Spectrum Association Management

From time to time you may hear that the board of the Dallas homeowners association operates in a fiduciary capacity for the homeowners. Or you may read about the board’s fiduciary responsibility in the governing documents. Just exactly what does this mean?

Fiduciary duty simply means the board of directors for an HOA has an ethical and legal obligation to make decisions in the best interests of the entire community association. That’s a small explanation for a very big responsibility.

Fiduciary duty includes a duty of loyalty to the association, which means that board members should never use their position to take advantage of the homeowners association. They should never make decisions for the homeowners association that benefit themselves at the expense of the association and its members.

Fiduciary duty also includes the duty to exercise ordinary care. This means board members must perform their duties in good faith and in a manner they believe to be in the best interest of the association, with such care as an ordinary prudent person in a similar position under similar circumstances would use.

In short, boards must act in the best interests of the association and act reasonably.

Dallas HOA Board members fulfill their fiduciary duty by:

-Developing and using a formal budgeting process

-Establishing and adhering to budgetary guidelines

-Making sure the budgeting process reflects the wishes of the association members

-Promoting understanding and acceptance of the reserve accounts among the members

-Collecting sufficient fees to adequately operate the association

-Soliciting bids and negotiating appropriate contracts

-Authorizing expenditures

All of these duties must be taken seriously and managed effectively. Spectrum Association Management has helped hundreds of board members effectively run and operate their homeowners association.  For more information on how a professional Austin property management company like Spectrum Association Management can make your role as a board member, visit http://www.spectrumam.com/.