Blog

What Insurance Carriers See That Perhaps Your Funding Plan Doesn’t Take Into Consideration

By Charlotte Allen, CIRMS

This article first appeared in the Communicator Magazine, Summer 2026 Issue.

The reserve study is something well- intentioned community associations take seriously. It gets updated every three years, disclosed to homeowners annually, drives budgets, shapes special assessment conversations and gives boards and community members a sense of security. And, I’m here to tell you it often has a blind spot, one that is unexpectedly impacting communities.

The Reserve Study Does What It’s Supposed to Do

Let me be clear, I am not here to criticize reserve studies. They are legally required under our Civil Code for very good reasons. A well-prepared reserve study identifies major components of your association’s common areas and estimates their remaining useful life, develops replacement and repair cost estimates and lays out a plan so that the association isn’t blindsided by a...

By Andrea O’Toole, ESQ., & Mary Macias

This article first appeared in the Communicator Magazine, Summer 2026 Issue.

Introduction

Homeowners associations across California increasingly turn to bank financing to address critical infrastructure needs, fund large-scale capital improvements, bridge unexpected funding gaps and fund construction defect litigation. Whether the project involves repaving roads, replacing aging roofing systems or upgrading common-area amenities, the financial demands of maintaining a well-functioning community often exceed what current reserves and regular assessments can cover. In these situations, a bank loan can be a prudent and strategic tool that allows boards to act decisively without imposing sudden, burdensome special assessments on homeowners or, where special assessments cannot be avoided, allow owners flexible and long-term payment options.

Obtaining a bank loan is not as simple as filling out an application. Lenders evaluating association borrower...

By Paul Reeves

This article first appeared in the Communicator Magazine, Summer 2026 Issue.

The Bid Is Not the Starting Line

Every week, I talk to boards and property managers who are in a hurry to get bids out. I get it. There’s real pressure. The owners are asking questions, the reserve study is flagging things and it feels like the clock is running. So, the natural instinct is: Let’s get it priced and move on.

The problem is that the RFP is downstream. By the time you send it out, the important decisions have already been made, whether you made them deliberately or not. If the scope isn’t right going in, you don’t get clean bids. You get guessing. Every contractor fills in the blanks differently, and then you’re trying to compare apples to oranges and wondering why the bids are $200,000 apart.

The real work happens earlier. It starts with understanding what your property has actually been through.

Pull Out the Reserve Study. Then Ask What It Actually Assumed.

Most boards trea...

Article By Samantha Romero

This article first appeared in the Communicator Magazine, Spring 2026 Issue.  

When people talk about community engagement, it usually turns into a conversation regarding hosting more events, creating additional committees or sending more follow-­up emails. There’s this assumption that if you just do more, people will feel more connected.

That hasn’t been my experience. What I’ve seen is that engagement lives in the day-to-day. It’s about how homeowners are spoken to, whether they feel comfortable reaching out, and whether they think management is made up of actual people or just an email address that responds with policy language.

When I first stepped into my role, there was a pretty obvious disconnect between management and homeowners. Most communication to management came in hot, and you could feel the tension even in short emails. It was never meant to be mean; it was more that homeowners didn’t expect to be heard, so they led with frustration.

My te...

By Ashley Vos

This article first appeared in our Communicator Magazine, Winter 2026 Issue.

What does being a good neighbor look like in a world where your primary connection to the community is on an app, not a shared driveway conversation? It’s a real question for community associations today. Connections used to be created face-to-face, communication happened through a phone call or a let- ter, and meetings always took place in person. Now, the modern world runs at a relentless pace, and residents expect information instantly. Additionally, man- agers are struggling with larger work- loads and tighter deadlines. Because of this, digital platforms, automation, and online portals have become essential to managing an HOA.  

Yet, with all of this progress, how do we keep technology from becoming a barrier to connection?  

To build a strong association, we have to recognize that while tech cannot replace personal relationships, it can be used to enhance them! When used intentionally, ...

By Anuj Gupta

This article first appeared in our Communicator Magazine, Summer 2025 Edition.

If you’ve been on an HOA board long enough, you know that financial conversations usually revolve around the obvious – roof replacement, paving schedules, insurance premiums, maybe even lawsuits. But there’s one line item that shows up on every budget, year after year, and yet doesn’t always get the long‐term thought it deserves: landscaping.

Most communities treat landscape maintenance as an operational expense, a necessary part of keeping things neat. What often gets missed is that land‐ scaping is actually tied to some of the biggest financial decisions your association will face – whether it’s planning for reserves, avoiding special assessments, managing liability, or keeping property values high. I’ve worked with enough HOAs over the last 10 years to see that the communities who take a long‐term, strategic view of their landscaping avoid headaches. The ones who don’t? They’re usually the ...

By Jacqueline Vanacek

This article first appeared in The Communicator Magazine, Spring 2025.

When I moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Gulf Coast of Florida, I thought I was done being an HOA board president. Not so! Now I have one HOA foot on each coast.

It is fascinating to see homeowner associations end to end, from a builder board in Florida to an owner board in California. And boy are those board objectives different. In 2024, I attended CAI West Florida Chapter’s “Home On The Range” to learn about Florida’s HOA best practices. As a California board director living in a Florida HOA, I was looking for common ground.

WHERE DID HOAS COME FROM?

California has the largest number of homeowner associations in the country, with approximately 80% of multi-family residences in HOAs. Homeowner associations (HOAs), or common interest developments (CIDs), first appeared in the 1960s when high density housing exploded. Cash-strapped municipalities looked to “associations” to fund...

What’s Best for Your HOA Reserve Funds? 
By Lisa Beaty & John Polovick

For HOAs, financial stability and long-term planning are crucial. Funds often sit idle in low-yield accounts due to a lack of proactive investment plans and challenges from regulations like the Davis-Stirling Act. An effective strategy should prioritize both security and growth. U.S. Treasuries, especially T-Bills, provide excellent liquidity, allowing for quick access to funds. This is crucial for funding emergency projects or complying with California’s SB 326. Investing in T-Bills helps HOAs not only protect their funds, but also may increase yields over other available alternatives. This approach ensures that funds set aside for SB 326 are secure while generating higher returns, balancing reliable income with the immediate liquidity needed for urgent financial needs.

THE APPEAL OF U.S. TREASURIES AND CDS

U.S. Treasuries: Introduced in 1913, U.S. Treasuries are considered one of the safest investments, backed b...

By Maria C. Kao & Matt Meadors  Note: This article first appeared in the Summer 2024 Edition of The Communicator Magazine.

EVERY DEVELOPMENT GOES through a transition where the original developers hand over the management and operations to the homeowners. Such a transition will include the finances of the association. Here, we focus on an association’s legal obligations, but also offer real-life advice from a professional manager experienced in turning over a community.

The finances should not be overlooked during the transition phase, and it is of utmost importance to make sure the basics are set up correctly. They should include assessment calculations, reserve studies, a thorough investigation into the operating budget and many, more discreet issues. Let’s synthesize the legal obligation information together with operational know-how for those interested in setting up the future of financial stability for a transitioning project.

OPERATING

Pursuant to the Department of Real Esta...

Why Do People and the Media (Even John Oliver) Pick on HOAs?

By Nathan McGuire, Esq., CCAL 

HOAs are incredibly popular. And statistics show that the vast majority of people living in HOAs are happy with their HOA. But if that’s true, why does it seem we are constantly hearing that people hate their HOAs? It is simple: the few who don’t like them are incredibly vocal. And who loves a good negative story? The media. Even comedians are getting in on the fun.

John Oliver’s popular weekly late night HBO quasi news show, Last Week Tonight, devoted an entire 30-minute episode to badmouthing HOAs. The show aired on April 9, 2023. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you watch it. You can easily find it online without a subscription to HBO. The episode is undeniably hilarious, likely even more so for those who live in an HOA or work in the HOA industry. I watched it the day after it aired. And I laughed. But after it was over, I felt another emotion – anger. Why was I feeling so angry...