Question 1

What is a condominium association?

Accepted Answer

The Association is a legal corporation organized and incorporate under the laws of your state or commonwealth. The Association has Articles of Incorporation that entitle the association to exercise powers of a corporation. By purchasing a home within your community association, you automatically become a member of the association and will remain so for as long as you own your home. Membership in the association is mandatory and automatic for all owners. The deed to each lot and/or parcel specifically designates that the property owner will comply with the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&R’s,  also known as Governing Documents) of the association. You should have received a copy of these documents at the time your home purchase was closed by the title company. A copy of these, known in the Villas as the Rules & Regulations, Bylaws and Declarations are available on this web site and in the clubhouse. As a property owner in a community association, you will be required to pay assessments, abide by the community’s rules and restrictions and maintain those areas of your home for which you are responsible.

Question 2

Are my Assessments fixed or can they be raised?

Accepted Answer

The Annual Assessment, currently set at $260 monthly is  based on a budget dictated by the cost of the services supplied community. These may include lawncare of the common areas, mulching, sidewalk, road and courtyard snow removal, and club house building expenses and maintenance.
Additionally, special assessments can be levied that are applicable to a single year to defray in part or whole, unexpected expenses such as construction, repair or maintenance. A common example of this would be unexpectedly high snow removal costs. Special and annual assessments costs exceeding 20% of the annual assessment for common expenses for same year are subject to 51% affirmative vote of the owners.

Question 3

What is a reserve study and why would a condominium association need one?

Accepted Answer

Community associations come in all sizes. They vary in age, amenities provided, and maintenance obligations. Careful planning for future repairs and replacements is not only in the best physical and fiscal interests of the community association, it is required by law in some states. Maintaining a reserve fund not only meets legal, fiduciary and professional requirements, it also minimizes the need for special assessments and enhances resale values. Every community association requires a different amount of cash in reserves to complete repair or replacement projects on schedule without special assessments or loans. How does an association properly determine and compile adequate reserves to fund necessary repair and replacement costs? By conducting reserve studies. In the documents section you can find the latest two Villas reserve studies.
Contents of a Reserve Study
A reserve study should include the following:
• A summary of the association, including the number of units, physical description, and the financial condition of the reserve fund.
• A projection of the reserve starting balance, recommended reserve contributions, projected reserve expenses, and the projected ending reserve fund balance for a minimum of 20 years.
• A tabular listing of the component inventory, component quantity or identifying descriptions, useful life, remaining useful life, and current replacement cost.
• A description of the methods and objectives utilized in computing the fund status and in the development of the funding plan.
• Source(s) utilized to obtain component repair or replacement cost estimates.
• A description of the level of service by which the reserve study was prepared and the fiscal year for which the reserve study was prepared.

Question 4

What is a Proxy and its purpose?

Accepted Answer

The definition for Proxy is “the function or power of a person authorized to act for another. The person so authorized.” The purpose of a proxy is important as it allows for voting and establishing a quorum in order for business to be conducted. It also is an important tool to protect the voting rights of members that are unable to attend a meeting where voting will occur. Typically, before annual meetings or other meetings where a vote of all members is being conducted, a proxy form will be distributed to all members by the Management Company.

Question 5

I don’t want to run for the Board but would like to assist in a Committee? What are the requirements?

Accepted Answer

The Board shall appoint committees as deemed appropriate to carry out its purpose and delegate to said committees such powers and duties required to execute and enforce the committee’s responsibilities. Members shall perform such functions as directed by the Covenants and shall advise the Board on all matters pertaining to their Committee. The Villas utilizes the process of one board member acting as the liaison for each committee formed, a chairperson for each committee. Committee members are volunteers, and should have a desire and interest to efficiently complete the assigned tasks of the committee. The liaison will solicit volunteers, and MAY select members from that group, or actively seek others to participate.

Question 6

How is the Board of Directors elected? What is the election process?

Accepted Answer

The members of the association vote to elect the Board of Directors. Each association has specific bylaws outlining the process for board elections. Generally speaking, the board elections take place on an annual basis either prior to (in the case of absentee ballots) or at the annual meeting of the members (proxies and ballots). Positions usually become vacant and are normally filled during your Annual Meeting. During the Annual Meeting a vote via a secret Ballot is taken for the nominees who are running for a position on the Board. Those running for office and voting must also be in Good Standing in order for their vote to count, all the votes will then be tallied and the results announced. Boards of Directors can have more than one position when their position consists of two roles i.e., Secretary / Treasurer. The Villas bylaws that set the board at five members, each with a two year term.

Question 7

Can anyone run for the Board or who can be elected?

Accepted Answer

Any unit owner can be elected a Director as long as they are in Good Standing. This means all assessments or levies have been paid in full. Individuals who volunteer their time to be / run for the Board of Director or to serve on a Committee are people who have the time to serve the Community and are well informed about the legal documents for their subdivision. This is strictly voluntary and there is no compensation for their efforts except for the fruits of their labors shown at the end of the year.

Question 8

What are the Board Member Responsibilities?

Accepted Answer

The Board is ultimately responsible for the oversight of the community association ("the buck stops with the Board"). Although the Board may retain and delegate some of its duties to volunteers, contractors and professionals, the Board is still ultimately responsible for the duties it may have assigned to others.

Question 9

What are the Board's Responsibilities?

Accepted Answer

Community associations are governed by Boards of Directors, which consist of persons democratically elected by their membership. Elections to the Board are held at the association's annual meeting, and members typically serve staggered, multi-year terms, although Villas bylaws just call for annual elections.  During the initial development of the community, the Board is often composed of members selected by the developer (or "Declarant") to ensure the community is completed as originally planned.
As in other forms of representative government (federal, state and local), the association members elect persons whom they believe will devote the time and will best represent their interests. The Board representatives have a fiduciary duty to use good business judgment and to put the best interests of the entire community ahead of their own personal interests.
The Board is empowered to make all of the operational decisions affecting the community association, with the exception of certain powers which are specified in the governing documents and reserved exclusively for the membership (such as approval of special assessments or increases to annual assessments above a particular amount, or election and removal of directors).
 The Board is required to comply with all of the mandates cited within the governing documents, and should also represent the collective needs and desires of the membership. The Board usually has the authority to determine the broad range of quality and quantity of services provided by or for the association. For example, if the governing documents state that the association shall be responsible for the maintenance of the grounds, the Board may either select a contractor to perform a minimal level of service, or hire a full-time on-site grounds crew to provide the highest level of care - choices which result in a correspondingly wide-range of costs to the members. 
 One of the most important functions of the Board is to establish the organizational structure for the community association. The organizational structure determines a chain of command to specifically assign the tasks and duties of the community association to a management team and committees of the Board. The management team may consist of a combination of volunteers, paid employees or a contract management company like Access Property Management and its subsidiary firms. Once established, the organizational structure should not be changed unless significant improvements or changes are needed.
The Board is ultimately responsible for the oversight of the community association ("the buck stops with the Board"). Although the Board may retain and delegate some of its duties to volunteers, contractors and professionals, the Board is still ultimately responsible for the duties it may have assigned to others.

Question 10

Villas is a gold star member of CAI. What is this?

Accepted Answer

The Community Associations Institute is an international trade association and special interest group headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, with more than 60 chapters in the United States that asserts that it provides "education and resources to the volunteer homeowners who govern community associations", and provides petitions for legislative and regulatory beneficence for its members. CAI offers four levels of courses designed to give new managers a knowledge base and experienced managers a deeper understanding of all aspects of association management. Courses focus on such topics as insurance, finance, leadership, governance and communications.
CAI’s Gold Star Community award program turned twenty years old in 2019. Gold Star has become a widely recognized measure of fiscal health and responsible governance and management of community associations.
The Gold Star award continues to recognize outstanding community associations that have established excellent standards, encourage community involvement, maintain fiscal responsibility, and improve the quality of life for residents. The Gold Star Community award program emphasizes CAI’s mission of, “Building Better Communities.”  The Gold Star program recognizes excellence in a community. Homes located within Gold Star communities are industry recognized as among the best places to live.
The Gold Star Community Achievement
 • Underscores the fact that your community is managed utilizing the best practices in community association management.
 • Promotes the fact that your community is financially healthy with adequate reserves for future needs.
 • Means your community has taken the necessary steps to protect and improve the quality of life and value of property in the community
 • Enhances the marketability of your community to potential homebuyers by recognizing sound management and community involvement

Question 11

Why is my siding melting?

Accepted Answer

In the past, the Board has received notice of concern from residents that the vinyl siding on some homes was “melting” in some limited areas. At that time, the Board researched the issue, and held meetings open to affected and interested homeowners as to the cause and possible solutions. The Association acted as an information source since the siding was and is the responsibility of the homeowner. This issue has recently come up again by an owner with damaged siding. The Board has discussed this and can offer the following advice: Windows of the type installed in our homes are thermopane, a double layer of insulated glass with an inert (Argon) gas sandwiched between the panes. To make the windows more thermally efficient (low E) a metallic coating is installed on the inside of the thermopane glass. This substantially decreases the heat load that enters the home by reflecting much of it away from the window. This is where the problem arises. With no window screens or light filters on the upper panes of the window, there is considerable heat energy reflected to nearby areas. Vinyl siding can be damaged beyond repair in a single afternoon if the sunlight reflections line up in the right ways. The cause of the damaged siding appears to be the sun reflecting from a neighbor’s house. Vinyl siding’s melting point is only around 165 degrees, so window reflections can melt vinyl siding with ease under the right circumstances, those circumstances being the relationships of the angle of the sun, the direction of the window and the location of the house wall are “just right” only at certain times of the year. The high reflectivity of these windows alone can create enough concentrated heat to cause damage, but it is the double paned design that makes things even worse for nearby vinyl siding. When there is a difference between the temperature inside and outside a property, the vacuum between the panes of glass can cause the exterior pane to contract slightly, creating a concave shape. This curve in the glass, subtle though it may be, compels the window pane to act like a lens, focusing the reflected light into a beam. Our homes are near each other and it seems that in the winter, due to the angle and intensity of the sun, enough heat is reflected from adjacent windows causing the siding to be damaged. It also appears that part of the issue is that when our homes were originally built, Developer installed single hung windows, in which the upper pane was fixed and did not open. Window screens were provided only for the movable, lower sash part of the window. In the past, some of the window-offending homes have installed window screens on the whole window and some with a darker screening material. A solution extensively used in the South is applying anti reflective window film or glare reducing film over the existing low-e windows. Antiglare window film is thin and perforated, and the view out through it from within the residence is no more obstructed than it would be by standard insect screens. The product is available in a clear film that is imperceptible from any distance as well as in gray, black, and white varieties that add an element of architectural design to a property. These techniques appeared to resolve the issue. However, this relies on your neighbor taking these steps to protect your home. In essence, this is a neighbor to neighbor issue, as the building exterior of our homes are the responsibility of each homeowner and not the Association. The affected homeowner with damaged siding can file a claim against their own home insurance policy for siding repairs but, keep in mind that this is not a solution as it just masks the cause with the potential of happening again. Litigation against the offending neighbor with the culpable windows is another possibility; not recommended by the Board as this will create fractious interactions in the neighborhood. If you find yourself affected by this window/siding situation, the most reasonable action is for you to discuss and negotiate with the owner of the offending house, your neighbor, to develop a way to reduce the reflected energy. Once the windows are addressed then the siding can be replaced. The Association does not have a role in this neighbor to neighbor interaction except for reviewing applications for new windows (recommend double hung windows so that full screens come with this improvement) and, applications for siding replacement.
 
Please see further within site announcements (10/6/2020)

Frequently asked questions