Recommendations for HOA rules

Comments for the Homeowners Association Task Force. I am a resident of a HOA community and a past Board Member and Treasurer of our HOA. Fines: Establish a standard of "reasonableness" to limit HOA fines, through legislation if necessary. Collection procedures for unpaid fines should conform to those applicable to other types of debt collection. Uncollected fines should be secured by a lien on the property to be collected upon sale of the property. I believe that HOAs should NOT have the power to foreclose on a property solely to collect unpaid fines. Administration and Communication: To save administrative costs, owners should be authorized to agree to receipt of all required documents and notices electronically; mailing of hard copies would be required only for those who do not authorize electronic communication. Develop a suggested format and template for HOA financial information to owners that shows operating expenses and capital expenses separately, with the amount of monthly dues allocated for each. Model Annual Budget information should include: beginning of year balance of reserves available for capital projects; description of proposed capital projects; acknowledgement of the need to fund unanticipated projects; and a best estimate of whether the end of year reserve balance will increase more than 5%, decrease more than 5% or stay within 5% of the beginning year balance, given anticipated capital expenses, compared to allocation of dues to reserves and expected earnings on reserve balances.