Monthly Archives: November 2020

Essential Aspects of Your Year-Round Maintenance Checklist

Your association should always look its best and function properly for the comfort of your homeowners. While some associations may try to catch repairs and maintenance necessities as they come, this isn’t always the most efficient plan for a community.

The team at Goodwin & Company always believes that an HOA should have a plan, and that includes performing periodic maintenance before problems start to pop up.

What is the Importance of Having a Maintenance Checklist?

A maintenance checklist is important because it helps preserve the integrity of your neighborhood. As long as properties within your association remain maintained from the inside out, property value will continue to rise.

Therefore, relying on a maintenance management system that works for you the entire year leaves no stone unturned and mitigates the possibility of larger maintenance problems arising in your community.

Exterior Checks

Take some time throughout the year to check all of the exteriors of your properties. From shared community buildings to the exterior of your homeowner’s homes, this check can help resolve several face value issues that can easily drag down property value if ignored.

Some of the most important exterior checks include:

  • Foundation repairs
  • Wall repairs
  • Repainting needs
  • Damaged exterior vents
  • The examination of utility boxes, gas, and water lines

Make sure to have a reliable vendor lined up every spring to inspect and repair the roofs and gutters of the properties within your community. This is especially important because a harsh Texas winter can do substantial damage to a rooftop.

Common Community Areas

Another important issue to look into during exterior checks are common areas like fences and homeowner yards. Your association management team will regularly perform inspections to ensure that homeowners maintain their yards up to a uniform standard. Should we find any irregularities, leave it up to us to communicate these rule violations with your neighbors and help guide them towards having their yard once again, become community compliant.

We will also add your parking lots and streets to our maintenance checklist if they are the responsibility of the association. A poorly maintained parking lot can be unsightly, so you can trust our team to hire reliable porter services that prevent unnecessary cracks, grime, and trash build-up.

Interior Maintenance Essentials

Your association management will make sure to ask homeowners to inspect the interiors of their homes for any maintenance issues. We will, in turn, handle the inspection of common building interiors and hire qualified vendors to handle any necessary repairs.

Some interior maintenance areas we ask homeowners to examine include:

  • Damaged flooring
  • Attic vents
  • Attic screens
  • Leaks throughout the home

All of these interior issues can become serious problems if left unattended. A seasonal maintenance checklist allows your neighbors to exercise preventative measures that minimize the impact of any issues discovered during their inspection process.

Utilities

Although it’s recommended that homeowners keep up with their own utility maintenance, your management should take the required steps to ensure that the utilities of your community’s shared areas are well-kept.

Trust your association management to inspect and take necessary action on the following items:

  • Common area HVAC units
  • Furnaces
  • Hot water heaters
  • Water and irrigation lines
  • Gas lines
  • Electric lines

When it comes to your homeowners inspecting their own property’s utilities, third-party vendors can help homeowners determine an accurate assessment of any repairs or maintenance steps your association should take.

Keep Your Maintenance Checklist Covered With Goodwin & Company

If you are a board member of an HOA, and know that your community needs a little extra assistance with a maintenance plan, Goodwin & Company can help. We specialize in helping with the backend details of association management and can help you find the right vendors to handle all of your association’s maintenance needs and beyond. Contact us today to learn more about our HOA management services and how we can help create the most efficient and effective maintenance checklist for your community.

Can Your HOA Regulate Political Yard Signs?

2020 is one of the hugest election years in the history of our nation. Because of this, many homeowners long to display signs supporting or voicing their dissent about any particular candidate. 

 Over the last few months, several online videos have popped up with people threatening HOA legal action unless a sign is taken down from a yard. Is this a valid argument in Texas? Can your association’s board regulate political yard signs? 

Here’s a closer look at this issue and how you and your homeowners can approach it come Election Day and during future elections. 

Is Your HOA Really Smothering Your First Amendment Rights? 

While associations can’t flat out deny someone the right to post candidate signs, Texas associations can regulate political signage within specific limitations.  

It’s important to state that if an association opts to regulate the display of political signs, there is no true violation of First Amendment rights in play. 

Keep in mind that the First Amendment prevents federal, state, and local governments from smothering freedom of speech. Your association may be powerful, but is a private entity, and isn’t a branch of government.  

So, if you ever encounter an association that has limits placed on political signage in their bylaws, keep the true meaning of the Constitution in mind before pursuing any serious action against an entity. 

What Are the Texas Laws Regarding Political Signs in an Association? 

According to state legislation, an association may not enforce or adopt a restrictive covenant that prohibits a property owner from displaying one or more signs advertising a candidate on their property. Political signs are allowed to be posted on personal property as long as: 

  • The sign is removed before the 10th day after the election date 
  • The sign is posted on or after the 90th day before the election in question 

Specific Regulations Homeowners Must Follow 

Keep in mind that while associations in Texas can’t prevent homeowners from displaying general political endorsement signs, there are exceptions. Texas legislation doesn’t prohibit the adoption of an association covenant that abides by the following standards: 

  • Requirements for signs to be ground-mounted 
  • Limitations on how many signs a property can post with regards to their candidate preference 

What Signs Could Be Prohibited? 

As we’ve mentioned before, political signs can’t be denied but can be regulated. Some examples of signs that could be prohibited in an association’s bylaws include the following: 

  • Signs that contain roofing materials, siding, or paving materials 
  • Signs that have more than one balloon or light attached to them 
  • Displays painted on architectural surfaces 
  • Signs positioned or attached to environments that threaten public safety 
  • Signs that have generally offensive content on display 
  • Signage that violates the law 
  • Signs larger than four by six feet 
  • Signs that are visually or audibly distracting to motorists  

Vote Safely This Year in Your HOA Community With Goodwin & Company 

If your association has questions about proper election etiquette around the community, an association management team like Goodwin & Company can help answer any questions. We’re ready to make your community the best it can be from all fronts. Contact us today to learn more about our services.