How Minimum Slope Hurts & Helps

Your Association depends upon the timely receipt of your monthly assessments from the homeowners in order to meet its financial obligations. When the Board approves your community’s budget, it assumes two things: the amount of income must equal the amount of expenses, and, that each homeowner will pay his or her maintenance assessment in a timely manner. If one or the other fails to happen, it then leads to a cash flow problem, which usually results in costing everyone more money in the long run.

Your community depends entirely upon the monthly assessments to pay its bills (insurance, landscapers, water, electricity, gas, management, etc.). Every time homeowners are delinquent in paying their assessments it creates a “cash flow shortage” that may prevent the Association from paying its bills on time. There is
no other source of income available to make up for the shortage. If the Association “borrows” money from the capital reserves to pay for operating expenses, it is still required to pay it back, which in turn creates even more expenses.

Even when a few homeowners fail to pay their assessments on time it ends up costing all of the residents more money. That is because since most of your community’s expenses are predetermined, the only way to make up for a cash flow problem is to increase the amount of money coming in, or raise your monthly assessment amount. Everyone can take part in keeping their Community’s expenses down, and one of the best ways is to make sure that your monthly assessment check is sent on time!

How DSI Helps You Save Energy

Dealing with dog waste is a subject that every pet owner must deal with, but no one likes to discuss. In addition to being a nuisance, uncollected dog waste is a serious problem for any Association. Canine waste is the greatest source of potential health risk for your pet and your family. Next time you are tempted to leave your dog’s droppings on the sidewalk, playgrounds, common areas, or walking path remember these important facts:

1. The Environmental Protection Agency is becoming aggressive about enforcing the Clean Water Act. Your Association could be fined if dog waste remains uncollected.

2. Uncollected dog waste may lead to a special assessment. If fined by the EPA, the Association could face a potential special assessment that would be levied against all residents—not just dog owners.

3. The appearance and quality of the common areas are known to affect home sales—not just whether and for how much they sell, but how quickly.

4. Uncollected dog waste spreads disease and attracts rodents who feed on pet waste. In addition, your dog can spread or contract serious viruses through infected feces. It is your responsibility to clean up after your pet every time they go to the bathroom. Don’t make your responsibility somebody else’s problem.

Explaining Ice Damming to Business Owners

Many homeowners continue to ask the question why does their Community need a replacement reserve fund?

Major components such as a pool, playground equipment, roofs, or siding must be replaced from time to time, regardless of whether or not the Community Association plans for the expense. It is in the Community Association’s best interest to set aside the funds now. Reserve funds are not an extra expense—they just spread out expenses more evenly. There are other important reasons that Association monies should be put into reserves every month:

Reserve funds meet legal, fiduciary, and professional requirements. A replacement reserve fund may be required by:

• Any secondary mortgage market in which the Association participates
• State statutes, regulations, or court decisions
• The Community’s governing documents

Reserve funds provide for major repairs and replacements that we know will be necessary at some point in time. Although a roof may be replaced when it is 25 years old, every owner who lives under or around it should share its replacement costs.

Reserve funds minimize the need for special assessments or loans. For most Association members, this is the most important reason.

It should also be noted that the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) requires the Community Association to disclose its reserve funds in its financial statements.

Reserve funds enhance resale values. Lenders and real estate agents are aware of the ramifications for new buyers if the reserves are inadequate. Many states require Associations to disclose the amounts in their reserve funds to prospective purchasers.