Always remember: A
community association is a business, a business that often has a
huge budget. And then you have volunteers running the show –
volunteers who often don’t have the faintest idea how to run an
association (business)?
And while a business can
declare bankruptcy and get out of the debt with just following
some legal procedures, your home is collateral for any and all
debts your association occurs.
Owners often don’t
understand that they will have to pay with their own money for
the mistakes made by incompetent board members. Never forget:
Your personal finances are in the hands of these “volunteers”
who often have no business experience whatsoever. Can you now
still sleep at night?
I can tell you that about
half the complaints I’m listening to on a daily basis could have
been avoided if certain board members would have a basic idea
what they are supposed to do. Many of them don’t know the
statutes regulating their association – or haven’t even read the
governing documents of their community.
For many years CCFJ has
fought in Tallahassee to create required education for board
members in order to minimize the mistakes made by blue-eyed
board members, We finally succeed – first in condos, then in
homeowners’ associations.
But there is still the
“opt-out” clause in the statutes, allowing board members to sign
a form saying that they “know-it-all.” I can assure you that I
know personally quite a few board members who are still serving
on their association board after signing the “know-it-all” form
– despite the fact that they have never bothered to read the
statutes or the governing docs and who openly declare that they
anyway don’t care what the rules are: They make their own rules!
In my opinion everybody
who wants to be a board member and be in charge of their
neighbors’ money should be “certified” – meaning that they have
to enroll in a seminar conducted by a Division approved
education provider.
With other words: Enroll in one of Eric
Glazers’ Certification Seminars and make sure you know what you
are doing when serving on the board of directors of your
association. It can save you lots of money! And it’s free – and
you even get free food on top of it.
What can be better than that?
Just go to the CONDOCRAZE&HOAs website and look
for the next seminar in your neighborhood:
