Condo Association Management Blog

I am sure that mailing requirements differ from State to State. In Fla any communication by email can accomplished if the owner signs and delivers a waiver to the Assn. You need to review your documents to see what they permit for owner communication. I personally can't a problem with only six owners to contact. Maybe it's time for a new treasurer or an assistant for the busy season. Good Luck!!!

There are only 6 units. I could understand the issue if there were 50+ units. You have the opportunity to discuss issues among yourselves every day. All 6 should take an interest in their property. 
 
This seems to be the problem today in most condo associations. Owners abdicate their responsibility and blame it on others if something goes wrong. Not a good stance. EVERYONE should take a regular interest in their Association and ACT if there are issues. It is so easy to stand aside and let someone else do the work. Than they kvetch if things go south.

With only 6 units Idon't see a problem -- or a hardship on the assn, with mailing the budget which would only happen once a year anyhow. However, I can see no reason to provide the monthly bank statements to the members, but a monthly financial statement should definitely be prepared and made available to interested members. 
 
I do believe a new treasurer should be elected as it appears the job is too overwhelming for the current one. If there is no one capable of handling this duty perhaps it would be prudent to hire a bookkeeping service. This may necessitate a raise in assessments but it would be worthwhile as financial duties and reporting is critical to the life of the assn. 
 
As for handling delinquent accounts, the board should have a collection procedure in place that can be followed by anyone maintaining the financial records.

I think the problem we are having is that there are only two condo units that actually seem to care about what is going on. The unit that I live in and our neighbor, who is not the treasurer. After sending out email after email and talking directly to the treasurer, things just are not working. If only we could get anyone to even meet as a group, maybe we could discuss someone else taking over the job of treasurer. The reason I asked about the budget/bank statements is that he is the only one that has that information and has not provided it all since he became treasurer more than two years ago and he insists that the information cannot be hand delivered because it is illegal. From what I can see, it is illegal for him to knowingly allow another unit not to pay for two years and not try to get that money or inform anyone else about it. (The only reason we found out was because we were refinancing. It is a big mess. :-(

Why is that treasurer still treasurer? Is your community a victim or proactive on its own behalf? Complaining is easy. Taking action is not so easy.

It is time for you to take some legal action if the treasurer is ignoring your requests. The condos are your investments and if the accounting is handled badly it could have a serious effect on the value of your property in so many ways. You might want to consult a lawyer specializing in condo law or a skilled property manager. The fees should be a direct expense to the association since it is association business that you are trying to keep on track. Since there are so few units, I would encourage everyone but the person in arrears to meet for a monthly board meeting. They should all be very protective of how their money is spent (before the state takes action).

We're going to try and talk to each individual unit and see if that gets us anywhere, its the complete lack of communication from anyone in the units. Even after I sent a message saying that we were having a very hard time refinancing, I'd have thought others would have said something but apparently nobody else cares. 

Michelle, 
 
 
 
It is NOT illegal for the treasurer to provide budgets and bank statements to the members. If the treas. is not preparing monthly financial statements then he isn't doing his job. That is the only way the board can see a financial picture of the assn.  
 
If at all possible you need to get all 6 owners together and find out if someone else is willing to run for a position on the board and take over as treas. This guy is just not doing a good job. As I said in my previous response, it may be wise to contract with a bookkeeping service. It most likely would mean a raise in assessments but it would be well worth it.

You would only have to provide the budget once a year and your condo documents should state those guidelines especially if you are raising fees. You may be required to have the next years budget in the owners hands 30 days prior to any fee increase. I don't think it's necessary to provide a copy of your bank statements to the owners but they should be available if requested to review. I would check your State condo laws to see what their requirement are for owner requested information. All board members should be receiving a financial report each month showing funds received and disbursed, a delinquency report, reserve funds balance and bank statements. With only 6 units is should not be that hard to produce. All board members need to know the legal status on all delinquent accounts, and you need a formal plan for liens, foreclosures and collections.  
 
Sounds to me like all owners need to get involved and you need officers who can do their job.

Any suggestions on actually getting everyone to get involved?? :-(

Michelle, 
 
 
 
Don't be afraid to be blunt; if we don't start running this assn in a proper way we're going to be in deep trouble. We need to start with having a treasurer who is capable of managing our finances including preparing monthly financial statements. The members are entitled to know the financial picture of the assn.  
 
Being the vocal member don't be surprised that you are asked to run for a position on the board and perhaps take over as treasurer. If you or one of the other members is not capable of doing this then start researching bookkeeping services. 
 
Let the members know that because there are only 6 members in the assn everyone will have to step up to the plate and become involved. That's just the way it is so they better get used to it; otherwise they can just move into a condo that has 100's or 1000's of members. With only 6 units the committment cannot be that great. Many years ago I was treasurer of a 49 member planned community HOA and I really could have run the place myself. The biggest job was the accounting and I was already doing that.

Even though you are a small HOA I don't think I would feel confortable having an owner control the money if they are not qualified. I would hire a CPA and have all fees go to them and they can make deposits as well as provide the Board with monthly financials so you always know exactly where you stand. They can set up ledgers and pay your contractors. Who does the taxes for the association? As Mary said, being vocal may mean you will be asked to get involved, that's how I became a board member, we even became self managed last year and while it's hard work it's worth it to see our improvements.

We don't do anything with taxes for our association. The more I think about it the more it makes sense for us to get someone professional do to this. Getting anyone to agree on it will probably be incredibly difficult.

Michelle, 
 
 
 
Are you saying the assn hasn't filed any tax returns? As a nonprofit corp you are liable for paying fed. income tax and also state income tax if you state has an income tax. Since your assn is so small you tax liability would be very small since only interest on savings would be taxable. However, even if you have no tax liability a tax return should be filed. I would suggest consulting with a CPA ASAP. This is what happens when people who are not qualified are in charge of running an assn. And, this is one more reason to seek professional help with your accounting. A bookkeeping service would be much cheaper than hiring a CPA. Use a CPA only to prepare the taxes.