Choosing Vendors for the Homeowners Association

Running any organization comes with a certain amount of stress, but this is especially true when your organization is a Homeowner’s Association. These organizations receive quite a lot of flak for their commitment to maintaining property standards and ensuring neighborhoods are kept up to par, but there’s no doubt that an enormous amount of work goes into keeping neighborhoods looking as good as they do.

What Kinds of Vendors do Homeowner’s Associations Hire?

Homeowner’s associations often need the assistance of all kinds of vendors. Landscaping companies might be needed to clear up a property’s backyard or front lawn, trim hedges and overgrown tree branches, or rebuild stone walls that have started to tumble. Pool maintenance crews are another common example of a vendor, as well as asphalt workers, roofing crews, electricians, and any other tradespeople who make a living working on properties.

There could be an argument made that it’s unnecessary to ever hire vendors, as HOA board members may believe they’re up to the task of maintaining properties themselves. While this could be the case in some specific instances, generally speaking it’s more advisable to hire qualified professionals with years of experience and a proven expertise in their specific field. To put it simply, would you rather have someone with 3 years of asphalt experience 15 years ago work on a driveway, or someone who’s currently active in the field?

While amateur landscaping enthusiasts or hobby carpenters may have some insight into a project, they shouldn’t be the ones running the show. There are plenty of established differences between true experts in a field and untrained amateurs, and that difference will almost always show in the quality of the work.

Vendors & Insurance

Hiring fully insured vendors is an absolute must for any jobs with an HOA. But why? Well, the answer is pretty simple. Without ample amounts of legal coverage when hiring someone to do any sort of job on your property, you face liability if an accident or injury occurs. That’s why fully vetting all potential vendors is an absolute must. You can never be too thorough when making hires for any type of professional work, even simple jobs that you wouldn’t consider dangerous.

Even seemingly mundane jobs like changing pool filters can go wrong if someone slips on wet concrete and suffers an injury. Full legal contracts are also a must for any professional work, with clearly spelled-out terms as to what happens if an injury or accident happens. Both the employer and the professional contractors should be on the same page, which requires open communication at all times. That’s why any potential contractors who are vague or reserved about their insurance coverage when it gets down to brass tacks should be avoided.

No HOA board members want to fall victim to a scam, or be forced to pay out hundreds of thousands in medical bills due to a clerical error! At every meeting between contractors and HOA board members, an HOA attorney should be present to ensure that all decisions made are in favor of the board members and community. The reason for this is plain and simple: legal language is tricky. View our blog, 3 Ways to Seek Legal Advice for HOA’s for more help with finding good legal advice

For even experienced people with a long history in business, industry jargon and financial details can easily muddle up one’s understanding of what they’re really saying during business meetings. Verbal agreements might be made unintentionally, and it’s surprising how far a witnessed handshake can go if a situation ever takes a turn for the worse and end up in court. For this reason, it’s always best to be on the safe side, so keep your board members close and your legal consultation closer when considering any type of vendor hire. If a potential vendor ever shows hesitation in signing a contract with your HOA, it’s recommended you pull out of the planned agreement. While hesitance can imply many things, there’s nothing wrong with erring on the safe side, which would state that hesitance before a business deal doesn’t inspire confidence in any proceedings to come.

Established Vendors Are Experienced Vendors

References are a great way to get ahold of qualified contractors in any area. Word of mouth information travels for a reason, and generally, if enough people are giving praise to a particular business, they should be the ones you turn to first when considering a potential hire. Of course, any potential hire should be vetted to the same degree, but a professional resume that’s bolstered by good reviews and a history of satisfied customers is generally much more reliable than a new business with no client history.

While it can seem cynical to never give new businesses a chance, it’s always a safer bet to go with an established company. After all, there must be a reason they’ve been active in an area for some time. However, investigating references and reviews is always recommended. With small businesses realizing the importance of advertising themselves online, there has been a digital onslaught of fake reviews written by ghostwriters for up-and-coming businesses. To generate web traffic and attract visitors, new businesses will claim to have worked with clients in an effort to gain instant trust online. For this reason, you should always check up on the claims that any business you might work with makes unless you’ve worked with them before and know that they can back up their statements.

It’s also a good rule of thumb to only work with certified vendors. That means vendors should be fully licensed by any required government authorities, bonded, insured, and the whole nine yards. If you ever struggle to differentiate between certified and uncertified vendors, you may be able to consult a local professional management company for recommendations.

If you need assistance with determining the best vendors for your HOA, contact your PDS Community Manager! We are here to help!