Thank you, Walnut Creek!

Thank you to everyone who joined us last Saturday at the Walnut Creek Educational Seminar. We haven’t held a seminar in Walnut Creek for some time, and were delighted to see such a large group of homeowners willing to come out on a Saturday for HOA education.

If you couldn’t attend, here’s what you missed:

Stephanie Hayes at Walnut Creek SeminarStephanie Hayes, one of our esteemed ECHO board members and an excellent HOA attorney, gave advice on how to handle governing document updates, especially in light of the arrival of “New” Davis-Stirling. If you haven’t taken some time to explore the new law (effective January 1, 2014), I encourage you to do so on our law pages.

Brian Rosenberg and Lisa Esposito, long-time managers and business experts, spoke about “Your Real Job: Handling Maintenance and Repairs”. They did not focus on “what” needs to be repaired or “whom” they association should hire. Instead, they talked about how to streamline maintenance by handling frequent tasks and decisions through a system of policies. ECHO members can read a bit more about their advice (and download the accompanying Maintenance Matrix) here.

Finally, attorney Beth Grimm spoke about dysfunction in communities, and how a change in attitude and policy can not only make your association a more pleasant place to live, but reduce liability and cost.

If you missed this seminar, we still have a couple more this year. Our annual seminar and trade show, ECHO San Jose, will take place at the San Jose Convention Center on August 23rd. And we will announce more information about our Monterey and Sacramento Seminars soon. Watch the event page (or your ECHO Journal) for more information.