Welcome to Ungated

Come and share the magic!

CAI's 57th National Conference and Exposition is coming to Orlando, Florida from April 30 through May 3.  With programming designed for managers, association board members, and business partners alike, Conference is CAI's premier event of the year, bringing together all of our members to network, learn, and experience what makes good communities work.

You can check out the conference page, the full conference brochure, and the registration form online. 

Some of this years emerging topics include:

-  Immigration issues: Dealing with verification requirements

-  Licensing professional community managers

-  Green commuities: Find out how your community can reduce its environmental impact

In fact, our entire conference is going green this year. No more bulky handouts to lug around.  Copies of all the conference presentations will be available on the web before and during the conference and every attendee will receive a searchable CD-ROM of all the materials at registration.

Don't forget, register by March 31 and save $50 off the full registration price.  First time attendees can save an additional $50.  Not sure what the conference experience is all about, or if it is for you?  Check out our blog, Live From Las Vegas, which chronicled last years record-setting event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV.

And for those community managers looking to advance their professional skills and expertise, we are also offering a comprehensive slate of Professional Manager Development Program (PMDP) courses from the introductory M-100 through the PCAM Case Study in the days leading up to conference. 

A special thanks to our sponsors:

Platinum Partner

TOPS Software, LLC

Also co-sponsor of PCAM Reception

Speaker Sponsor

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Associa

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Gold Partner

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AmeriFlood





Community Archives, Inc.



Also sponsor of Leadership Break and CED Scholarship

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Events Sponsors

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Welcome Reception

Association Voice, LLC



Jenark



U.S. Lawns




PCAM Reception Co-Sponsor

The Flood Company




Managers Reception

Kevin Davis Insurance Services



Chapter Leadership Breakfast

Colonial Bank



Chapter Leadership Break

SouthData



Name Badges

dwellingLive, Inc.

Thanks again to all the sponsors and all the volunteers who make conference such a unique and valuable event.  I hope to see you there.

There have been a number of well publicized cases of financial malfeasance in the community association industry over the last year or so, some by managers and others by board members.  So what can an association do to protect themselves from this kind of risk? 

Attorney Kelly Richardson recently wrote an article for the Orange County (CA) Register outlining ten tips that associations can implement to increase the procedural and system controls over their funds, ensure appropriate spans of control, and reduce the risk of loss.  Among his recommendations are:

~ Review financial records regularly

~ Don't concentrate responsibility in a single set of hands, whether that is a board member or manager.  Require multiple signatures for checks and other material transactions.

~ Manage the overall risk through timely audits and reviews, as well as appropriate insurance coverage.

~ And always remember that as a board member you can delegate responsibility for some activities, but you cannot delegate ultimate accountability for performance.

I encourage you to take a look at Kelly's article.

Dealing with the process of drafting regulations or commenting on those drafts can be enough glaze over the eyes of even the most seasoned government affairs staff. But despite the painful process of pouring over page after page of detailed regulations, which can sometimes read like the phone book, the end results can and do have a direct impact on our communities. Most recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has determined it has the authority to regulate exclusive contracts for video services (e.g.- cable) provided to associations and other multi-family developments. In that same order the FCC also asked for comments on a proposal to regulate associations ability to use bulk service agreements to bargain for better prices. CAI has submitted extensive comments on both these issues and you can read them here.

The FCC’s proposals raise valid questions. Do exclusive agreements between providers of video services and associations help or hurt consumers? Should an association be banned from using the number of residents in the association as a tool to bargain with cable giants for better rates? And just as importantly, is the FCC authorized under existing law to expand its authority in these areas or is it required to get permission for expanding its authority from Congress?

As the voice of community associations, our job is to make sure that the FCC hears our side of the story and that’s something we will continue to do.  For more information on the current status of the FCC rulings and other hot legislative and regulatory topics from around the country check out our Political "Heads Up" page.

As I sit here in my office on a cold, sunny Alexandria day, I am watching as two small one-story office buildings across the street are being demolished to make way for a new multi-story mixed use project.  It's amazing that just three workers and a couple pieces of heavy equipment can make so much noise and reduce these buildings to rubble in just a single morning, taking apart buildings that took the cooperative efforts of dozens or even hundreds of workers and weeks to build: architects to craft the vision, engineers to design the structure, skilled craft workers to do the masonry, electrical, plumbing, and other systems, and many others who contributed to construct buildings that were a successful, thriving place of business and employment for many years.

I guess I see some ironic parallels in the community association industry. 

On the one hand we have literally millions of homeowners who are working to make their communities better places to live, serving on their boards, volunteering to staff events and activities, and building community each and every day.  Together with management companies, professional community managers, and the many other professionals who support communities across the country, they are the builders who are committed to protecting property values, ensuring that communities serve all of their members, and giving of themselves and their time.

On the other hand, we have the folks bent on making a lot of noise and tearing down the work of others, the individuals who believe that there is no good community association, that all boards are corrupt, and that if you are happy in your community you are at best a dupe and at worst an unindicted co-conspirator in the great community association conspiracy, a conspiracy that exists only in their minds.  Their goal is not to make communities better, their goal is to eliminate communities, to cripple them, and to turn every homeowner into a victim.  They do not have a prescription for improvement, unless you call total destruction a reasonable and thoughtful prescription.  Kind of like swatting a mosquito with a cruise missile. 

The best way to protect and serve homeowners is to arm them with information and knowledge, to educate them on their rights and responsibilities.  And that is what CAI and our members are all about.  Building community and consensus is not easy, but it is not something we can or should outsource to a far off State House. Successful communities are built by connecting neighbors, empowering them, informing them, and always, always communicating.  The siren call for greater regulation by the state, however alluring, can in the end result in disenfranchising homeowners, increasing costs, and eroding community values and sense of ownership.

So this vision outside my office window leads me to take a moment and express my heartfelt thanks to all of the CAI members out there who are the builders, to those who teach courses, participate in legislative initiatives, run youth programs, serve their communities, and work every day to build better and better communities.  You are the ones who are making a positive difference in our industry, you are the builders.  Just remember that it takes an awful lot of cooperative work by many dedicated, industrious people to fend off the efforts of the few who build nothing themselves, but seem to delight in tearing down the work of others.

Perhaps we should remember the wisdom of Theodore Roosevelt, who said "It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."

Despite CAI closing in on its 35th anniversary this year, we frequently hear from folks who don't understand our mission, aren't really sure who we represent, or want to know more about what we do and why we do it.  Herewith a recent, but typical, exchange between a writer and our VP of Communications, Frank Rathbun.

Last night provided a fascinating opportunity to observe the U.S. political process in action.  Despite lots of money, many talking heads, and more TV advertising than the Super Bowl, the Super Tuesday returns haven't settled anything.  What they have done is make it clear that the economy is issue #1 for the vast majority of Americans. 

Just as individuals are being crunched by tight credit, collapse of the subprime market, and flagging productivity, homeowners associations face similar challenges.  Because whether everyone agrees or even likes it, associations are businesses and association boards have a legal and ethical obligation to manage them in a business-like way.  That means ensuring that the associations assets are protected, that funds are collected and controlled appropriately, and that the interests of the entire association are served.

CAI past-president and current Dean of the College of Community Association Lawyers (CCAL), George Nowack, authored an interesting and thoughtful article in yesterdays Atlanta Journal Constitution.  I thought it clearly defined some of the challenges facing boards in this turbulent economy and provided a thoughtful and balanced approach for boards to carry out their fiduciary duty in an business-like but equitable way.  You might want to take a look.