow makes beneath your feet) there are certain precautions that need to be taken to protect your home and protect yourself.  Limit exposure to these frigid temperatures to prevent frostbite and always make sure you wear proper winter gear: hat, gloves, scarf, etc.

Also, make sure that you check up on the regulations in your HOA community to see what snow removal procedures are in place.  While vendors are hired to take care of many snow removal activities, their contracts can limit what situations they are supposed to handle, so it is always better to be aware of such things before a sudden snowfall catches you unawares.  As always, cold temperatures create the risk of pipes freezing/bursting which creates problems for everyone involved.  Precautions are often as simple as leaving the cupboard below each sink open so warmer air inside of your house can reach water pipes.  Implementing routine preventive maintenance activities makes things easier for you and it also makes our job at LandArc easier too.

HOA Self Management?

As we begin 2013, many can only hope that his year will bring better economical conditions than previous years.  In the recent recession, many businesses have survived only by drastically cutting costs.  However, where homeowner associations are concerned, self management is not the answer.

In an article titled “The Myth of HOA Self Management,” the author states that the myth of HOA self management was started in the 1960s by developers which stood to profit from the decreased costs of self management.  As many HOA boards went forward with self management, they found the path of self management full of pitfalls and dead ends.

An unhappy truth of HOA Management is the need to collect delinquent payments.  This requires a high amount of diplomacy and very thick skin.  How many board members want to walk next door, knock on their neighbor’s door, and tell their neighbor that they are behind on their association payments?  What kind of community environment does that create?  Is it worth the money that might be saved?

The article went on to say that “…the two most emotional reasons that even the smallest HOAs should be professionally managed: Money and Rules. No neighbor should have to collect money from or enforce rules on another neighbor since the actions are predictably confrontational.”

LandArc has more than 25 years of experience in the property management industry.  This experience simply cannot be matched by volunteer boards of HOA communities.  Within the last year, LandArc has proven our excellence in crisis management when one of our communities was damaged in a tornado last year.  Our response to that situation gained us the business of a neighboring HOA community.  What board member would be able to handle managing the cleanup and reconstruction of not only their own home but their neighbor’s homes as well?

Self management is not the answer to reduced costs and will lead to more headaches.  To read more about the myth of HOA self management, click on the following link:

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20020123_selfmanage.htm

Tips for Snowbirds

Every winter LandArc deals with emergencies where the owners have left for the winter but have not properly winterized their units. If you plan to head south for the winter, please review and follow these guidelines:

• Set your thermostat no less than 50 degrees. Any lower setting could cause frozen pipes and devastating damage.
• Draining the water heater and shutting off the water will serve as an extra measure against burst pipes.
• Winterize all exterior spigots by removing hoses, turning off the water, and draining the spigot from the outside.
• Leave a key with a neighbor and let LandArc know who to contact in an emergency.
• Keep doors open throughout the house to ensure heat gets to all areas of the house
• Keep cupboards doors open below sinks where plumbing lines are located

Man Charge with Embezzling from Condo Associations

The Chief Financial Officer of Total Realty Services has been accused of embezzling more than $560,000 from a number of condominium associations in Florida.  Roberto Velez had taken the funds from 10 associations over a period of three and a half years.  Velez deceitfully breached the duty owed to those communities as the individual in charge of money intended to benefit the residents living in those associations.  

The Pinellas County Sheriff office has charged Velez with grand theft. 

This unfortunate incident underscores the importance of community associations getting actual copies of their bank statements each month. LandArc has made it a practice to include bank statements and detailed reconciliations for each account of its customers, even multiple reserve accounts or checking accounts in some cases. 

Click here for more information about this unfortunate situation.

HOA Considers Lawsuit

Homeowners in Fairies Farms, a North Carolina HOA, are considering a lawsuit against their former HOA management company, Carolinas Association Management, for mishandling money paid by homeowners.  According to the source listed below, Joe Patterson, president of Carolinas already has a shady history as a property management professional.  

Patterson’s license as a real estate broker was revoked in 2001 by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission.  Three years later, he was able to get that license back.  Patterson claimed that he only charged the fees to homeowners because the association board told him to.  The board denies this.   Residents in Fairies Farms simply want to know what happened to their money.

To read more about this story, click on the following link:

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/charlotte-homeowners-ask-hoa-management-company-be/nTLxJ/

HOA Couple Files Lawsuit

One of the biggest concerns for property management companies is keeping up with delinquent payments from homeowners who live within the associations they manage. However, despite the pressure to obtain payments, ethical practices should always be followed. A young couple who are homeowners in an Arizona HOA recently filed a class action lawsuit against their property management company, alleging that they had been charged illegal fees in addition to the amount they owed to their HOA.

To read more about this topic, click on the following link:

http://www.azfamily.com/news/consumer/Class-action-lawsuit-filed-against-some-Arizona-HOAs-179719631.html

HOA Chain of Command?

Here is a useful link that explains a bit about the chain of command in a typical HOA community. The writer of this article refers to the chain of command as a network. This network has the HOA’s community manager in the center because it is the manager that keeps most of the records in the association. Not because the community manager makes all of the decisions for the association. Also included in this web is the Board Of Directors and whatever vendors might perform services within the community. The article also offers great advice for homeowners who live in HOA communities. For example, an home issues should be reported to the property management company rather than the vendor or the board of directors.

Also, the writer of the article advises homeowners to not allow a violation to reach a boiling point which could negatively impact all homeowner’s within an HOA. Finally, the writer of the article encourages homeowners, once again, to communicate with the community manager rather than with the board of directors or the community vendors. While the latter approach might seem easier, communicating to a community manager, such as LandArc, is the best way to ensure that problems are handled in an efficient manner with proper record keeping.

For more information, click on the following link:

http://www.mesquitecitizen.com/viewnews.php?newsid=3309&id=77

Community Manager vs. Outspoken Board Members

Homeowner associations can benefit greatly from the experience of a good community manager. However, many board members choose not to act on the advice of their hired community managers. This has become a big issue in some areas, such as Nevada, where there is a great amount of legislation trying to induce good behavior within communities. The legislation itself has proven to be inadequate for that task, according to the source listed below. The article also states that it is often the more outspoken members of the community who become board members, regardless of any experience in managing a community.

There is a great cost associated with ignoring the advice of community managers that is leading many to wonder what can be done about this problem. Nevada is considering more legislation to educate board members in proper procedures, but not all HOA management companies think this is the right answer. The source article states that managers often have enough trouble getting community members interested in serving their community without the added education requirement. As board members representing your community, what do you think should be done?

To view the source used in this blog post, click on the following link:

http://www.lvrj.com/real_estate/hoa-directors-should-listen-to-community-managers-177086761.html?ref=761

National HOA Bank Acquired

First Associations Bank (FAB) serves the financial needs of HOA communities. The Texas company has served communities across the United States since 2007. FAB announced a few days ago that they had entered into an agreement with Pacific Premier, which will acquire FAB. Following the acquisition, FAB will operate as a division of Pacific Premier. For more information, click on the following link:


http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/10/15/4338456/pacific-premier-bancorp-inc-announces.html

Disruptive Homowners at Community Meetings

Meetings at homeowner associations are the driving force behind progress in an HOA community. This is where decisions are made. An HOA with disruptive meetings is a community that is not achieving the full growth they would otherwise. While homeowners might not always follow rules in an HOA, often homeowners can attend governing board meetings. If these homeowners disrupt the forward progress in a meeting, what can be done? One way includes wording the bylaws in a way that prohibits disruptive homeowners from attending meetings.

For more information on this intriguing subject, click here:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kane-property-management-in-hoa-meetings-order-is-key-2012-10-10

HOA Woes

Often HOA communities are situated very near to other homes. These homes are not part of the HOA, so they do not fall under the jurisdiction of the community board and the governing documents. What happens if a member of the HOA has a problem with the adjacent household that is not a part of their community organization? Can the board do anything if the non-member homeowner is too loud or disturbs HOA homeowners in other ways? The stark reality is that the governing board often can’t do anything about that. If it is another HOA community, then a homeowner should contact management of that organization. If not, then call police, or if necessary, animal control.

For more information, click here:
http://www.lvrj.com/real_estate/neighbor-over-the-wall-is-not-in-the-community-172950011.html?ref=011

Work and Travel: A Retirement Balance

Baby boomers who are making the transition from working to retirement life have no desire to stop doing the activities they love most. Many are continuing to work past retirement age for various reasons. At the same time, this work continuation is balanced by travel. Now that many baby boomers have spent more than thirty years generating income, they have decided that the time has come to start ticking items off of that bucket list by traveling. To read more, click on the following link:

http://www.delwebb.com/newsfeed/Boomers-balance-working-retirement-with-travel/800864010.aspx

HOA Parking Concerns

The link included at the end of this post introduces an interesting question. Homeowner associations are communities with set rules that ensure an equal and tranquil life for all homeowners who live within those communities. What can a governing board do if there are regulations in place that cannot be enforced? In this case, the issue of parking illegally was brought up. A board member wrote a letter to a newspaper and stated that their current management company cannot enforce the parking rules because it is “private property.” The answer to this letter stated that registering vehicles of residents who live in this community is a possible option. To read more, click on the following link:


http://www.lvrj.com/real_estate/some-hoas-require-owners-to-register-cars-171916351.html?ref=351

The Inactive Governing Board...

Individuals who live in homeowners’ associations are dependent on their governing board to enforce the law of the land as well as making decisions that affect everyone in the community. But what happens if your board doesn’t do those things? In my source (see link below) a homeowner wrote a letter stating that their HOA governing board has not held a meeting in years and does not respond to letters or inquiries. The reply to this letter stated that it is the responsibility of homeowners to prompt their board into action, because there are “no state agencies to help homeowner associations.” The response also stated that the writer of the letter refer to the governing documents for procedures and any available meeting minutes. This is the kind of situation that no homeowner should be involved with. LandArc remains in regular contact with governing boards of the communities we manage.


Click here to view my source for this post:

http://www2.tbo.com/lifestyles/life/2012/sep/16/banewso3-take-action-to-get-hoa-board-back-on-trac-ar-501116/

Free Budget Seminar

Budget time for HOA communities is upon us once again. Did you know that there are two independent budgets that are vital to the continued growth of home associations? These are the operations budget and the reserve budget. Both are the driving force behind all HOA communities. LandArc is committed to providing the associations we manage with the tools necessary to succeed. That is why we are offering a free budget seminar for association board members in about a month. This event will take place on Tuesday, October 23rd from 6-8 pm at the Royal Park Hotel: 600 East University Drive, Rochester, MI, 48307. Allow us to have a positive impact on your community.


Source: http://www.mesquitecitizen.com/viewnews.php?newsid=2848&id=77

HOA Meeting Turns Violent

An HOA meeting goes violently wrong earlier this month. Following a dispute over a fence and driveway, a homeowner comes to the meeting armed and takes the lives of two board members. Although tempers can often run high at these meetings, there is nothing that can justify taking one life let alone two. Mahmoud Yousef Hindi faces two murder charges for his actions that place on September 6th which cost the lives of 73-year-old David Merritt and 69-year-old Marvin Fisher. The dispute over the home, which has escalated over the past year, is further complicated by a court statement made by Hindi where he stated the home was not his but his children’s.

Click the following link to read more about this terrible tragedy:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gl3xZnZbxddE2ByUunQKQaYwtiLA?docId=0a59767acec441e692d6bb85bf0e8ddb