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Although there are mixed opinions about whether the CTA applies to condo and HOAs, FirstService Residential is proactively assisting board members serving condo and HOAs in understanding and navigating this act.

Enforcing HOA policies is nobody’s cup of tea, but having good policy enforcement in place helps improve the resident experience and elevates your reputation. Follow these 4 principles for healthy policy enforcement:

How do you prevent conflict, avoid costly litigation and maintain a great resident experience in your community? Start by adopting these best practices for dispute resolution.

These days, you can do almost anything online—buy groceries, look for a job or even find love. But what about voting on issues that affect your community?

Great policies can help your association run smoothly, enhance the resident experience and improve your reputation. Here are five questions to ask before creating a new HOA policy.

Enforcing HOA policies is nobody’s cup of tea, but having good policy enforcement in place helps improve the resident experience and elevates your reputation. Follow these 4 principles for healthy policy enforcement:

Are you getting the best returns on your reserve funds? Most Arizona board members aren't sure. Find out six ways to improve your association's reserve fund returns, like creating an HOA investment policy.

It’s that wonderful time of year! Many of us are shopping online to get that perfect gift for our loved ones. And, for those doing last-minute shopping, we don’t want to have to worry that something will go wrong with our deliveries.

Not all strata managers have what they need to give you great service. Learn what it takes to be a great strata manager.

Great policies can help your association run smoothly, enhance the resident experience and improve your reputation. Here are five questions to ask before creating a new HOA policy.

Are you getting the best returns on your reserve funds? Most California board members are not sure. Here are six ways to improve your reserve fund returns and create an HOA investment policy.

Do you escape to warmer weather down south once there’s a chill in the air and the leaves start to turn? If you’re a snowbird (or Winter Texan!), you need to know how to protect your home up north while basking in the southern sunshine

Summertime is swim time, and for the most part, it’s a plunge into carefree fun. But without the right swimming pool safety practices, your residents and association could be at risk.

If you live in a pet-friendly community, it’s essential that your association board set boundaries to keep order within your community. Many of the issues that become problems in pet-friendly communities have very little to do with the pets – after all, they can’t clean up after themselves.

More than 85% of officials in state legislatures are up for re-election this year. So what does that mean to you as a board member or resident in a condo or homeowners’ association (HOA)? And how does this affect HOA law? There are a variety of initiatives on the table across the nation that will significantly impact community associations. In this article, we’ll take a look at what those issues are – and most importantly, how you can impact HOA law.

Millennials are the fastest growing group of home buyers in the US. Learn why you need to get this important demographic involved in your association today.

Good rules make good community members. The most important factors in association policy making, whether for a condo, co-op, townhome or master-planned community, are clarity and sensibility. The board must be clear – and united – on the policy being created and then must communicate that policy to all residents. Whether the policy is about overnight guest parking, designated smoking areas, amenity usage or approved flooring, the basic steps to creating good policy and enforcing it successfully are the same. It’s important that everyone involved, including board members, residents and the management team, understand who is responsible for the various roles that are part of policy creation, enforcement and compliance.

Your board should give residents the opportunity to have their voices heard, but you also have a responsibility to keep the meeting moving forward. Use these 5 HOA annual meeting requirements to stay on track.

Your association doesn’t function in a vacuum. It’s part of a larger community. Having members actively engaged in your town or city is good for the association and adds to residents’ sense of community. Find out what your board can do to encourage residents to get more involved in their larger community.

Your community or condominium association is there to protect the interests of all of its members. However, there may be situations when one or more residents don’t believe that the association is on their side. Hopefully, everyone involved can come to a reasonable solution, but if you can’t, it’s possible that your association – and even your board members – could become the target of a lawsuit.

Every community can expect to experience negligent or careless guests who will either cause a ruckus, or worse, damage association property. When that happens, deciding who should be held responsible for their actions can create a delicate – and potentially volatile – situation. Oftentimes, Boards may go after the owner, but they shouldn’t forge full-steam ahead without some sort of ammunition.

Estoppel certificates are a critical part of any real estate transaction and can be confusing. What's included, how are they created, what does it all mean? Learn more here.

Nothing says a healthy community like full homes/units and bustling activity in common areas. Painting a pretty picture of a dynamic community to potential buyers takes minimal effort on the part of the board.

When it comes to service dogs and assistance animals, people often confuse the Federal American with Disabilities Act (ADA) with the Federal Fair Housing Act (FHA). Learn more about FHA and ADA laws here!