‘Why Can’t I Ever Reach My HOA?’

How Self-Managed HOA Software Fixes the Communication Gap

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Transparency builds trust, preventing some conflicts and helping to de-escalate others.HOA communication failures are among the most common complaints HOA boards face. And when residents feel unheard or uninformed about community matters and HOA management, their response can take neighborliness down a notch.
• HOA communication bottlenecks can quickly escalate from frustration to suspicion among residents.
• A lack of clear communication channels for HOA matters also frustrates HOA board members.
• Self-managed HOA software can provide secure messaging, a single platform for board members to communicate with each other, and features like message boards and forums for organized communication with the membership.

Not-So-Golden Silence

Imagine at the monthly meeting of an HOA—let’s call it Hickoryhurst HOA, just for fun—the board approves a rule prohibiting trash cans being left curbside the night before pickup. At the same meeting, board members turn down the treasurer’s proposal to convert bookkeeping and communications from paper and email to self-managed HOA software. 

A resident who wasn’t at the meeting—we’ll call him James—hears about the change from a neighbor and worries how he’ll get his trash picked up when he’s traveling for business. He immediately emails the Hickoryhurst board asking for an exception at such times.

Checking that board email inbox is everybody’s responsibility so, true to the axiom, sometimes it becomes nobody’s responsibility. The question goes unanswered.

The next day, James sends another message to the Hickoryhurst board, a little more urgent in its tone. Anxious not to be fined, he skips a pickup day because he’s taking a redeye flight the night before. During a layover, he emails the board again, this time with terse wording. Despite his heightened plea for a response, he gets no reply.

Returning home the day after collection day, James notes the full trash bin in his garage and the HOA’s continuing lack of response. He airs his frustration on a couple of social media platforms and within an hour receives a call from a board member. She apologizes for the board’s failure to respond to his emails and reads him the verbiage of the new rule, including an exception that covers his need while traveling. The conflict ends reasonably well, but it generates needless anxiety before getting to the amicable conclusion. 

Good Intentions Vs. Self-Managed HOA Software

Notice there was no ill intent on the part of any board member. The fault lay largely in the board’s having only one poorly defined and poorly manned communication channel, email, which has become all too easy to ignore for many. Volunteers got busy with their own lives, and James’s inquiry fell through the cracks. It took an embarrassing and potentially divisive escalation for him to get a response.

It was Hickoryhurst’s decision to forgo HOA software that could have solved the garbage issue immediately. 

Self-managed HOA software can provide a host of communication options.

Community Website

With such a system, the board members could have used multiple communication methods to share the new rule with not only James but every community member. 

Hickoryhurst might have used PayHOA’s platform to have its own website, where a quick posting could have provided the adopted wording to residents even before the meeting was completed. Ideally, the rule change would have its own short-term notice on the home page and be permanently integrated into the HOA’s Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions: By being able to read the CC&Rs online, many residents would find answers to their questions without ever involving a board member.

A Wealth of Messaging Options

Email, despite its declining popularity, is still a staple messaging medium for many. Self-managed HOA software could have quickly sent one message during the meeting to the entire HOA membership with the link to the new rule on the association’s website. Email would have provided the bonus of confirming receipt when each received message was opened. Hickoryhurst HOA could readily solve its unintended silence by a rotating assignment schedule during which a specific board member is responsible for checking the community inbox and responding to messages.

Purpose-specific HOA software would also have allowed the board to send a “global” text message to all homeowners to give an immediate alert of the change, along with the link. A third option, pre-recorded voicemails, could add yet another way to be sure all community members were notified, and the security built into the software would direct emails, texts, and calls only to the intended audience.

The best self-managed HOA software offers yet another option for neighborhood communication: Message boards would allow Hickoryhurst residents places to discuss all kinds of community matters, from rules changes to elections and fall festivals to use of pavilions, clubhouses, or other HOA amenities. Keeping such conversations off public social media prevents the appearance of disunity that could discourage potential home buyers from considering the community, lowering property values in the process.

PayHOA can also provide dedicated channels for maintenance and architectural review requests that can alleviate board overload by diverting their messages to maintenance contractors and architecture committee members. In addition, Hickoryhurst and real-life HOAs can use PayHOA to provide a secure communication channel for anonymous violations reports.

Transparency 101

Yet another way self-managed HOA software promotes community trust is by using its workhorse accounting features. The purpose-designed platform can automate and digitize billing, bookkeeping, required notices, and countless other tasks, saving hours of volunteers’ time each month over traditional paper ledgers and mail-based billing, payments, and other communications. PayHOA allows members to check their own payment history and to make payments online through a portal that offers data encryption, two-factor authentication, Level 1 PCI-compliant payment processing, and limits access to private information to only those officers authorized by your HOA board.

PayHOA’s financial capabilities help keep an HOA’s operations timely, accurate, and transparent. It can provide monthly profit and loss statements, balances for operating and reserve accounts, annual budgets, and more, tailoring each document with the level of detail that homeowners find most useful. Having those documents available online to residents offers a level of straightforwardness that keeps homeowners feeling informed and heard and plenty of documentation to arm HOA board members for nearly any conceivable community question.

Neighbors Indeed

Homeowner associations exist largely to maintain their residents’ property values and quality of life. Communication between the HOA and its members supports both of those goals, building trust through transparency and responsiveness on the HOA’s part. Conversely, when homeowners feel kept in the dark about HOA matters or when they can’t get questions answered, frustration ensues and can quickly morph into suspicion. If such distrust intensifies or spreads, defensiveness begins to push out neighborliness, and prospective buyers start looking elsewhere. 

Self-managed HOA software provides multiple channels of communication and makes it easier for officers to respond to residents’ concerns. Add in the financial transparency and task automation that such digital help offers, and it’s easy to see how PayHOA can help build trust in your community.

If you think self-managed HOA software may be a solution for some of the challenges of running your association, start your free, no-obligation, 30-day trial of PayHOA today.