The articles of incorporation, also known as the certificate of incorporation, charter, or corporate charter, is a legal document that establishes the formation of a corporation. It is a formal document that outlines the basic information about the corporation, its structure, and its purpose. In the case of a homeowners association (HOA), the articles of incorporation are the foundational document that creates the legal structure of the organization. They are typically created by the HOA’s developer or initial board of directors, and they are filed with the Secretary of State to obtain legal recognition as a corporation.

The articles of incorporation typically include the following information:

Name of the corporation: The articles of incorporation must include the legal name of the corporation, which typically includes the words “Homeowners Association” or “HOA” to indicate the type of organization.

Purpose of the corporation: The articles of incorporation must state the purpose of the HOA, which typically includes the management and maintenance of common areas, the enforcement of rules and regulations, and other activities related to the management of the community.

Location and duration of the corporation: The articles of incorporation must state the physical address of the HOA’s principal office and the state where it is incorporated. They must also specify the duration of the corporation, which can be perpetual or for a specified period of time.

Membership: The articles of incorporation must outline the qualifications for membership in the HOA, the rights and responsibilities of members, and the manner in which membership may be terminated.

Board of Directors: The articles of incorporation must specify the number of directors who will serve on the HOA’s board of directors, their qualifications, and the manner in which they will be elected or appointed.

Powers of the corporation: The articles of incorporation must outline the powers and authority granted to the HOA by the state where it is incorporated, which may include the ability to levy assessments, enforce rules and regulations, and enter into contracts.

Dissolution of the corporation: The articles of incorporation must specify the conditions under which the HOA may be dissolved or terminated, such as by a vote of the members or by court order.

The articles of incorporation are a legal document that establishes the formation of a corporation, and in the case of an HOA, they are a foundational document that creates the legal structure of the organization. They provide important information about the HOA’s purpose, structure, and legal powers, and they are a crucial document that governs the operation of the HOA.

A homeowner’s association (HOA) annual meeting is an important gathering for making decisions that affect the community. A quorum must be present to ensure that the meeting is valid and that decisions can be made. A quorum is the minimum number of homeowners required to be present at the meeting to make it official, as dictated by the association’s governing documents.

Here are some ways an HOA can ensure a quorum at an annual meeting:

Encourage Attendance: The HOA can encourage homeowners to attend the annual meeting by sending reminders via your website, email, mail, or text message. Simple signage in your community’s entrances and common areas can also help. They can also provide incentives for attending, such as offering door prizes or free refreshments.

Adequate Notice: Providing adequate notice of the meeting date, time, and location is essential. The HOA should follow its own bylaws, as well as state and local laws, for the notice required for the annual meeting.

Proxy Voting: Allowing proxy voting, where a homeowner can assign their voting rights to another homeowner, is an effective way to ensure a quorum. This allows homeowners unable to attend the meeting to still have their voices heard.

Early Start Time: Scheduling the annual meeting at an early time can help increase attendance. Homeowners who have work or other commitments later in the day are more likely to attend if the meeting is held earlier.

Online Meetings: With the advent of technology, it’s now possible to hold virtual annual meetings online. This allows homeowners who are unable to attend in person to participate remotely.

Online Voting: If your documents and state statutes allow members to vote via online methods, platforms such as the TownSq Digital Voting Feature can boost participation, cut down on costs, and provide faster results of member votes.

Ensuring quorum at an HOA annual meeting is essential for the community to make important decisions. By following these tips, HOAs can help ensure that the necessary number of homeowners attend the meeting and that decisions can be made effectively.

Even though it’s definitely not pool season in Dallas, your community pool should always be a priority of the Board. Take advantage of the cooler weather and handle some of the interior needs of your pool so that by the time spring rolls around, your pool will be properly prepared for guests.

By following these five steps from local HOA management professionals, your Board will be able to rest easy, knowing that one of the biggest amenities in the community is well-maintained.

1. Double Check Insurance Policies
2. Research Professional Management
3. Audit Pool Equipment
4. Ensure Pool Maintenance Fits In Next Year’s Budget
5. Review Pool Rules For Simplicity

1. Double Check Your Insurance Policies

Pools naturally come with a lot of risks involved for those that end up managing them. Before your pool opens up for the season, make sure that you have properly assessed any potential risk and covered your investment. Not only does injury insurance come into play here, but so does general insurance to cover any damages that could occur throughout the year. Your community pool has the power to really impact your bottom line, so make sure you are protected before bathing suit season.

2. Look into Professional Management

Boards are made up of volunteer community members. Unless they have specialized in pool or professional community management, they may only be able to manage this amenity at the surface level. With the help of their current association management team, a Board can take the right steps towards hiring professional pool management for 2019. This is important because not only are they going to be the most knowledgeable person for the job, but they will also assume most of the responsibility for the pool’s safety and maintenance.

3. Take Time to Audit Your Pool Equipment

During the off-season, check up on your pool equipment. Are all of your cleaning supplies in good condition? Is your diving board or water slide up to code? Checking with your management company or pool service provider can help you identify what aspects of your pool need to be inspected in order to guarantee a safe opening in the spring.

4. Make Sure That 2019 Pool Maintenance Fits in Your Budget

Every year your Board should review their community budget. One of the areas that need to be specifically reviewed is your pool maintenance costs. Find out how much plumbing, heaters, pumps, and technical equipment will cost from your current vendors in 2019. If the board is unsatisfied with the rates that are given, fortunately, there is time to rectify the situation by interviewing new vendors as recommended by a community management expert.

5. Review Your Pool Rules for Simplicity

Safety is the number one priority at a community pool. While the pool is unused, sit down and review the pool rules. Ask yourself these questions:

• What rules were broken the most in the last year?
• Did we have any unexpected accidents?
• Could things be spelled out better?

Sometimes changes to the rules need to be made and waiting until the final hour isn’t an option. Make sure your rules are clear and concise before people start getting ready for poolside fun.

Go Above and Beyond for Your Community with Professional Management from Goodwin & Company

In 2019, make sure that your Board has the assistance it needs to ensure that your community operates efficiently. Goodwin & Company is a Dallas-based company that specializes in assisting Boards with financial planning, bylaw enforcement, vendor contracting, and more.

If you are ready for your community to take some positive steps towards organization, reach out to us today. We are ready to help your Board enjoy their positions in the New Year.

Here are some easy ways to keep your community pool summer-ready.

An association board member’s job is a year-round commitment. While this responsibility is an honor, board members are volunteers who also have lives to live outside of community decisions. This issue especially comes up as the winter season approaches a community.

With the help of an association management team, your board can comfortably get your community winter-ready and ensure that no issues arise during a frigid Dallas winter.

Make Sure your Furnaces Are Prepped for Winter

Winter can get pretty cold out here in Texas, so taking the time to check your community furnaces is a great preparation practice. We suggest you reach out to a local HVAC company to come out and inspect your properties. Keeping your furnaces clean and maintained is important to them operating more efficiently and lowering heating bills as they are used more often. As an extra step, see if your management team can get your community on board with an energy savings program so that your community can always be prepared to beat high energy bills.

Schedule a Roof Inspection

Roof inspections are something your Association should be keeping up with and early winter is a great time to carry them out. Schedule a roof inspector to visit your community and check your roof for leaks, cracks, or insufficient insulation.

While this is being inspected, check up on the cleanliness of the gutters. These are also parts of your community that you want to keep clear during the winter. Frozen debris and build-up can cause substantial damage and flooding to your properties.

Maintain Leaf Removal

Schedule a routine leaf removal. Leaves pile up fast in the winter, and removing them from your community prevents the growth of harmful fungi and damage to your living plants. No homeowner wants a dead lawn once spring rolls around.

Empty Out Your Gas Tanks

All HOA communities rely on equipment to get their duties done. Before winter is in full-effect, run your gas-powered lawn equipment until the tank is on empty. You won’t be using this equipment much in the winter and gas left in your tank loses its volatility. Removing your gas will also prevent issues in the spring when you go to start your mower again.

Check That Your Irrigation System is Winterized

Winterize your irrigation system before it gets too cold. Pipe and sprinkler blowouts can be costly accidents. Some simple insulation tips can help prevent water from freezing in your pipes. If you aren’t sure of the winterizing steps you need to take for your community, ask your association management team about a reputable plumber who can perform these vital checks before it gets too cold.

Goodwin & Company Helps Your Association Find the Right Vendors for the Job

Hiring vendors that are reliable can be a tough choice to make as a board member. However, with the help of an association management team on your side managing seasonal maintenance, your board can make these important decisions with confidence.

At Goodwin & Company, we are a team of managers that have many trusted vendors in close contact. Reach out to us for any help with vendor services or general Community Association management.

Ensuring that your community follows the Association rules is one of your main jobs as a Board Member for your Community Association. Sometimes, rules may be broken, or a member of the Board may fail to follow up with a community member.

Goodwin & Company has seen small mistakes regarding Association rules add up to large problems for the Board. Here are some tips from the professionals that will help keep your community rules at the forefront of your homeowners’ minds.

• Rules Need to be Simple
• Rules Need to be Consistent
• Enforce Rules Accordingly
• Communicate Properly with Residents
• Revise Rules that don’t Work

Make Sure Your Rules are Simple

When creating your community rules, keeping them as clear as possible will make them easy for your community to follow and for you to enforce. Keeping your rules simple can help prevent any future complications and let your community members instantly know the Board’s expectations.

For example, if your community allows pets, you will want your rules to clearly state which types of pets are permitted. This can get as specific as size restrictions, breeds, or a limit on the number of pets a homeowner can have.

Keep Things Consistent

If you find that the rules of your community tend to change frequently, this may be the reasoning behind your community members having issues following the rules. If you find that you need to make HOA rule changes within your set rules, make sure that your community is aware and that changes are slowly rolled out for an easy adjustment period.

Enforce the Rules Across Your Community

If your community members see the Board being lax on the rules, then why should they be forced to follow them? If you want change, it is going to have to start with the Board itself. One way to do this is to examine the property of each Board Member and ensure that everything is up to date and following the rules. Leading by example is the best way to lead your community.

Communicate Properly

In order to maintain the consistency of your rules or to introduce new ones properly, communication should always be the number one priority. Regardless of what changes are made, make sure that your homeowners are always updated via meeting agendas or digital/physical notices.

Remember, homeowners who don’t know the rules will be the ones that have difficulties following them. Keeping your community informed will ultimately make your spot on the Board easier. By working with an experienced management team, you will have all the tools necessary to have consistent and accurate modes of communication to your community.

Revise What Doesn’t Work

Sometimes, rules that have been made simply don’t work for a community. If you notice a rule being consistently violated, even after your efforts to enforce it, there may be a problem within the rule itself. Take the time to sit down with your management team and work on revisions that will be useful and clear for your community.

Let Goodwin & Company Help Your Community Follow the Rules

At Goodwin & Company, our mission is to provide support, structure, and education to your community and Board. The best place to start with this is by ensuring that everyone involved understands the neighborhood rules and use restrictions. Contact us today to find out how we can help you get your community and its rules in order.

Your Community Association Board is the entity that absolutely always needs to have its act together. In order for your community to run smoothly, working with professional management to avoid common mistakes should be top priority. When a professional management team steps in, they avoid these common DIY mistakes that happen in their absence.  Here are five mistakes that we see Board Members make and how Goodwin & Company can help your Board avoid them.

1. Not Reading Governing Documentation
2. A Blasé Attitude for Community Rules
3. Not Collecting Overdue Fees in a Timely Fashion
4. Not Reviewing Financials
5. Not Maintaining Proper Insurance

1. Failing to Read Governing Documentation

Your community bylaws and CC&Rs are important documents that help you avoid getting your community in legal and financial trouble. By not knowing the ins and outs of the Association Documents, an Association Board could try and enforce rules which actually aren’t rules or miss important procedural requirements.

Working with a professional management company like Goodwin & Company is an easy way to stay on top of important documents and reminders that your Board will need to follow in order to operate properly.

2. Your Association Board has a Blasé Attitude Towards Community Rules

Even when some Boards know the rules and what is required of them via governing documents, they can seemingly ignore the rules.  Association rules need to be enforced fully, consistently, and in compliance with the requirements set forth in the documents.  If a Board is specifically not going to enforce a certain rule due to personal bias, that not only opens up the Association to liability, but it also isn’t fair to the other owners who joined the Association under the assumption all rules would be enforced.

Your management company can help your Board with handling community issues like violations and ensuring that scheduled meetings run as planned.

3. Taking Your Time with Overdue Fees

Your management company can also help your Board successfully collect any overdue fees. We understand that a Board is made up of volunteer community members that now must take on the responsibility of collecting money from their neighbors. Remember, letting one owner get away with paying late because you want to avoid confrontation with your neighbor is not fair to the other community members you represent. Let us play hardball for you, while you work to keep your community happy and successful.

4. Failing to Review Your Financials

Failure to review your community financials or failing to truly understand them can be devastating for the community members relying on the Board. Your main goal is to invest your members’ hard-earned money into the community correctly and account for every single dollar spent.

This can be a taxing task and working with a management team that specializes in community finance is a great way to stay on track without making any critical financial errors.  Goodwin & Company knows that most Board Members are not financial professionals; so we go out of our way to explain financial reports and general industry practices in financial record keeping so that Board Members are comfortable with their financial reports every month.

5. Not Maintaining Your Insurance Coverage

Failing to stay on top of your Association’s insurance coverage could leave the Association open to huge expenses.  Even if coverage is in place, be sure to know what it covers and what it doesn’t.  Take the time to work with your management team to review your current D&O insurance policy, what it covers, and when it lapses.

Get the Professional Help Your Board Needs Today, with Goodwin & Company

Mistakes quickly add up for an Association Board. Don’t let your community suffer because you didn’t look to a professional for help. At Goodwin & Company, we help your Board improve its community while also ensuring that the essentials are all taken care of. Get in touch with us today to find out more about our services in your area.

Want to learn more? Here are some broad examples of the responsibilities your HOA board members should expect.

Some Community Association Boards believe that they can manage a community on their own without help from third-party community management specialists. While they may be able to get some of the essential duties completed, the responsibility is a lot for a volunteer-based group to handle.

Here are 5 reasons why your community should work with a professional management company and say “no” to self-management.

1.  You Leave Yourself Open for a Lawsuit

Unless your Board is one that is insurance savvy, your Community Association may not have the insurance coverage that it needs.

Getting coverage like general liability and/or D&O insurance is important and having an association management company on your side can help to ensure that the coverage is complete.

2.  Little Understanding about Community Management

There isn’t really a standard course for how to professionally run a community. Each Association’s wants and needs are different, but having a management company which is familiar with the best practices of Association management can prevent:

• Overpaying on projects and general maintenance
• Misunderstanding your state’s Community Association laws
• Failing to follow legal procedures

3.  Financial Mismanagement

Association Boards are made up of members of your actual community. One of the main tasks of a Board is to collect assessments and other funds that are due to the Association. Some self-governed Boards may not feel comfortable trying to collect from their neighbors or simply are not familiar with the ins and outs of financial record keeping.  Unless your Board includes a CPA, there could be potential for costly financial errors.

4.  You Could Be Breaking the Law

Your self-managed Association could be breaking the law without the Board members even knowing it. There are several specific processes that need to be followed in terms of assessment collection, violation enforcement, notice requirements, and information disclosure. Getting any of these and other details wrong can easily put your Board Members on the wrong side of the law.

5.  A Neutral Party is Necessary

One of the biggest dangers of a self-managed Board is the lack of a neutral party during disputes between community members or when it comes to a complex community decision. The “our way or the highway” mentality can easily take hold and quickly turn a happy community into a disgruntled one.  A professional management company will help mediate between the Board and owners at large for the most acceptable resolution as allowed by the Association documents.

Goodwin & Company Helps You Avoid Management Missteps

DIY Association management is a dangerous path to take as a volunteer board. Having a management company help you take control is the easiest way to ensure that all of the legal boxes are checked and your community is well-covered for years to come. Contact Goodwin & Company today to find out how we can make your Association better.

Although your Community Association is the leading figure of control in the neighborhood, they are still a team of volunteers that lead normal lives. Association management can help them with the finer details of the community and handle the issues that go beyond volunteer qualifications.

However, not all management companies are created equal, and sometimes you could end up stuck in a contract that just isn’t working out. Here are four red flags that it’s time to start shopping around for a management team that will strive to meet your community needs.

1.  Current HOA Management is Unresponsive

Goodwinlent communication should be a core value to your management company. Responding in a timely manner to emails and phone calls, general inquiries, and having required information prepared to share with the community is essential.

If your management team fails to meet even these basic communication expectations, this should be a major red flag that something isn’t right. When signing a contract with a management company, make sure that there is no question about who the most reliable point of contact is, otherwise you may be facing some confused and irate vendors or community members.

2.  Hidden Costs Creep Up

The fee structure between your Community Association and management company needs to be crystal clear. If you sign a contract and then notice surprise fees and charges in the coming months, address your management team. If these hidden fees were something that was swept under the rug during negotiations, then it may be time to work with a management team you can trust.

3.  Project Completion is Slow or Nonexistent

Association management ensures that community projects and improvements are handled in a timely fashion. From large projects to smaller ones, your community manager needs to be able to complete their tasks promptly. Not doing so creates a strained relationship between the Board and community members.

Oftentimes, when project completion is slow-moving, it’s because a professional HOA management company was never hired to begin with. Sometimes, DIY HOA management can be successful, but usually, it’s best to leave it to the pros.

4.  Compliance Becomes Secondary

Your management company needs to remain on top of compliance situations in your community. The creation and distribution of violation letters and the supervision of compliance adherence need to be consistent and a key priority.

Goodwin & Company Helps You Make the Right Choices for Your Community

Community Association management is essential to the success of a community. Poor management can easily bring a successful community down. If you are a member of your Association Board and don’t feel like you are getting the most out of your management company, Goodwin & Company can help.

Contact us today to find out more about how our management approach directly addresses these common management issues.