12 Community Association Terms You Should Get To Know

Choosing to volunteer on a community association board of directors is a fulfilling commitment. In many cases, volunteer board members spend their first few weeks learning the policies, procedures, and inner workings of how an association works. This often requires a review of governing documents that outline how decisions are made in the community. Depending on their experience, some terms may be new to the volunteer and require additional research to understand.

To help, we’ve put together a list of the most important community association terms volunteers should understand.

Act in Good Faith

Sometimes referred to as bona fide in legal documents, refers to making decisions in a sincere manner without deceiving or acting maliciously to others. This applies to negotiations, settlements, and mediation, in addition to other legal scenarios.

Annexable Property

A building or additional room added on to the existing property identified in the CC&R’s.

Assessments

Assessment is an alternative name for dues or fees. Community management associations charge assessments for a variety of scenarios, including maintenances and special projects. These assessments are charged to all community members and are spent on or reinvested back into the well-being of the association by law.

Binding Agreement

An enforceable contract that commits the endorsing parties to follow through on the outlined actions. An example is the sale or resale of a house, and both the buyer and seller are committed to following through with the contract.

Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions

Also referred to as the CC&R’s, these outline the rules and restrictions community members must abide by. When a person purchases a condominium or house, they are sometimes required to give up freedoms they would have in a non-association community, including what color they paint the house or the type of fence they install.

Deed Restricted

All HOA’s are considered deed restricted because they are governed by a set of documents otherwise known as the master deed, declaration or CC&R’s.

Executive Session

These are special board meetings in which members are not permitted to attend because the board is discussing issues that may be sensitive or regulated by law.

Fiduciary Duty

This is a requirement of all board members when they take their position. This applies to making decisions in the best interest of the community association members and not in their personal interests.

Governing Documents

Governing documents are used by the board to make decisions for the community and include the CC&R’s or master deed, community plans, by-laws, articles of incorporation, and rules and regulations.

Management Company

This is a third-party company contracted by the community association to facilitate the day-to-day operations of the HOA and carry out decisions made by the board. Some companies manage property requests, and others manage financial and communication activities as well.

Member

Refers to homeowners or condominium owners that don’t sit on the board of directors.

Voting Types

There are two types of voting outcomes or requirements, including majority and plurality. A majority vote means more than half of members voted for the same outcome. A plurality vote refers to the outcome that received the most votes, but not necessarily the majority.

If you’re looking for assistance with the everyday management of your HOA community, we can help! Contact AR Management for more information.