Tool Category: Other Model Tools

Storage Agreement Protects Property, Reduces Liability

We drafted this Model Agreement with the help of Virginia attorney Scott Sterling and Maryland manager Leonard Frenkil. Ask your attorney to help you adapt the agreement for your own use.

Solicit Employee Ideas for Improving Productivity

Since your employees know more about what they do than anyone else does, they’re often in the best position to spot changes that could make your community more efficient. Our Model Memo was drafted with the help of California-based motivational speaker and management consultant Anne Bruce. In addition to asking employees for their suggestions, it…

Implement Employee Referral Program

If you decide to implement an employee referral program for your staff, draft a memo introducing it and explaining the rules.

Prevent Hot Tub Injuries and Lawsuits

Ask your attorney to adapt the following hot tub rules for use at your community. Then, be sure to post them in a prominent place.

Simplified Parliamentary Motions Guide

The following charts include some of the rules governing the most frequently used motions in Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised (11th Edition). The motions in Chart 1 are listed in order of precedence. (Note that a motion can be introduced if it is higher on the list that the pending motion.) The motions in…

Limit Renting at Your Community

Here’s a lease restriction bylaw drafted with the help of Massachusetts attorney Stephen Marcus. The bylaw sets a limit on the number of units that can be leased at any one time, lists leasing requirements, addresses subletting, sets protections for the association, and says when exceptions can be made. Show this bylaw to your attorney…

Ensure Realistic Workload for Managers

You can adapt the following clause for the management contracts used by your management company. Its provisions effectively prevent manager burnout and help you retain good employees by setting limits on the number and duration of meetings a manager must attend. Show this clause to your attorney before adapting it for your own use.

Draft Association-Favorable Termination Clause

If you can’t write your own service contracts, your association should at least write its own termination clause to insert into the contractor’s form contract. Ask the association’s attorney about adapting this type of termination right to include in every signed service contract. This clause lets you get out of the contract on seven days’…

Ask Job Candidate to Certify Employment Application

Using a pre-employment statement to certify the accuracy of a prospective employee’s application can help protect the community association you manage from claims that it wasn’t careful enough during the hiring process. Before starting your pre-employment screening process, get the job applicant to sign this pre-employment statement that should be a part of, or attached…

Use Bylaw to Ban Smoking at Your Community

The following bylaw bans the smoking of cigarettes, cigars, and pipes in common areas and, if you choose to extend the ban in your community, within members’ units as well. The bylaw is effective because it makes members responsible for the smoking of their guests, provides for a fine to enforce the policy, and says…