Homeowners often misunderstand and confuse the roles and responsibilities of Homeowners’ Association (HOA) boards and HOA management companies in Charlotte NC. In comparison to an HOA board, HOA management companies perform contractual duties with limited power. Understanding the difference between the two entities is important to prevent a misunderstanding of the powers and duties of each one of these institutions. Let’s look at some of the functions of an HOA management company.
Basic Responsibilities Of An HOA Property Management Company:
- Billing & Issuing Invoices
An HOA management company functions as a third party that is responsible for collecting payments and issuing invoices to residents of the community. The following are some of the functions of an HOA management company:
- Managing residents billing schedule
- Regularly collecting dues
- Managing sensitive developments and problematic accounts
- Issuing official notices to culpable residents
- Constantly conforming to the HOA’s financial, legal, and active policies
The HOA management company can play a commanding role especially when there is an increased likelihood of non-payments due to economic instability. All of their involvement will be in accordance with the HOA’s rules and regulations.
- Practically Implementing Community Policies
The HOA management company is responsible for implementing policies and guidelines based on the HOA’s CC&R (covenants, conditions, and restrictions). This is done so that the HOA can verify that the residents of the community adhere to the CC&R policies and codes of practice. The Board of Directors of the HOA makes the final decisions on various matters. The HOA management company is responsible to enforce all of the decisions made by the board.
- Managing Maintenance Contractors
An important responsibility of the HOA management company is to manage the third-party contracts of the HOA. The following are some of the tasks of a management company in context to contractor management.
- Assist in coordinating contracts (for example, maintenance, gardening, plumbing, etc)
- Help to arrange and rearrange contracts
- Solicit proposals from competitive contractors
- Primary point of contact for potential contractors
The management company has their own HOA sales representative or HOA agent to ensure that this is an organized community with financially up-to-date and competitive rates for maintenance for its residents.
- Community Maintenance Management
Every HOA wants their community to look clean and attractive to residents and visitors alike. The management company will be in charge of maintaining the entire premises of the community. This includes the following responsibilities:
- Proper waste disposal
- Ensuring safety in community playgrounds
- Ensuring equipment is operational within the community
- Managing contractors to make sure they perform their job
All of these goals are especially important due to the current health situation within the country.
- Minimizing Risk
The management company is responsible to ensure minimized risk to the residents of a community. The management company is constantly on the lookout for current risks and possible liabilities for residents in the course of current developments within the society. For example, the management company will be responsible to make sure that contractors adhere to proper safety procedures at a work site. The following are some of the duties of the management company to minimize risk for the residents.
- Mitigate safety hazards
- Regulate security threats
- Eliminating potential risks for residents
- Making sure the community is well informed about the possible underlying risks in their community
In addition to minimizing risk, the management company is also responsible to ensure that the HOA has adequate insurance coverage. Insurance will be mandatory in situations where the risk has been identified and there is an imminent threat.