Now that Thanksgiving is over, everyone is ready to spread some Christmas holiday cheer. But before residents start unpacking the holiday decorations, it’s important that HOA boards set some ground rules so their communities will remain safe, clean, and on one accord. As an experienced Tampa homeowners association management company, we’d like to give you a few tips to ensure there are no misunderstandings between you and your residents.
COMMUNICATE COMMUNITY GUIDELINES
Communicating with residents is the key to keeping harmony in your community. To avoid any misunderstandings, restrictions and guidelines should be communicated via email, newsletters, on bulletin boards, and even sent to individual homes. This way you have the opportunity to reach everyone. If residents are made aware of rules in advance, they are more likely to comply with the rules.
GIVE THEM DEADLINES
Some folks like to keep their decorations up year-round, but it would be considered tacky for some. If you want to ensure that residents aren’t putting up decorations the day after Halloween, give them a date to officially begin setup. If you want to ensure that January doesn’t pass with decorations still lingering, give residents a cutoff date for decoration removal.
REGARDING COMMON AREAS
Common areas are for everyone’s enjoyment so remind residents to keep these areas free of decorations and random flyers and advertisements that have not been approved. Instead, leave the common area decorations to a committee.
REMIND EVERYONE TO RESPECT NEIGHBORS
Some common areas are connected to or very close to resident homes, so it’s important to remind residents to respect their neighbor’s property. Loud or bright decorations should be approved before they can be put up. It’s also critical to foster an environment of respect for one another’s beliefs since they may be different from their own.
KEEP RESIDENTS HAPPY
Overall, holiday decorations should be encouraged but with a bit of direction from HOA boards. When establishing any rules and regulations, our Tampa HOA property management company advises HOA’s to be sure they understand laws regarding their responsibilities and resident rights. In all that you do, remember, it’s better to keep the peace than to stir up unnecessary tensions in the community.
For more information, please call us at (813) 968-5665, or submit our proposal request form.