Helen: 0:00

And part of me wanted to say, well, I'm not going to let them force me to lose all of that. That's just it's just wrong. I was just more frustrated than personally offended by it. I guess maybe I had a hope that we could turn it around, or I think I think here's what I thought. I thought, okay, the recall is going to be successful. Everything is going to go down the toilet afterwards. Everyone is going to suddenly think, "Oh wow, we made a huge mistake. This is terrible. And then we will be able to somehow recover.

Announcer: 0:32

HOA Insights is brought to you by five companies

that care about board members: 0:34

Association Insights and Marketplace, Association Reserves, Community Financials, Kevin Davis Insurance Services and the Inspectors of Election. You'll find links to their website and social media in the show notes.

Robert Nordlund: 0:48

Welcome back to HOA Insights: Common Sense for Common Areas. I'm Robert Nordlund, and I'm here today for episode number 169 with a special board member guest whom you've heard previously on our program in episode number 112. Helen is a regular listener and was a board member at her association in Southern California until she was ousted in a leadership upheaval, or you could say a coup over budget issues. Now she's an interested homeowner doing all she can from a homeowner point of view in her attempt to keep new leadership from making foolish decisions that will damage home values. Now, I hope this is not the case at your association, a rogue board who doesn't appreciate that associations are corporations that need to function responsibly, and that owning and maintaining real estate is fundamentally expensive. But we want to share Helen's experience because things like this do happen, and for all the lessons that she's learning about what a homeowner can and can't do to exert her influence. Now, if you're a new listener, we're here weekly with episodes to help you with the hard work of being a board member. Last week, for example, was episode number 168 with regular co-host Julie Adamen, sharing insights from her experience with association leadership and management issues. If you missed it, you can catch prior episodes number 112, where we had Helen before, or last week's. You can catch those episodes on our website, on any major podcast platform, or on our YouTube channel. And if you like the show, by all means, subscribe and join in our mission to improve board member leadership all across the country, one episode and one association at a time. Well, those of you watching on YouTube can see the HOA Insights mug that I have here, that I got from our merch store, which you can browse through from our hoa insights.org website or the link in our show notes. In addition to some board member merch for sale, we have some great free stuff there, like board member Zoom backgrounds that you can download for your next online meeting. Well, we enjoy hearing from you, responding to the issues you're facing at your association, so if you have a hot topic, a crazy story, not like there's any in the community association industry, or a question that you'd like us to address, you can contact us at 805-203-3130 or email us at podcast at hoa insights.org But today's episode is on me. Helen and I have continued to correspond since her appearance on the show, episode 112 and she's in an interesting place now, concerned about her home values, concerned about her reputation as a prior board member, what they did for the association, but now she's doing all this from the point of view as a homeowner, so Helen, welcome back to the program.

Helen: 3:43

Thank you, thank you for having me back again.

Robert Nordlund: 3:46

Well, tell us to start with how long has it been since the board was almost completely removed and replaced?

Helen: 3:52

So it's been just over a year. We have a board of five people, and when we had the recall, three of the five were recalled, and so that was all focused on a contentious special assessment. And the recall effort was focused on replacing those of us who wanted the special assessment with. There were two people on the board already who who did not want the special assessment. There were three of us who did, and so obviously that created voting. We had voting priority, I guess.

Robert Nordlund: 4:27

Yeah, yeah, and exactly divided

Helen: 4:28

board, and so they the recall effort was focused on replacing the three of us who did want special assessment with three people who did not. So then there would be unanimous board who did not want the special assessment,

Robert Nordlund: 4:41

right, or at least a majority. Now, was a special assessment for a big Christmas party or something fun, or was it for something that was just fundamentally necessary to the association?

Helen: 4:54

No, it was for balcony repairs, which you probably know are a big deal, at least. In California and probably in other states too, and also retrofitting, which is also a big deal in California, obviously. And both of those were urgent, important, expensive, and the reserves were not sufficient to cover them. So we were moving ahead with a special assessment plan.

Robert Nordlund: 5:19

Yeah, and I almost want to say that's normally what an association does when they find out that they need money for a roof, or balconies, or asphalt, and they don't have it in reserves. You play the special assessment card, and you say, "Oh darn, tough on us, but everyone needs to belly up and pay the money because our association needs this. Is it kind of that simple?

Helen: 5:44

Exactly. I mean, it's nobody's ideal. Ideally, that you'd have enough accumulated in the reserves that you could cover everything that you needed to. But if you don't, then I think you just have to bite the bullet and and say, well, we need to raise X amount of dollars for this particular project or projects. This is unavoidable, and just let the homeowners know as far in advance as possible.

Robert Nordlund: 6:07

Yeah, I see that expenses are expenses. The property needs a roof, it needs paint, it needs asphalt, and those things maintain property values. And it's in the board's best interest to keep the association well maintained and looking nice, and that is good for community spirit. When people, homeowners or board members tend to focus on the homeowner assessments, I think they're missing the target because the homeowner assessments aren't the costs, the balcony and the roof and the asphalt; those are the costs. Everyone that's a member of the association, they're just providing the income for those essential expenses at the association.

Helen: 6:53

Right, right, exactly. Okay, yeah. If

Robert Nordlund: 6:55

if you want to clamp down on what the homeowner is paying, the bills are still there.

Helen: 7:00

That's right, and and there's inflation, and you know, as you as you say, you know, Mother Nature and Father Time, and so things get more expensive over time, and so the longer you procrastinate over these expenses and these repairs, then it just it just gets more expensive over time.

Robert Nordlund: 7:17

Yeah, I wonder if we're gonna leak the the big news early, and why don't we why don't we just go there? Okay, so you've been off the board over a year. There's been a budget cycle or two, and this new board has taken the reins of the association. And what are they now doing?

Helen: 7:39

Well, the The we can go back to the the recall, which was the recall campaign, which was extremely organized, extremely aggressive. Made some promises to the homeowners: if we are successful, then we're going to do A, B, C, D. And so, when the new board got in, then they proceeded to do everything that they had promised the supporters,

Robert Nordlund: 8:02

which is primarily no special assessment.

Helen: 8:04

Yes, they canceled the repairs. They terminated relationships with the vendors. We lost our property management company, who were unwilling to work with the new board, but but realistically, probably would have been had their contract terminated anyway. They changed the HOA lawyer, so they just removed all of the existing relationships, and then they, you know, fast forward. They very quickly realized that we do need balcony repairs, we do need earthquake retrofitting, we do, and then there are another bunch of other things that they now have to consider, because the insurance companies are mandating that certain things are done. There's a liability that goes with not doing those things, and so yeah, cut to the chase. the The special assessment is back on, and interestingly, it's almost exactly the same amount that we were proposing at the time, 180 It's a complete 180 with no apologies, almost like it was always their plan. So

Robert Nordlund: 9:09

their plan, and you shared something with me before the program. The reason for the special assessment is blame.

Helen: 9:17

Oh, blame. Yes, they said. How did we get here? We got here because the previous board was negligent, which is an interesting argument to make, considering that we were recalled specifically to stop repairs and to stop special assessment. So,

Robert Nordlund: 9:34

yeah, that's crazy. I know

Helen: 9:35

it is absolutely crazy, and yeah, I can't believe they're even trying that argument, but yeah.

Robert Nordlund: 9:43

Well, maybe they're functioning on the philosophy that if you see it often enough, aloud enough, people will believe

Helen: 9:49

it. I'm shocked that anyone believes it. I because we remember it's not that long ago that the recall happened, and we were trying to, you know, raise the alarm that. We have repairs that need to be done really urgently. The reserves are not adequate. We need a special assessment. That was our whole mantra, and they just kept saying no. the The repairs they accepted that repairs were were we had repairs that could be done, but they said, "Oh, it's not. They're not that urgent. They're not that. They don't need to be that extensive. We should be able to fund them from the reserves. We just spread it out over 510, years. Yeah, like forever. Yeah, is it that forever and ever? Now they realize that's not going to work, and so we're kind of right back. In some ways, right back where we started from, and in many ways, in a worse position than when we started,

Robert Nordlund: 10:41

well, yeah, I hear the worst position because the building still needs the repairs, and you've got a couple more years worth of inflation, and it sounds like the insurance company is-I don't want to say piled on, but the timing is there. But they need some things done, or your premiums are probably going to go way up, or you'll get canceled, or something like that. Oh, and then we have Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and they're also wanting to make sure that your building is in good condition. They like sustainability. That's good for property values. And now I'm wringing my hands just about this whole situation. Okay, this must have felt like a real slap in the face to you because special assessment is not fun, and it takes a lot of courage to do that. And they kicked you off to the side.

Helen: 11:33

It was definitely painful. I mean, I'm I'm a homeowner too, so I would have to. I mean, you know, the board members have to pay the special assessments, so it's not like there's anything we we weren't going to skirt that. So it's definitely everyone's last last option or last preferred option. But yeah, it it was hard, and I think the recall campaign was particularly aggressive, motivated people to vote for the recall by saying that myself and the other board members were at best incompetent and at worst corrupt, and they made flyers and put flyers all over the building with our names on it. How we were just terrible, horrible, no good people, and the property management was terrible, and the vendor was corrupt and just trying to make money, and it was this whole conspiracy theory narrative that was just created to motivate people to get really angry and to to vote for the recall. And so, I think trying to survive that, not take sounds weird, not take it personally. It was intensely personal, but but you realize that it's not really personal because they're just angry. They're angry. They have to pay money.

Unknown: 12:43

Yeah,

Helen: 12:43

I I genuinely know I was doing what I felt was the best, and I still think is was the best. So, kind of trying to separate myself from that.

Robert Nordlund: 12:52

Yeah. Well, I think seeing that the new board is facing exactly the same expenses, if not higher, that you faced, and they've come around, like you said, 180 degrees from being adamantly against it to realizing that oh, that is the path forward, and we are board members of this corporation, and we have, even though we don't like it, we have a responsibility to raise the money to care for the common areas. Couple more follow-ups. Did you consider selling and moving and saying I'm out, I don't want to live here?

Helen: 13:28

Yes, for a very very for for a hot minute. But you know, I really I really love where we live. It's a great community. It's a great part of town, you know. There's there's so much that we enjoy. We enjoy our neighbors, and part of me wanted to say, "Well, I'm not going to let them force me to lose all of that. That's just it's just wrong. I was just more frustrated than personally offended by it. I guess maybe I had a hope that we could turn it around, or I think I think here's what I thought. I thought, okay, the recall is going to be successful. Everything is going to go down the toilet afterwards. Everyone is going to suddenly think, "Oh wow, we made a huge mistake.

Robert Nordlund: 14:11

Yeah,

Helen: 14:12

this is terrible. And then we will be able to somehow recover. And I still hope that will be the case. I haven't given up on that, but it's you know we're we're more than a year past the recall now, and there is no sign. Well, the special assessment is back on, which I think is good.

Robert Nordlund: 14:31

Yes,

Helen: 14:31

but in terms of the the community recovering, and it's going to take a very long time before I feel like people have realized the mistake that we've made, they've accepted the special assessment to some degree, but I feel like they still haven't pulled back and looked and gone, oh, this maybe this recall wasn't such a good idea, and we should have done the special assessment two years ago when it would have been, you know, we would have got more for our money. I think

Robert Nordlund: 14:58

how long our board term. At your association,

Helen: 15:01

they are two years, and they're you know staggered two and three.

Robert Nordlund: 15:05

Okay, so there may be some cycling out. I guess we'll we'll wait and see. That'll be an episode in the future where we find out on the on that one. Let me ask also: Is it a large enough community that your neighbors know you, and you're still smiling when you come from your car with a couple bags of groceries. Do you still feel like your friends are still your friends?

Helen: 15:28

Yeah, I do. Our immediate neighbors are are really really sweet. We also have some you know great renters around us who you know are probably blissfully ignorant of all of the drama of the HOA, especially during the recall, and probably continuing continuing on, there are some people who won't make eye contact with me. We had one neighbor who wouldn't get in the elevator with me.

Announcer: 15:51

Really?

Helen: 15:52

Yeah. Some people just have, you know, clearly, and I, I don't know if they're angry, if they're frustrated, if they're disappointed, if the I don't really know what it's what's behind it, but it has impacted some relationships with with neighbors, sadly.

Robert Nordlund: 16:07

Yeah, or maybe they don't know. They don't know if they can still like you or if they should dislike you. They know you, but they've heard bad things about you, and they they just don't know the truth yet, and so they maybe don't know how to work with that. Interesting. Okay, tell me what have you been doing? It sounds like you've been going to the board meetings.

Helen: 16:29

Yes, and honestly, that was if I can give some advice to anyone in my situation, I think that was probably one of the best things that we did. The three of us who were removed from the board, we just made a decision. The first board meeting after the recall is a really tough one. You have to kind of think, okay, how do I want to continue here? And there would be every reason in the world just to go and hide in your unit and put your feet up on the couch and say, you know, I'm off the hook and I'm going to just enjoy my life. And also, there was a lot of like really open celebrating with the recall and like rah rah, we beat you. It was just really obnoxious. I didn't really want to deal with any more of that. But you know, I'm still a homeowner. I still care about the association. I still care what the board is saying, what the board is telling owners about different things. That some things I just know are not true, so I like to be there and hear what's being said. Yeah, ask some questions. You know, maybe some more pointed questions than other homeowners would ask because I know a bit more about the background. So yeah, the three of us who were who removed from the board, we we kind of got together for the first board meeting after the recall, and decided, yeah, you know, we we do need to stay in in the fight, even though it's painful. We we we're not ashamed. We're not embarrassed. We're not going to slink into the shadows. Yeah, which was kind of the pressure to that. That's kind of how they were treating us as if we had something to be ashamed of. And it's like, no, we were acting in good faith, trying to do the best we could. And were we going to sit in the front row of that board meeting? Yeah, stay in

Robert Nordlund: 18:06

it, feeling just nice, great feeling that you and the other board members were there because you had done nothing wrong. You were there in the front row, still your association. You're still interested homeowners. You know, can we say sticks and stones will break sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never

Helen: 18:27

hurt. Yeah. Well,

Robert Nordlund: 18:28

that's it's really not true. Words really hurt. Yeah, they

Helen: 18:32

can. Yeah.

Robert Nordlund: 18:32

But you can be the bigger person and say, "Hey, I'm here to support my association. I guess I have one more question before we should probably take a break, and then we'll we'll talk more about the board and the dynamics of that. But before we go to break, what do you think the chances are for a recall of the recall with people rallying to now kick this board out for proposing a special assessment?

Helen: 18:58

Oh, for proposing a special assessment, I think, yeah, I don't get any sense that there's there's any resistance to this special assessment. Strangely, this one is fine, exactly the same dollar amount, almost. But yeah, strangely, this one is fine, and ours was not fine. And it was really about the personalities that they managed to demonize and connects to it. They painted it as being a corrupt process in the past, and this one is a pure process. I don't know.

Robert Nordlund: 19:23

Interesting.

Helen: 19:24

Yeah, I mean, so few people go to the board meetings that, but those are the people I see, and they tend to be the people who supported the recall. So I think I get a bit of a slanted view of what the average homeowner thinks, and I'm I am really curious what what generally homeowners think about this special assessment, like are they really feeling whippora? They they should be, you know. Like wait, you told me I didn't need a special assessment; that it was all a you know a whole a big ruse. And now what happened? And oh, was it really the previous board who who messed everything up? You know, I'm cur I'm curious. I'd like to do a survey.

Robert Nordlund: 19:58

Yeah, that would be very. Interesting. There's yeah, I have so many questions going on in my brain, but I'll get the time, and it's time to take a quick break. Helen, let's do just that. It's time to hear from one of our generous sponsors. After which, we'll be back with more common sense for common areas.

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Robert Nordlund: 20:45

And we're back. Well, Helen, you told us that you've been going to board meetings and not in an annoying way, but just proudly. You have nothing to hide. I think that's fantastic. But how is the content or the tone different? Are are they running a different kind of style of leadership there?

Helen: 21:05

They are definitely doing that. One of the things that they tried to do to separate themselves from our board to kind of draw the distinction was to say that they were being much more transparent. They were listening to the homeowners. It's interesting because they talk a lot about transparency, a lot. Again, just try, which is a good thing, right?

Robert Nordlund: 21:29

I'm in favor of transparency. Yeah,

Helen: 21:31

I thought we were a transparent board, also, but but but they they talk a lot about it, but they do almost all of the meetings are executive sessions, which they have almost weekly. Oh, yes, and they have these monster agendas, which we get notified of like 24 hours ahead of time, which I'm pretty sure is not a good idea. And then the board meeting, the open session, has become just a kind of town hall for announcements of what they've already decided in executive session, so it's a really interesting, you know, the transparency thing is we you can say it, but I'm not seeing any of it. In fact, I'm seeing a lot less transparency than we had because we don't actually get to see them doing any board business or any, you know, discussing anything, or we don't see their their views being shared, you know, because the the open sessions are literally just announcements, which honestly could be done by email, and then a very extended Q and A. But it's I think it's focused on making the homeowners feel less anxious, like they have the board's ear, like they're listening. So some of that is is good, and I think I've actually they actually are doing better job than we did at at sort of managing homeowner anxiety.

Robert Nordlund: 22:52

Okay,

Helen: 22:52

but but I think the transparency thing is is complete nonsense. Yeah, yeah, it's just talk. It's just talk. What comes out in the minutes is so much more extensive than what was actually talked about at the meeting, which was interesting also. But I think that you know they're they're focused on now. Prospective buyers have access to a lot of information, and mortgage lenders have access to a lot of information, including meeting minutes. And so I get the sense that the meeting minutes are being crafted to reassure certain people that there's more things going on than than there really is.

Robert Nordlund: 23:28

Interesting.

Helen: 23:29

So when

Robert Nordlund: 23:31

we've had episodes to talk about meeting minutes, they talk about meeting minutes are to be a summary of actions. It's not a PR piece and meeting it should be short and concise. And the landscape contract was discussed, and we voted three to two to hire ABC Management Company. And just moving the action, the action, the action, the action, and the hearing from the homeowners is usually a short portion of the meeting. Not like you say, it sounds like it's more of a town hall than a business meeting, and that's telling right there. Let's take you back to 2345, years ago. What could you have done differently? Are there things you wish you could have done differently? Things like vision statement or mission statement, or communicating more about an impending special assessment, or what do you have some thoughts about if you had a time machine? What would you do differently?

Helen: 24:34

I think the thing that I would do differently-it's been very interesting being a board member for a long time and then not being a board member for the first time in you know probably 15 years, I was so used to knowing what was going on, and it's actually very hard to not know what's going on. And so I realized for the average homeowner, they really have very little idea if they don't go. Board meetings, which most homeowners don't, and they don't read the minutes. Which who knows how many homeowners do, but I suspect most don't read the minutes either. They really have no idea what's going on, and so I think if I could have the time again, I would probably prioritize just sending out weekly, maybe biweekly, so like newsletter, email, just bullet points. This is what's going on in our association because it's really interesting how little information gets out there if you don't go to the meetings. And even then, it's kind of a little distorted because what gets in the minutes and what's talked about the meetings is kind of. I feel like the homeowners are almost running the meeting, and the board is just answering questions.

Robert Nordlund: 25:41

Got it. Geographically, the way the association is laid out, are there choke points? Like, could you have posted rather than email it? Could you have posted a newsletter at the door from the garage to the lobby or at the elevator banks? Things like that. Are there places that are great communication spots?

Helen: 25:59

Yeah, absolutely. We have notice boards. We have quite a big building, and we have notice boards. We have, yeah, the elevators are great places to post notices, and we we do use those spaces occasionally. So yeah, we we could have done that. I think communication. I know you talk a lot about it on the podcast, but it really is shocking. It is have now. I'm on the other side of it. It's like, oh wow, wow! It's it's it's it's interesting being in the dark. I feel like I'm in the

Robert Nordlund: 26:26

dark. Yeah, I wonder what the board's doing with my money. I

Helen: 26:30

know

Robert Nordlund: 26:31

that's crazy. Okay, well, we do see one thing. We do see that, and you and I talked about this as we were preparing for this episode. Questions that every board

faces: 26:41

How much money do we have? How much money do we need? And when do we need it? And how are we going to get there? Sometimes there's that emotional reaction of, "Oh no, the homeowner assessments are going to go up again this year. They just went up last year, or the special assessment. You don't, as a homeowner, you don't like that, but the board's got to do

what the board's got to do: 27:02

that balance the budget and maintain the common areas, collect the assessments, uphold the rules, provide for the sustainability of the association. There's not a lot of choices there, and so we got again. I find it fascinating that a rogue board that was 100% opposed to the special assessment is now lobbying to pass basically the same assessment. I find that absolutely fascinating, and it's very telling that the association physically drives the costs. It's not the choice of the board on what we want to set the assessments at.

Helen: 27:41

That's exactly right. You you you have the numbers don't lie. You know, and and you can always say a particular vendor or contractor is exaggerating, and you know, oh, they're just trying to make money, and you know, they're telling you things need to be done that really don't need to be done. But I think it's also tempting to just go with that argument as a way of avoiding telling the homeowners that they need to pay more in the HOA dues or have a special assessment. It's really it's it's hard. You can't be popular. You know, some homeowners will be very angry with you, but that is our that is the board's job is to make sure that the HOA is funded and that the building gets repaired, so just have to yeah. Wherever

Robert Nordlund: 28:26

go when I was president to my association, one of the first things we did was pass a special assessment because we just didn't have the money to take care of the place. It's a real political process to lobby the homeowners to understand that this is going to cost this much, we only have this much, and rainy season is coming, and it's it's our association. Speaking of that, did you have any unifying documents, a vision statement, a mission statement, something like that, that was that helped to provide continuity across boards.

Helen: 29:02

We did not, and I think we would have been well served to have those continuity between boards is very difficult, and and typically you just have one one or two board members because the the terms are normally staggered. So you have you know one person comes in, one person goes out, or you know two people come in, two two people come out. But in the case of a recall, it's such a dramatic change, and I think you lose a lot of institutional knowledge and just you know the the way of doing things, why things have been done a certain way, what the rules are, the policies are, and

Robert Nordlund: 29:32

why.

Helen: 29:33

Yeah, and why exactly? There's there's always a why, even if something seems crazy, like oh, why do we do this a certain way? Well, it's because something you know that there's there's always a reason.

Robert Nordlund: 29:43

Yeah, there's because garbage collection is on Tuesday. That's why we have the landscaper come on Monday, so all the vegetation waste gets taken away. You know, there's

Helen: 29:53

you have to see the big picture, and I think homeowners, you know, a concerned homeowner who gets on the board maybe still only. These are very narrow, narrow piece of the pie. So, trying to see the whole, the whole picture.

Robert Nordlund: 30:05

Tell me about the importance of volunteers. Is the new board embracing volunteers, like for the landscaping committee or the finance committee or anything like that, or they kind of keeping things to themselves?

Helen: 30:18

They are very concerned with keeping everyone happy. So the first committee they did set up was a community. I think it's called the Community Life Committee. Basically, plan plan social events and you know things that kind of bring the community together, which which is good and is especially needed after recall. Apart from that, there aren't. I don't think there are any other committees, so that could be something that I think they would really benefit from. They've contacted specific homeowners who have expertise in specific industries for advice. I know they've done that, but I'm not aware of any any other formal committees that they've that they've been using.

Robert Nordlund: 30:58

Yeah, when I've heard of tension? Obviously, the transparency is good to for the board to reach out and embrace volunteers and to have a number of homeowners. It's also a very possible pipeline to future board members, but getting input and it's a small time commitment, and again, more transparency, and you have more people peeking in and seeing the

numbers, and deciding: 31:26

Are we going to replant these things, or what are the pool hours? Are we going to change the pool hours? Are we going to change the rules? Have a rules committee spreading out the information burden, and also gathering more people onto the team of leadership, often I sense that that's a healthy thing. Well, Helen, look at the clock and it's time. And before this, before we started recording, we joked about this could be a mini series, and I do believe we're going to have you back. But let me ask you one last question before I wrap, and that's. Are you going to run for the board again?

Helen: 32:03

Good question. I really enjoyed being on the board. Actually, I really did until the very end. I would consider it that there has actually been an annual an annual meeting since the recall.

Robert Nordlund: 32:16

Okay,

Helen: 32:16

and there were actually there's only two members of the recall board. The new board after the recall. There's only two members that are still surviving on the board. There's been such a lot of turnover, so it hasn't been a very stable board.

Robert Nordlund: 32:29

Okay.

Helen: 32:30

And people were asking me if I was going to run again, but it was only like six months after the recall, and the the a lot of the arguments that the recall campaigners used were still you know, they were very active. They were still out there. It was too soon. Yeah, the sentiment

Robert Nordlund: 32:44

was still there against the

Helen: 32:45

sentiment was yeah exactly. And I was not going to be successful in any way, shape, or form. It was just going to be a rerun of the recall. So I, I, I'll keep it in my back pocket as a the future.

Robert Nordlund: 32:56

We get some homeowner mail to was it podcast at hoa insights.org And what do I do about my board? They're not doing open elections. They're not showing us the money, and we say run for the board. And I just wondered if you are what do you say once burned, twice shy. But I, it sounds like your association could really benefit from having you back on the board, so we'll keep that as a maybe for the future.

Helen: 33:27

Yeah, maybe. I mean, as a homeowner, you just want good leadership. You just want people who see what what what we see. You know, the the expenses are what they are. Just do the right thing. Be brave. I will be happy with that. But if there's an opportunity for me to make a positive contribution, I'll certainly I'll certainly look into that too. So,

Robert Nordlund: 33:46

I love that, Helen. It was great having you on the program. Back on the program, I should say, to get an update on what you're experiencing, supporting your association from a little bit the outside as a homeowner when you used to see the numbers and know all the numbers. So, any any final closing thoughts to share with the audience at this time?

Helen: 34:05

It's so easy to let the homeowners think that that that they will never have to pay any extra money, and so I think the best boards can do is to just be honest with about the finances, let the homeowners know what is coming. Special assessments, increase in dues, just so they can plan their own personal finances. Now the board plans the HOA finances, and people have to plan their own personal finances. And the worst thing they that they can hear is like,"Oh, you need a special assessment. Oh, no, you don't. Yes, you do. No, you don't. Yes, you do.

Unknown: 34:38

Yeah,

Helen: 34:39

crazy making for any homeowner, so I think the best we can do is just be honest with our homeowners and help them plan.

Robert Nordlund: 34:45

Yep. Well, I don't think I ever asked you. Is this a four-figure special assessment or a five-figure? How how big are we talking here?

Helen: 34:51

This is. It's going to be about 16,000

Robert Nordlund: 34:54

So it's a five-figure special assessment. Yeah, this is a big deal.

Helen: 34:57

Yeah, it's it's very significant. Yeah, and. And it takes a long time to plan these things too, so you know, like it's not you can't start one of those things quickly.

Robert Nordlund: 35:07

Well, if it was only 500 bucks, then I would have been surprised that they'd pull a recall for 500 bucks. But for 16 grand, that's that'll get under some people's skin, and I can understand the fight. Okay. Okay. Well, we we'll probably have a follow up in about a year to find out what went on. Did the special assistant pass? That's right. All these kinds of things. We certainly hope you learned some HOA insights from our discussion today that helps you bring common sense to your common areas. We look forward to having you join us for another great episode next week.

Announcer: 35:42

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