One of the benefits of living in a homeowners association (HOA) is enjoying the neighborhood’s common areas. Most HOA common areas have amenities like swimming pools, parks, or clubhouses for residents to enjoy at their own leisure. However, it’s hard to get the most out of these areas without proper maintenance. Today, we’ll go over who’s responsible for maintaining HOA common areas, the importance of proper maintenance, and tips for easier management.
Contents of This Article:
- What Are HOA Common Areas?
- Who’s Responsible for Maintaining HOA Common Areas?
- Why Is Common Area Maintenance So Important?
- Tips for Maintaining HOA Common Areas
- Manage Your HOA Community With BMG
What Are HOA Common Areas?
HOA common areas are any spaces or properties accessible to all community members, such as swimming pools, parks, fitness centers, or clubhouses. They also include shared hallways, stairways, elevators, sidewalks, and streets. That said, individual homes or lots owned by residents are not considered common areas.
Depending on the size of your HOA, you may have more or less common areas. However, regardless of what amenities you have, it’s important that they’re maintained and managed properly.
Who’s Responsible for Maintaining HOA Common Areas?
The HOA board of directors is typically responsible for maintaining common areas and amenities in an HOA. Sometimes, the board hires a Philadelphia management company or property managers to help manage certain aspects of the HOA, including common area maintenance.
However, maintenance responsibilities can vary depending on where the HOA is located. For instance, some states have laws that outline who’s responsible for what type of maintenance, whether it’s homeowners or the board of directors. Typically, you can find this information in the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs).
Examples of Common Area Maintenance
Some examples of common area maintenance in an HOA include the following.
- Public landscaping, including tree trimming, soil irrigation, etc.
- Trash collection
- Snow removal
- Painting and repairing fences or gates
- Replacing lights or light fixtures
- Cleaning sidewalks and parking lots
- Drain and gutter inspections
- Roof repair
- Maintaining or repairing elevators
- Keeping the community pool and surrounding area clean
Why Is Common Area Maintenance So Important?
Maintaining HOA common areas is crucial for several reasons. First and foremost, keeping homeowners safe should be at the top of any HOA board’s to-do list. While you may not think proper maintenance has anything to do with safety, you couldn’t be more wrong. After all, improper community pool maintenance may cause residents to slip and fall. Moreover, neglecting broken gym equipment in a community fitness center may cause someone to get injured.
Aside from those reasons, there are several repercussions you may deal with as an HOA without property maintenance. For instance, dirty, broken, or clearly disheveled common areas may result in bad publicity or decreased property value.
Additionally, if homeowners get fed up with the lack of proper maintenance, they may sell their properties or even file lawsuits against the HOA. Ultimately, it’s important to avoid negligence at all costs and prioritize maintenance in all areas, including common areas and amenities used by all HOA members.
Tips for Maintaining HOA Common Areas
Keeping up with common areas doesn’t have to be difficult. Aside from having a regular maintenance schedule in place, the board and community members can do several things to keep the neighborhood well-maintained. Here are a few tips to consider.
- Communication Is Key
- Conduct Regular HOA Inspections
- Implement Good Maintenence Request Systems
- Hire an HOA Management Company
Communication Is Key
Good communication can help in almost any scenario–including HOA maintenance and responsibilities. It’s essential for everyone in the neighborhood to know their role regarding the management of common areas. You can do this by sending out a regular newsletter, providing homeowners with specific rules, or posting signs around the community. Some helpful signs to remind community members about their responsibilities in common areas include:
- Clean Up After Your Pet
- All Pets Must Be on a Lease
- Swimming Pool Closed
- Rules for the Community Pool
- Hours of Operation
- How to Use Fitness Equipment
- Occupancy or Weight Limits in Elevators
Conduct Regular HOA Inspections
Regular inspections are one of the best ways to spot potential issues early on and remediate them immediately. Spotting issues before they have the chance to turn into larger problems is crucial for keeping the community intact. That said, your HOA’s bylaws will typically indicate the frequency and measures you must take regarding inspections. Usually, inspections are done by the board manager, a third-party HOA manager, or a professional inspector.
When an inspection is done, store the report with other important documents. That way, board members and residents can access them and see the results of an inspection once it’s done. Additionally, you can share the results of an inspection during your regular HOA meeting time.
Implement Good Maintenance Request Systems
It’s important that residents and other HOA members know how to report maintenance issues when they arise. For instance, if someone visits the community park and notices that the bathrooms need to be cleaned, a system should be in place for requesting this service.
Some HOAs may have physical forms for residents to fill out. However, this requires the effort of finding and filling out the form, which some people may disregard. Otherwise, they may have a number to call or text to request maintenance, but this system can be unreliable.
A better way to ensure maintenance requests are fulfilled is to use a maintenance request tracker. Essentially, residents can use an app to file maintenance requests, and they’ll go right to the person in charge. Several property management apps have this feature, making it easier for both parties to see maintenance progress.
Hire an HOA Management Company
One of the best ways to stay on top of HOA common area maintenance is with a full-service management company. A reliable HOA management company can help ensure every aspect of your HOA is managed properly, whether it’s common area maintenance, property inspections, coordinating meetings, or communicating with residents. Whether you self-manage or have a small team helping you manage your HOA, you may want to outsource some major tasks to an experienced management team.
Manage Your HOA Community With BMG
If you’re looking for a reliable team to help manage your HOA, look no further than Bay Property Management Group. Not only can we help manage HOA common areas and amenities, but we can help coordinate regular meetings, prepare annual budgets, inspect properties, take care of violations, collect monthly dues, and more.
Ask us about our hoa management services!
Our team operates in Philadelphia, assisting Condominium Associations, HOAs, and Cooperative Housing (Co-Op) throughout the surrounding areas. Contact BMG to learn more about how we can help with your community needs today!
