January 2010

One way to understand your owners' concerns is through a survey. But what should you ask? And if you survey your members, will you generate ill will if you simply ignore their comments? Here, we provide answers.

We're Taking a Poll Today...

Not may boards survey their residents. "I've never seen an association do a survey," says Robert White, managing director of KW Property Management & Consulting in Miami, which oversees about 125 associations totaling 30,000-35,000 units. "We usually send a comment card to owners because we want to know what the community's thinking, and we try to pick out the common themes. But ours is really general and just asks how we can improve the community and asks owners to list things they're not happy with."

Some associations poll their residents infrequently and informally. "I've seen associations have a mailbox in which owners can put their dues and comments," says Jeff Vinzani, an attorney at Nexsen Pruet LLC in Charleston, S.C., who represents associations. "I've also seen management companies' websites that allow associations to get feedback. I think there will be more of that in the future because doing online surveys is easier than sending papers around or putting comments in a mailbox."

Harry Styron, an attorney at Styron & Shilling in Branson, Mo., who's helped create more than 100 subdivision and more than 40 condominium associations, has also seen boards do informal polls. "I've seen boards try to get priority lists for things the association should do, generally with regard to the common elements," he says. "I also worked with one condo association that had an opportunity to buy property that surrounded the condo on three sides, and the board polled to find out if it could get the 80 percent support it needed to borrow the money. The board members divided up the list of about 200 owners and did phone calls. It found it had the support."

A few do actual, formal polls. "I've seen boards poll their residents more on specific issues than generalized things," says Lisa A. Magill, a shareholder and association attorney at Becker & Poliakoff PA in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "For example, some associations have conducted polls to see if owners wanted to allow pets before they went to the expense of paying for a document amendment or organizing an official vote. I also recently saw a community poll in a building where they were going to be doing concrete restoration, and the poll asked whether the owners wanted to do restoration and beautification at the same time or just restoration and beautification at a later date. I was surprised—the owners chose both, which was going to cost them individually about $4,000 more."

The Danger of Polling

There are risks to polling your residents. "If you ask, residents will say surveys are a great idea," says Matt Zifrony, who advises homeowners and condo associations at Tripp Scott, a Ft. Lauderdale law firm, and who's also the president of a 3,000-home association. "But boards are trying to manage the way they see best knowing they have certain powers to make decisions on behalf of the association. The fear I have is where does it end? If every decision the board makes is based on a survey, the board will be crippled. And it opens itself up to criticism when it makes a decision without a survey."

Perhaps worse, you could find owners simply have unrealistic expectations or just plain wrong information. "You could find that members support something that makes no financial sense, but they don't have enough knowledge of the finances to know that—and they could be very insistent," says Styron. "Or they may think the idea of a volunteer work day to rake leaves and clean gutters is a good idea. But from a liability, organizational, and tools perspective, it makes a lot more sense to hire someone with proper equipment and workers compensation insurance to do that work."

Finally, polls may not get much response. "Typically, there are only a certain number of people who respond, or you'll get the same 15 people who respond every time," says Zifrony. "Those people's views may not represent the views of the majority, and you're letting the small group make decisions the board was elected by everybody to make. So boards should be careful with surveys. I think they can be used but shouldn't be overused, and boards should communicate why using them isn't always a good idea."

Magill agrees that boards shouldn't abdicate their responsibilities through polling. "You need to clearly define the obligations and authority of the board of directors," she says. "Boards have some discretionary power, and that's where I think the board can to go to the membership. For instance, we have space for a bocce ball or a volleyball court—which do you prefer? If they don't do that community outreach, they may hear complaints. But when it comes to the board's mandatory obligations, that's not something boards should give the impression of divesting themselves of that authority."