Being a board member of an Arizona HOA involves lots of work. Plus it’s an unpaid volunteer position! Effectiveness is proactively addressing issues before they become problems and finding simple and methodical procedures that use existing assets and valuable templates to get the job done right. There is always plenty of work for the Association to handle with sending out violation letters, planning agendas, distributing meeting minutes, vendor management, and community walk-throughs. The Association need not delegate duplicative work tasks to the Directors. Maintaining consistency and reducing project time is one of the main advantages of using HOA templates. While each community has to review their specific needs, there are a few templates every Arizona HOA should make sure they can utilize to make their job easier.
Add Efficiency and Clarity with an Arizona HOA Agenda and Arizona HOA Meeting Minutes Template
Clear communication with all members is one of the best ways to improve HOA operations and make your life easier as an HOA board member. Get the most from your meetings by having a detailed HOA agenda template and an Arizona HOA meeting minutes template. Having these templates ready and pre-populated whenever possible will yield tremendous efficiency and significant time savings. Both the agenda and meeting minutes should follow a similar format. This will help ensure clear communication with your HOA members.
By doing a little bit of preplanning and properly developing a template for your Arizona HOA agenda, your association will be perceived as organized, informed, and genuinely in touch with the community’s needs. Additionally, it will let all members know where the meeting will take place and detail the key discussion points at that upcoming meeting. A solid template makes it easier to update for all future meetings as early as possible, which naturally leads to better engagement from the community as a whole. The templates can eliminate the natural temptation to procrastinate because most of the details will be completed and set up for your association. Good meeting minutes start with a detailed agenda.
Here are some simple guidelines to ensure you get the most from an Arizona HOA meeting minute template:
Keep Records of Board Actions, Not All Conversations
- Conversations such as “he said, she said” should be omitted from minutes.
- The minutes must contain any votes (decisions) of the board.
- Homeowners need to know that all meetings are structured and there will be an appropriate time for each topic.
Generally Keep Things Simple
- Minutes are the official record of the HOA
- During a lawsuit, minutes are discoverable.
- Minutes should not include individual opinions.
- A board meeting’s minutes should typically be less than two pages if done correctly.
- Executive meeting minutes should be kept separately from open meeting minutes.
Arizona HOA Violation Letter Templates and Common Uses
All HOAs have unique expectations, but there are some common violations where an Arizona HOA violation letter template can be used effectively. Upon a breach, a manager or board member should have an Arizona HOA violation notice template prepared. This makes it easy to send an HOA violation notice requesting the owner rectify the violation. Any Arizona HOA violation notice should contain the owner’s name, lot number, when the offense was noticed, who witnessed the offense, a deadline for compliance, the provision of the governing documents that was violated, and any additional details explaining the right to appear before the board. Contact information for the managers, board members, or association representatives should be included as well.
In most cases, if the violation has not been resolved by the compliance deadline, the next step will be to send a formal HOA violation letter explaining the fines that will be assessed to the owner. This letter must also provide an opportunity to be heard.
Here are some of the most common violations that could utilize an Arizona HOA violation letter template:
Guidelines for HOA Landscaping
Most associations will have clear rules about lawn maintenance, weeding, and unkempt exteriors to improve curb appeal throughout the community. There are also many common reasons that homeowners might fall behind on their landscaping upkeep. A simple violation notice template for landscaping issues to serve as a reminder of the rules and fines the member faces if the issues are not addressed is usually all that is needed to get the homeowner to correct the issue.
Vehicle Parking
Most Arizona HOAs have rules and regulations to limit the number and type of vehicles parked on the property, such as RVs, boats, and commercial vehicles. It is also common for individual homeowners to simply forget about these rules. This is a perfect example of a useful template violation letter that can be quickly prepared and sent out to any member in violation.
Trash Codes Not Followed
An HOA may prohibit certain items from being disposed of in community dumpsters or placing trash cans out before garbage collection. This is a common violation and can be addressed effectively in most cases with a straightforward violation letter template.
Structures & Storage for the Exterior
HOAs can often limit or completely deny equipment or storage structures on community properties to maintain a neighborhood’s appearance. While there are a variety of ways that individual members might violate the rules around unapproved structures or storage, many of these issues can be properly addressed with a template violation letter detailing the violation and the deadline for compliance.
Pets
Arizona HOAs can establish rules on the types of pets, breeds and number of pets allowed on individual properties. They must be aware of certain support animals that must be allowed by Arizona HOAs, but all other pet violations can be addressed in a template letter that references the specific bylaws on pet limitations.
Leasing and Subleasing
HOAs typically have guidelines about renting a home. With the growing popularity of short term rentals in Arizona, HOA board members will want to understand the evolving laws in this particular area. We posted a previous article on what Arizona HOAs need to know about short term rentals. This area of violations likely requires a review of your community bylaws and state laws with an experienced Arizona HOA law firm, but you can prepare some notices so the whole community is aware of your rules and regulations.
From the start, most new board members quickly learn that a community association board demands their attention and effort. To make sure those efforts are productive and beneficial, you want to work with an Arizona law firm specializing in association representation that can help you develop HOA violation letter templates and understand when to use them. HOAs can also create templates for board meeting agendas and meeting minutes that will make it easier to communicate with the whole community and document the process. The Brown Law Group only represents Arizona associations and planned communities. We can handle HOA general counsel needs, covenants enforcement, assessment collections, and any litigation that might arise. Contact us today at 602-952-6925 to schedule an initial consultation or make an appointment on our contact us page.