Welcome to Ungated

Like the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano, CAI's Annual Law Seminar is returning to Las Vegas in 2008. 

Organized by the College of Community Association Lawyers, the Law Seminar is specifically designed for community association law practitioners, senior industry executives, and anyone else interested in understanding the unique aspects of community association law.

The 2008 event will be held January 25-26, 2008 at:

The Venetian Las Vegas     3355 Las Vegas Blvd, South    Las Vegas, NV  89109

702-414-1000

CAI has contracted for a limited number of rooms at a discounted rate of $269/night.  The reservation deadline for these discounted rooms is December 20, 2007 or until the available block is exhausted.  To reserve your room be sure to identify yourself as a CAI Law Seminar attendee when you call the hotel.

Additional information, including the seminar registration form, format, and schedule, will be posted on CAI's Law Seminar web page in the coming days.

 

I occasionally ask individuals for their permission to use items they have authored in my blog.  Judi Phares' Back Porch column in the current issue of Common Ground really struck a chord with me with its themes of ethics, service, and education (and dogs, since my son recently won the long-standing debate regarding whether or not he needed a dog).  Thanks to Judi for a very thoughtful piece and for permission to use it here.

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What's Good For Max and Muffin....

Judi Phares, CMCA, PCAM

My goal is to be the kind of person my dogs think I am. Tails wagging furiously at supper time, Max and Muffin remind me of this truth. Dogs—more accurately, family members with fur—have an innate sense of loyalty and trust. I’m inspired by their intrinsic belief that people have their best interests at heart and that we will always do the right thing for them.

My dogs have taught me a great deal, so it’s not surprising that I’ve found a correlation between dogs and business. Being the owner of a community association management company, I often make decisions that must measure up to a goal I’ve set for myself: being the kind of person my dogs think I am. The business corollary is that it’s the kind of character worthy of trust and respect.

Doing the right thing in business is at the heart of professional ethics standards. I’m proud that our young industry has established the Professional Manager Code of Ethics to which AMS, LSM and PCAM designees must adhere. It’s a covenant with our clients. As we educate our association boards, we also model for them the reality that governance always drives home: You can’t enforce standards until you have codified and communicated them.

Our professional credentials identify us as qualified service professionals with specialized skills and know­ledge in our field. We don’t earn trust based on our credentials; rather, we earn trust as a result of our actions. Designations demonstrate our degree of commitment and competence. Altruistic service proves we care.

Am I motivated by the welfare of my clients? Am I striving to serve the best interests of the community as a whole, not the special interests of one board member or developer? Let me be clear that altruism and profit are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, people don’t mind paying qualified, caring professionals to provide them excellent service and treat them well.

By serving a community’s best interests, managers affect the lives and homes of thousands of people. They need to be able to trust us.

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Judi Phares is president of RTI/Community Management Associates, Inc., in Plano, Texas. Her firm is the winner of the 2006 American Business Ethics Award given by the Society of Financial Services Professionals.  She is also a past chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Board of Certification for Community Association Managers.

We have heard a lot of ideas over the past several months regarding how to address the growing number of home mortgage foreclosures across the country.  With the estimate of the number of homes at risk seemingly rising on a daily basis and a general government bail-out almost an impossibility given the federal budget deficit, I thought this idea from Steve Pearlstein of the Washington Post was an interesting market-driven approach to the problem.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/30/AR2007083001956.html?hpid=sec-business

CAI is currently conducting elections for leaders to join our three Membership Representation Groups (MRGs).  These individuals serve 2-year terms to represent our community association volunteer, professional community managers, and business partner constituencies.  In addition to providing policy guidance and leadership to the organization, the MRGs select individuals to serve on CAIs Board of Trustees.

The election is being conducted electronically and the web site is open to cast your ballots until 11:59 pm EDT on Monday August 27th.  I encourage every member to login to the web site and cast their vote for the individuals who they believe will best serve them and our organization in the coming years.

You can learn more about the candidates and access the voting system at our election page.

Who:  All employers

What: New Federal regulations on employee verification

Where: Nationwide

When: September 14, 2007

Why (you should care): Increased administrative burdens and potential fines and penalties

 

Estimates vary, but it is believed that there are anywhere from 7 to 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. In fact, over the past 15 years, the United States has seen an influx of immigrants (legal or otherwise) in numbers not seen since the turn of the 20^th Century.

 

Despite making immigration reform a centerpiece of his domestic agenda, President Bush was unable to push through reforms that would have allowed more qualified, legal workers into the country and would have taken steps to better enforce border security. The collapse of comprehensive immigration legislation has pushed the Administration to get tough on undocumented workers via regulatory means.

 

In August the Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, announced that the federal government is expected to bring a record number of enforcement proceedings against employers in the coming year. In addition, the Administration unveiled new regulations tightening employer requirements for verifying the legal status of employees.

 

On September 14, 2007, new employment verification provisions will take effect. The new regulations will require all employers to take affirmative steps to verify employees whose social security numbers do not match federal records. Under the new regulations, an employee will have 93 days to correct any mismatched information used for employment verification. If the employee is unable to correct the information on the government’s no-match letter, the employer must terminate the employment relationship or risk being in violation of federal immigration law and face substantial fines and penalties. The regulations and verification process are discussed in greater detail on CAI's Political Heads-Up page.

 

In addition to increasing the administrative burden on employers and the risk of fines and penalties, these stepped up verification requirements also hold the potential for widespread workforce disruptions as millions of undocumented workers get caught in the tightening regulatory net. For perspective, it could be like taking the population of Ohio out of the workforce. With an already tight labor market, many employers can expect further challenges in finding and keeping qualified employees.

With literally thousands of pages, CAI’s website is filled with content relevant to virtually every member, not to mention the millions of individual homeowners who live in community associations. With so much content, it’s no surprise that we experience nearly a million visits a year.  It is also no surprise that it is sometimes difficult to find the specific page you are looking for among the myriad of choices available.

As a result of this continued success, we have enhanced our homepage, providing easy-to-use "fly-out" menus that will help visitors navigate to the sections and content they need—with just a single click. 

The new menus are on the left side of the homepage at www.caionline.org. As you roll over any item with your mouse, you’ll see a list of key pages in that section. For instance, when your hold you mouse over Members Only, you’ll see Research Library, Advocacy Center Message Board, Discount Programs and Recruiter Club. All you have to do is click once and you’ll be transferred to that page.

We’ve also added In the Media, a feature that provides links to selected articles involving community associations, CAI and the industry at large. This page will be updated on a weekly basis.

We hope that these enhancements make CAIonline even more helpful to members and non-members alike.  As always, suggestions for future improvements are always appreciated.

I get asked frequently by media, boards, and even prospective home buyers: How do I know if my board is doing a good job?  Basically, what assurance do I have that my community is governed well? 

I typically encourage them to look for three general traits.

- Efficiency, or how well does the board safeguard and spend community's resources.  Do they treat their fellow owners money as their own?  Do they ensure that common areas and amenities are protected?  Do they exercise their fiduciary duty wisely?

- Effectiveness, or how competently are things done.  Are repairs made in a timely manner?  Does the condition and operation of the community fairly reflect the general expectations of the residents?  Is the association run in a business-like way?

and perhaps most importantly,

- Transparency, or how well does the board communicate what it is doing and why.  Do all members have access to the same information.  Are critical issues and decisions shared with the membership?  Is homeowner input solicited when appropriate?

The most effective leaders, whether you are talking about community association boards, corporate leaders, politicians, or sports coaches, are those who communicate well and often, engage their constituents in the ownership of the group, are responsive to constituent needs, and make reasonable and competent decisions when appropriate.

In that spirit, CAI has developed some basic governance guidelines for community associations.  We didn't attempt to create a detailed set of specific actions and behaviors for every situation, because of the many different laws that govern associations and the many different governance structures that they operate under.  What we did try to do was identify some of the most frequent areas of confusion and contention and define some expectations that were simple, straightforward, and reasonable.  We call them Community Association Governance Guidelines and they address such wide ranging issues as meetings, finances, debt collection and reserves.

You can find out more and download a free set of the guidelines on our web site.  We hope that this tool inspires communications within communities, encourages boards to set and meet expectations, and leads to better governance in communities of all sizes, shapes, and forms.

J. David Ramsey is a CAI past-president and practices law in NJ.  He recently drafted this summary (Adobe Reader required) of the NJ Supreme Courts ruling in the Twin Rivers case that I think deserves attention.  Most importantly, he speaks to the need for the Court to balance the free speech rights against the privacy and property rights that were in conflict in this case and makes the argument that the courts and not the legislatures are the appropriate venues for such balancing decisions.