Page 22 - CooperatorNews Nevada EXPO 2021

22 COOPERATORNEWS NEVADA—
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entirely capable of making valuable con-
tributions to the community, says Mary
Breedlove, manager of the Augusta Village
Homeowners Association in Plainfield, Il-
linois. “We had a renter in a community
who wanted to get involved, and was ap-
pointed to the board—not elected, as we
did not reach quorum to run an election
meeting,” she recalls. “He was a great asset
because his comments and decisions were
not emotionally triggered, but business-
based. After a couple of meetings, thanks
to his methodical approach, the rest of
the board became more likely to put their
emotions aside and operate the association
like a fine-tuned machine.”
Further Inspection
Occasionally, a non-resident steps up to
join the board purely out of necessity.
“In today’s age and time, we often can’t
get homeowners to complete their proxies
to even hold an annual election meeting,
much less run for the board,” laments Breed-
love. And that means that some boards need
to cast their nets more widely to get enough
members to run the association.
And Schneider notes that, in instances
where there are enough volunteers to serve
on the board, non-residents are not likely
to express interest. When it comes to non-
resident board members, he says, “the prob-
lems occur on a case-by-case basis more eral, it just seems to be human nature that
than they do conceptually. When there are people will treat a home differently than
problems, the bad actor normally just gets they treat an investment.”
voted out. And the community is going to
be aware that someone doesn’t reside in the issues can become prevalent when a board
building, so they take that into consider-
ation when voting.”
Occasionally the conflict boils down to [non-resident board members] to present a
perception, says Gary M. Daddario, a part-
ner with Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks uments presents a straightforward solution.
P.C., a condo law firm based in Massachu-
setts and New Hampshire. “Sometimes, of the owners, then residency can become a
when non-residents are elected to a board, qualification for serving on the board.”
there is real split interest,” he says. “Other
times, it is something that the community
perceives to be a split interest. But in gen-
All the pros agree that communication
features non-residents. “The biggest concern
I have had is when too many of the board
members are out of town at the same time
in event of a meeting,” says Crawford.
“The owners in attendance will be upset.
That said, because of technology, board
members can and do conference call in to
address owners and conduct their board
meeting. This has worked out very well.
Then, when the board members are all
in town, we’ll schedule a workshop or a
walking inspection of the property.”
Regardless of any concerns, non-
residents are certainly eligible to run for
the board, unless the association docu-
ments specifically prohibit that. “Some
argue that, if elected by the community,
the concern ends there, because the peo-
ple have spoken,” says Daddario. “But
I believe that it depends on the circum-
stances. In any event, if a community finds
problem, amendment of the governing doc-
If the amendment passes by requisite vote
n
Mike Odenthal is a frequent contributor to
CooperatorNews.
“Board members
are on the same page
regarding the running
of the association,
regardless of their living
status—at least most of
the time.”
— Coleen Crawford
NON-RESIDENT...
continued from page 21
active fob to slip back into the building,
and killed his estranged wife. Horrible as it
was, the case was closed quickly; the hus-
band’s fob left an electronic fingerprint that
included not only his identification, but the
exact time of his entry. He was immediately
apprehended and the case solved.
Fob systems are also easily integrated
with other forms of technology, and can
be incorporated with a wide array of sur-
veillance systems and phone apps. Dahlin
explains that if you have a wifi connection,
you can control access even better and in-
tegrate heating and lighting controls in one
holistic system. Fob systems also eliminate
the need for residents or staff members
to carry a heavy, bulky ring with multiple
metal keys, providing them with one item
that will open all the doors in one building,
including machine rooms, storage areas,
garages, and adjacent parking facilities.
Fob systems also provide the ability to
grant temporary access, which can come
in very handy for contractors and work
crews doing short-term or even extended
projects on-site. A fob can also contain an
‘alert’ that will send a notification when it’s
being used. That lets property staff, admin-
istrators, or managers know when some-
one who had the fob may be trying to gain
entrance without permission, or outside of
CONTROLLING...
continued from page 8