The Carriages at Parliament Place

Value Management

Oct 08, 2003

One of the key aspects of setting up a home owner's association (HOA) is to establish a set of standards and codified behavior for members, that, if followed, should help to retain the value of our investments. We are all familiar with the covenants and rules delivered to each of us at the time of closing the deal.

The developer (Class Homes / Elite Properties) selected Warren Management Group (WMG) to serve as their day-to-day property managers for our project, as they have done on a number of other local projects. WMG is under contract to set up the initial HOA, organize the Board of Directors meetings, establish dues collection, oversee the landscaping, snow removal, and maintenance contracts in coordination with the developer.

In my opinion, WMG have not done a good job of keeping residents informed of the Board agenda and deliberations, have been ineffective in setting a policy regarding satellite dishes, have not followed up on resident requests for action, and have taken a rather one-sided view of the issues we face as a community. The letter of last May addressing 'screen / storm door' standards went too far in specifying a color, brand, and supplier; and the recent letter about parking policy went over the edge as too constricting, being unenforceable, and addressing what is a non-issue in the first place.

There is a fine line that needs to be respected between the external and internal influences on our HOA rules. As the residents, we need to have a say in setting the rules.

Who will be our voices? We'll find out as volunteers for Board positions are announced and elected.

We need to take control of our own destiny, and either manage WMG ourselves, or find an alternative. The Community Association Institute has a wealth of information on how this should be done. We need to get smarter, and preserve our mangement value.

That's the way I see it, at least. Opinions?

Len Campaigne
2062 London Carriage