Board member roles and responsibilities

HOA Board President

HOA president’s responsibilities focus on overseeing the functioning of the association and decision-making. Typically, the president would have the final say when deciding on various initiatives and projects. Any initiative that the board can’t decide on unanimously can be pushed forward or halted by the president.

But that also means that anyone serving as the HOA president must understand bylaws and regulations at an incredible level, if only to have all the insights required to make a well-informed decision.

Finally, because the president’s function is to ensure that the association functions at a full capacity, the person must also have an in-depth understanding of all the ins and outs of the association.

Duties:

Overseeing the association’s activities
Decision making
Presiding and running meetings

HOA Board Treasurer

The HOA treasurer handles the association’s money and financial matters. As part of their job, the treasurer will also conduct internal controls and monitor how the funds are being handled in the HOA. In addition, they will maintain financial records, conduct regular audits of the finances, create the HOA’s annual budget and deal with the association’s taxes. The treasurer might also be responsible for overseeing the HOAs insurance to ensure that the association has adequate insurance types - casualty, fidelity, worker’s compensation, and other necessary protections.

Duties:

Overseeing the association’s financial matters
Preparing annual budgets
Managing financial records
Dealing with the association’s taxes

HOA Board Vice President

FACT: At first sight, the duties and responsibilities of a vice president might seem almost identical to what the president does in an HOA. The vice president will work closely with the president and often take over that role when the president isn’t present. It might happen when the president is away, on vacation, out sick, or cannot focus on their regular duties for any other reason.

Aside from acting on the president’s behalf, the vice-president might be responsible for various projects and oversee specific areas of the HOAs operations.

For that reason, their knowledge of bylaws, regulations, and the workings of an association must match those of the president.

Duties:

Acting on behalf of the president when the president is either away or unable to focus on their regular duties

HOA Board Secretary

The HOA secretary handles all the documentation within the association. This might include managing all the HOAs documents, communicating with other board members and the residents, updating records, submitting forms, and managing the legal paperwork.

The secretary would also notify the board and residents of upcoming meetings and record meeting minutes.

Duties:

Overseeing the HOA’s documents and records.
Notifying about board meetings and recording the minutes.

Obligations and responsibilities of the HOA Board

Maintaining common areas.

In a typical HOA community, the responsibility to maintain and upkeep individual properties rests with residents. The HOA board might define covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) that each community member agrees to adhere to. However, it’s the HOA’s board of directors that’s responsible for maintaining the common areas. This might include maintaining streets and pavements, contracting landscapers to mown the green areas, and so on.

Managing the financial business of the association.

Although largely overseen by the treasurer, the whole board will participate in managing the HOAs financials. This might include setting up budgets, deciding how to allocate funds, collecting assessments, paying the association’s expenses, and record keeping.

Community management company role and responsibility

HOA board members work hand-in-hand with their HOA management company to run an association. Much like a machine, the HOA board and the management company make up different parts that, together, keep the community in continuous operation.

However, unlike a machine, the lines of responsibility between the HOA board vs HOA management company can start to blur. Before long, HOA managers are performing functions meant for the HOA board.

Discerning which responsibilities fall under the board’s control and which ones belong to the management company is the first step to preventing such a mishap. While an HOA board can benefit from the help of a management company, some duties should remain for the board alone.

After all, HOA managers are not supposed to act as board members in an association. Therefore, the functions they perform should reflect that.

Running a community association is, in many ways, similar to running a business — it takes a great deal of work. Though some smaller communities can operate smoothly with the board alone, larger ones require external help.

Most HOA boards bring in an HOA manager or management company to assist with day-to-day operations. While the role of a management company is to offer a helping hand, the board should still retain all decision-making tasks.

HOA management company duties include assisting with administrative work, executive board decisions, and communicating with residents. When it comes to creating policies and fine schedules, the board handles all of that.

Homeowners association management companies essentially act as advisors, not leaders. For instance, while a homeowner with accounting experience can manage the association’s finances and create reports, it is not always practical to perpetually have the same person on the board. HOA management companies employ accounting and financial managers who can help with this area.

Another aspect management companies can help with is maintenance. These companies do not perform repairs and maintenance work themselves, though. Rather, they make sure maintenance vendors have proper insurance and coordinate with them on behalf of the board.

Avoiding Common Misunderstandings

It is important for HOA boards not to operate under a misapprehension regarding HOA management companies. These companies have limited power and are simply performing their contractual duties.

Learning the difference in responsibilities between the HOA board vs HOA management company is paramount to preventing misunderstandings.

HOA board members may be tempted to delegate decision-making tasks to the management company to lighten their own load. However, HOA boards have a duty to the community and must, therefore, refrain from giving the management company too much control.