Now is the time to do some spring cleaning for your community association. Whiteford|Taylor|Preston compiled a list of routine tasks to tackle in the upcoming months.
- Committee Charters. You should review and revise committee charters once a year. Committee charters address purpose, scope, authority, organizational structure, and operational guidelines.
- Reserve Accounts. We recommend that any reserve account that is not supported by a reserve study, have a written summary available to owners. The description should address funding levels, funding method and manner in which proceeds can be withdrawn. The most common reserves, other than a repair and replacement reserve are: (1) working capital; (2) contingency; (3) snow plowing; and (4) insurance deductible.
- Registered Agent and Franchise Taxes. If your community association is a corporation, consider checking to make sure your registered agent status is current and that you have paid all franchise taxes.
- Amend Governing Documents. Do your governing documents include prevailing party language or other restrictive language that does not reflect your community’s needs? Consider a document revision.
- Recorded Bylaws. If your association is a planned community, also known as HOA or Maintenance Corporation, have your bylaws been recorded in the land records? Prior to the adoption of DUCIOA in 2009, bylaws were not required to be recorded. However, DUCIOA requires the retroactive recording of bylaws. This can be done by a simple secretary certification.
- Library of Governing Documents. If you are a corporation, are you confident that you have all of your governing documents, including all amendments and your article of incorporation? If you are unsure, now might be a good time to create a complete library.
- Record Retention. Consider adopting a record retention policy and purging any out of date or unneeded records. At the same time, consider preparing director binders that have historic or important documents that are frequently used by Board members.
- Contract Terms. It may be useful to review and track important contract expiration dates to prevent a lapse. Also, review any contracts that have an automatic renewal provision that require some affirmative step be taken to prevent renewal on less than favorable terms.
- Most Common Operational Policies. Below is a list of some of the most common polices that common interest communities adopt. If you don’t have these policies, or they are outdated, consider adopting a revised version:
- Internal Dispute Resolution Policy
- Enforcement and Fine Policy
- Collection and Late Fee Policy
- Reserve Fund Investment Policy
