8 Proven Ways To Build Community Trust

8 Proven Ways To Build Community Trust
by Travers Hartnett

1. Create a transparent mission statement, explicitly stating that your association’s purpose and goal is to protect and promote the best interests of all community owners and residents. Take every opportunity to publicly read and publish your mission statement.

2. Publish your ethical standards for board members, managers, and vendors. Clearly state that you don’t tolerate unethical behavior such as favoritism, kickbacks, or cronyism.

3. Utilize at minimum three but preferably more community association communication tools, including newsletters, emails, text messaging, smart calls, an HOA website, owner surveys, and virtual meetings. If your community sponsors meetings or comes together recreationally, consider publishing an events calendar. Many professional property managers provide these services for free or at a minimal cost to their associations.

4. Maintain a public pipeline that your residents and owners can use to report problems and share their comments directly to the board.

5. Put a spotlight to a problem that’s been ignored for a long time. Then, publicly find a solution by involving the support of the community at large.

6. Share both the good and the bad news with your community.

7. Be on the lookout for reports of emotional confrontations and disagreements. Once you identify a problem, you need to de-escalate the issue immediately and seek all practical methods of resolution, including seeking the advice of your association attorney.

8. Focus constantly on safety and security matters, including providing regular safety inspections. Reinforce the message to your community, that everyone is important.

Travers Hartnett serves as CondoExec’s Editor in Chief. Travers holds more than 19 years experience providing insurance risk management services exclusively to Florida community associations. As a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist from the Wharton School and formerly a Human Services- Board Certified Practitioner, he has served on multiple boards, both as a volunteer and President.