thank you for volunteering!

As a member of the Board of Directors, your community is depending upon you to fulfill the purposes identified in the Articles of Incorporation, govern according to the ByLaws and keep to the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions.

New Board FAQ's

All new directors are required to complete and then provide their Certification of Board Training, per the state of Florida. This 4 hour class availability and registration are offered on the myHomeSpot.com home page. 

The purpose of this required class is to educate a volunteer of what an Association actually is, its purposes, and what the roles of all active Directors are.  Elected individuals have 90 days from the date of appointment to submit this certification as an Official Record, otherwise they will be automatically removed from the Board.

720.3033 Officers and directors.—(1)(a) Within 90 days after being elected or appointed to the board, each director shall certify in writing to the secretary of the association that he or she has read the association’s declaration of covenants, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and current written rules and policies; that he or she will work to uphold such documents and policies to the best of his or her ability; and that he or she will faithfully discharge his or her fiduciary responsibility to the association’s members. Within 90 days after being elected or appointed to the board, in lieu of such written certification, the newly elected or appointed director may submit a certificate of having satisfactorily completed the educational curriculum administered by a division-approved education provider within 1 year before or 90 days after the date of election or appointment.(b) The written certification or educational certificate is valid for the uninterrupted tenure of the director on the board. A director who does not timely file the written certification or educational certificate shall be suspended from the board until he or she complies with the requirement. The board may temporarily fill the vacancy during the period of suspension.
(c) The association shall retain each director’s written certification or educational certificate for inspection by the members for 5 years after the director’s election. However, the failure to have the written certification or educational certificate on file does not affect the validity of any board action.

It is important to take your time while visiting your community’s website. Access to your site can be found from the main page of myHomeSpot.com. Be mindful of becoming thoroughly familiar with the Official Records page by reviewing the following information pertaining to your community:

– Articles of Incorporation (the creation and purpose of your corporation)
– Plat Maps (all the areas that are in your community)
– ByLaws (explains the operation of your corporation as well as the duties of the Board and members)
– CCRs (the requirements that pertain to owning property in the community)
– Rules and Regulations
– Architectural Guidelines
– Policies and Procedures
– Florida Statute 720 or 718

It is very important to remember that you have a fiduciary duty as a Director to uphold and enforce your Association’s Documents, as well as the requirements of Florida’s State Statutes until your term expires. This responsibility is to be upheld unless the member’s properly cast sufficient written legal documents that amend the documents in place for your community.  Once you have reviewed all necessary documents, you may then complete the required affidavit below.

Sign the Affidavit

Attend the Training Class

In the upcoming months you will need to host a meeting.  Florida law does require that all meetings are properly noticed by postal mailing to all members or by a sign, visibly posted, no less than 48hrs before said meeting, in a conspicuous manner at the entrance of your community.  All members have the right to attend the meeting as well as to record the meeting by audio and video.  

The President is the person who calls for a meeting and is responsible for preparing the agenda at least 3-4 days prior to the meeting. Items that need to appear on the agenda are items that would require a vote. Examples include the expenditures of money, engagement of a vendor, actions that effect members such as pool openings or closings, etc.  If there are any handouts, estimates or other documents to be be reviewed at the meeting, please make sure that management is provided copies of these items at lease 3-4 days prior to the meeting’s scheduled date. The completed agenda should also then be sent to all members of the Board and posted to the Association website or emailed to members at least 2 days prior to the meeting time/date.  This allows everyone the opportunity to discuss, lobby and develop a proper motion prior to the actual meeting. Again, it is important to remember that no spending decision or any decision that would effect a member should be made outside of a duly called meeting.  

Board meetings are intentionally held so that the Board of Directors can make decisions.  Each Board Member should arrive to the meeting fully informed of all business matters on the agenda and ready to make a decision.  Members may attend board meetings and are given the opportunity to speak at the start of the meeting for a time of no less than 3 minutes. Afterwards, the business at hand and the members should remain in the order stated on the agenda provided by the Board. 

It is important to understand Florida’s laws regarding Board meetings.  No Board Member shall vote outside of a meeting and a majority of the Board should not gather as to form a quorum.  A gathering of a quorum of the Board of Directors under law will constitute as an unlawful meeting. 

The https://HOA.myHomeSpot.com portal will provide you real-time access to all official records and financial reports of the Association.  As a Board member, your will have 24/7 real-time access to check registers, profit-loss statements, balance sheets, accounts receivables reports, budget comparisons and more.  You can generate reports as a pdf or download them into an excel file.  You will also have access to all official Association records such as meeting minutes, contracts, historical financials, communications and other records.  

Your community webpage will provide your members and the public, community details such as the year the Association was established, lot counts, all amenities, whether access devices are needed, assessment history and all governing documents.  

Financial transparency and control of Association funds and reports are of utmost importance. The invoice approval process is managed within an application called Strongroom, that is used for all payables.  The issuance of any payment for services rendered in a community goes through multiple controls to assure timely and accurate processing.

The financial process starts with the receipt of an invoice.  Our accounting department will then scan the invoice, putting it into the system for payment using the invoice’s date, due date, vendor to be paid and any amounts due.  Your Treasurer and/or President will then receive an email notification indicating a payment request is being made.  The invoice approver will then login to a secure website to approve or reject this payment request. The approver also has the ability to view the actual invoice, any prior invoices paid, as well as how they’re coded to the financials.  Once an invoice is approved by the first approver, it is then sent to a second approver for the same process before payment is issued.  Once approved by no less than two approvers, a payment is issued directly from the banking institution to the vendor.  No check stock to maintain, no manual signing and your financials are updated in real-time.

Watch the Training Video

Login to Payables Portal to Approve Invoices

Sign a Bank Signature Card

We recognize that Directors are volunteers and neighbors in the community. To make things easier, we have created a community webpage and email groups.  Your Board of Directors and HOA Members need to remember a single email address instead of trying to remember the ever changing volunteer names and email addresses.

    Board of Directors: [CommunityName]@myHomeSpot.com.

    Architectural Control Board:  [CommunityName-ACB]@myHomeSpot.com

We need to remind any volunteer serving your community that any email sent to or from them involving the Association is deemed as an official record and can be legally discoverable.  For this reason, we recommend each volunteer create a separate account or use their subject line to separate their personal email from the Association.

Our firm will use the subject line when sending you an email.  The subject will start with your community name, then the subject title.  An example is Subject: Stonebrook: Board Welcome.  Using this approach will save you time searching and provide you an opportunity to aggregate.  If you email using your community assigned email, our firm will then have all the needed records in the event of a request and you would only need to sign an affidavit rather than printing and organizing all emails from your machine. 

Florida law requires that any combined expenditure to a vendor exceeding 10% of the annual budget shall require competitive bids, and for the bids to be kept as official records for at least 1 year.  The Association should document all vendors solicited and retain their response.  myHomeSpot.com has developed a Request for Proposal Template that you can use or assign to management.

We provide an online form for your members and the Board to request maintenance – click here to use the Maintenance Form.

While Florida law does not require any committees, Board members will quickly realize the many obligations related to keeping your community operating smoothly.  

We encourage volunteers to participate!

Request to Join a Committee or the Board

Grounds Committee

Architectural Review Committee

Covenant Enforcement Committee

Fine Committee

It takes a lot of work to keep your corporation compliant with the laws and operating your community with the goal of protecting the homeowner’s quiet enjoyment and protecting their investment.  Most corporations have building, office equipment, supplies and computer software with part-time and full-time employees.  Every corporation needs a person to serve as the registered agent to accept legal service, the custodian of official records to retain the hundreds of documents required by law over the 5-7 year retention period, an accountant, a customer support person, a maintenance team to handle repairs and services, a manager to handle the day to day affairs and an executive officer to lead these team members.  As you can see – it can be very expensive to operate and manage your own community.  For this reason, many communities will hire a management company. Our base management service provides you with registered agent service, custodian of your official records, basic accounting (accounts receivable, delinquency notifications, payables, reconciliation and monthly reporting) and member support.  We provide optional (additional) service per event for board and member voting meetings, CCR inspections, architectural management, newsletters, etc.

As your management company, we are not employees – rather we are a vendor under contract.  We do not make decisions for your community – rather we carry out the decisions made by your Board of Directors.  As a Board member you are the legally responsible party and could be sued for any mishaps – so you want to make sure you community provides you with Directors/Officers insurance coverage – so if you get sued now or in the future – you will have an attorney to represent you as the Association’s cost.  However, do understand that insurance will often not cover wrongful acts – this is another reason why your community has hired a management company to help you stay compliant.  

Our firm’s point of contact for your Board is the Association President – all Directors should direct their communication to the President and we accept our direction and report to the President.  Take a moment to review this website to learn more about the duties of each officer (President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary).

Download the Board Officer Handbooks

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The ReADING ROOM

Download these .pdf guides to better operate and guide your community association.

The Board President
The Board Treasurer
The Board Secretary
Parliamentary Procedure
How to Conduct Meetings
Florida Sunshine Laws
Conflicts of Interest
Bids and Contracts
Enhancing Outdoor Spaces
Trees and Shrubs
Landscape Contractors
Insurance
Leasing and Rentals
ACB Design Reviews
Drafting Rules
Pet Policies
Property Taxes
Risk Management
Conflict Resolution
Communications
Collecting Assessments
Membership Dues
Reserve Funds
Volunteers
Choosing a Mgmt Company
On-Site Managers
How to Select Attorney
Developer Transition
Natural Disasters

fall in love with our features

Accounts Payable Module

Your President and Treasurer will receive an email to view all invoices to be paid in order for payment to be issued.

Architectural Review Module

Owners can submit projects online and your committee can decide and manage with a click of a button.

CCR Inspection Module

We will map your community so that you simply press on a house to issue violations.

Quick Communications

Using the Community Directory you can reach your owners by text, phone or email as the click of a button.

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