Any issue or decision affecting your manager's unit would come before the board for their review, just as any issue or decision affecting a board members's unit would come before the entire board for review.  The manager is under the same responsibility of ownership as all other homeowners and subject to board supervision as mandated in the Declaration of Restrictions. 

The board must carefully evaluate all decisions pertaining to your manager's unit prior to approval to assure that your manager is not receiving more favorable treatment because of the close working relationship with the board.  Further, the board should contract with a management company that is a member of the Community Association Institute and the California Association of Community Managers and employs managers with appropriate designations from one or both of these trade groups. 

This indicates that the manager is under the scrutiny of the management company supervisors and bound by a written code of ethics.  The management company sets the professional standard for its managers, consistent with CAI and CACM written code of ethics, dictates and monitors compliance of the standards to protect the company's integrity and avoid violation of the code of ethics.

Homeowners do not vote on which management company to hire.  The board is elected by the homeowners and empowered by the Declaration of Restrictions to hire and supervise all independent contractors, including the management company.  The association's Declaration of Restrictions and By-Laws directs the board, not the homeowners, to exercise any right, power or purpose expressly set forth in the legal documents and to control the business and affairs of the association.

If the board is concerned that hiring the management company that employs your manager may upset the homeowners, the board should record in the association meeting minutes that your manager is a homeowner and explain how the board will deal with any perceived conflicts of interest should they arise.  The management company should provide the board with a written statement indicating how the company will handle potential conflicts that affected the personal interest or obligations of the manger's unit. 

The board can direct that the management company execute a written indemnification and hold-harmless agreement specifically addressing possible conflicts.  Finally, the board should confirm that the association is named as additional insured on the management company's liability policy, and request copies of the management company's fidelity bond.

Robert J. Fowler, CCAM, is a member of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) and is a community association manager with Griswold Real Estate Management, located in San Diego.  Readers can visit the CAI website at http://www.cai-sd.org and can get their condominium or homeowners association questions answered by calling the Community Associations Institute at (619) 299-1376 or e-mail at q&a@cai-sd.org or sending questions to: Condominiums, Homes, San Diego Union-Tribune, P.O. Box 120191, San Diego 92112-0191.

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