The HOA-OS Blog
Practical advice, product updates, and community management insights for HOA boards.
How to Run an HOA Survey Residents Actually Answer
Question design, timing, and the closing step most boards skip, from a survey that gets a real response rate.
HOA Communication Apps: What They Solve and What They Don't
An honest read on resident apps: the three problems they fix, the two they create, and the test to apply before adding one.
HOA Communication Tools: What Your Board Actually Needs
The four jobs your board's communication has to cover, and how to tell which tool belongs to each one.
What Happens When a Special Assessment Goes Wrong
Six ways a special assessment goes off the rails, and the specific step earlier in the process that prevents each one.
The Real Cost of Running an Assessment on a Spreadsheet
What manual special assessment tracking actually costs a volunteer board, counted in hours, errors, and the questions nobody can answer two years later.
Loss Assessment Coverage: The Limit Owners Never Check
Loss assessment coverage can absorb part of a special assessment, but the limit is often a token amount. What it covers, what it never covers, and why boards should mention it early.
Special Assessment Vote Requirements: What to Check First
Who votes on a special assessment, what threshold approves it, and the procedural mistakes that let an owner unwind an otherwise reasonable decision.
HOA Special Assessment Payment Plans: What Actually Works
Lump sum or installments, how to handle hardship requests, and the payment plan obligation some states impose that many boards miss.
Starting August 12, Colorado HOAs Are Owed $250 a Business Day for Late Records
Starting August 12, 2026, Colorado law will require a departing HOA management company to hand back every record, account, and dollar within 45 days, or pay $250 for each business day it's late. Here's what the law requires, and why every board needs the same protection whether or not their state has one.
The HOA Special Assessment Letter: How to Break the News
How to communicate a special assessment so owners understand the decision instead of fighting it, including what belongs in the letter itself.
The HOA Special Assessment Process: A 12-Step Checklist
A step-by-step checklist for running an HOA special assessment, from the first bid through the last payment, so the process holds up to scrutiny.
The HOA Budget Season Playbook: A Board's Timeline
A month-by-month timeline for HOA budget season, from gathering renewals in July to sending owners the adopted budget and new dues figure in December.
HOA Budget Deficit: What to Do When You Fall Short
Mid-year shortfalls have five realistic responses. Here they are ranked from least to most painful, with the questions to answer before each one.
HOA Budget Template: The Line Items Every Board Needs
A copy-ready HOA budget structure: income, operating categories, the lines boards forget, and the reserve contribution, with a worked example.
How to Raise HOA Dues Without Starting a Revolt
A dues increase is a budget outcome, a documents question, and a communication job. Boards that treat it as all three get far less pushback.
Capital Improvement vs Maintenance: Which Fund Pays?
Whether the work is a repair, a replacement, or an improvement decides which HOA fund pays, how it is recorded, and sometimes whether owners vote on it.
HOA Reserve Fund: How Much Is Enough for Your Board?
Percent funded explained without the jargon, what the common benchmarks mean in practice, and how to tell whether your reserve contribution is honest.
How to Create an HOA Budget (And What Boards Get Wrong)
A step-by-step walk through the HOA annual budget: the operating side, the reserve side, the line items boards forget, and how adoption really works.
Running an HOA Board That Actually Works
A board that works divides the roles, follows a real process, and keeps the workload sane. The full playbook for an HOA board of directors, pulled together.
Nobody Wants to Run for the HOA Board. Now What?
Empty board seats are a workload problem, not an apathy problem. How to fill vacancies, handle appointments, and make the job askable again.