CMCA Communication and Community Relations 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A board member posts negative personal comments about a homeowner on a community Facebook group. As the manager, what should you recommend?
- Encourage other board members to support the post to show board unity
- Advise the board member to remove the post and remind the board of proper communication protocols (Correct answer)
- Report the board member to the state licensing board immediately
- Ignore the situation as it occurred on a personal social media platform
Correct answer: Advise the board member to remove the post and remind the board of proper communication protocols
A board member's public statements about homeowners can expose the association to liability; the manager should advise removal and establish clear social media guidelines.
Question 2: What is the purpose of an annual community survey sent to homeowners?
- To replace the formal voting process for bylaw amendments
- To gather homeowner feedback on services, priorities, and satisfaction to inform planning (Correct answer)
- To create a binding record of homeowner preferences that the board must follow
- To identify homeowners in violation of the rules
Correct answer: To gather homeowner feedback on services, priorities, and satisfaction to inform planning
Annual surveys are non-binding feedback tools that help the board and manager understand homeowner priorities and satisfaction levels.
Question 3: Which of the following is an example of proactive community communication?
- Responding to homeowner complaints only after they escalate to the board
- Sending a construction notice to affected residents two weeks before work begins (Correct answer)
- Publishing financials only when homeowners specifically request them
- Updating the community website once per year
Correct answer: Sending a construction notice to affected residents two weeks before work begins
Proactive communication anticipates homeowner needs and shares information before issues arise, such as notifying residents in advance of disruptive work.
Question 4: When handling a dispute between two homeowners, a community manager should PRIMARILY:
- Take sides with the homeowner who has lived in the community longer
- Act as a neutral facilitator, applying governing documents consistently to both parties (Correct answer)
- Avoid involvement to prevent the manager from being named in any lawsuit
- Automatically favor the homeowner who is current on their assessments
Correct answer: Act as a neutral facilitator, applying governing documents consistently to both parties
The manager's role in disputes is to apply the governing documents fairly and consistently without favoritism to maintain credibility and community trust.
Question 5: A homeowner with limited English proficiency struggles to understand association notices. What is a best practice for the manager?
- Inform the homeowner that all official communications are in English only and there are no alternatives
- Work with the board to provide translations or multilingual resources for key communications where practical (Correct answer)
- Ask a neighboring homeowner to translate on the association's behalf
- Excuse the homeowner from all rules since they cannot understand them
Correct answer: Work with the board to provide translations or multilingual resources for key communications where practical
Providing translated materials where practical demonstrates good faith, supports fair enforcement, and reduces discrimination risk.
Question 6: What is the primary risk of over-communicating minor or routine issues to the full homeowner community?
- Homeowners will become too engaged in association governance
- It can cause communication fatigue, causing residents to ignore future important notices (Correct answer)
- Increased transparency always leads to more homeowner disputes
- It violates most state condominium acts
Correct answer: It can cause communication fatigue, causing residents to ignore future important notices
Flooding residents with minor communications dilutes attention so that critical notices may be overlooked, reducing the overall effectiveness of the communication program.
Question 7: Which document type serves as the formal record of decisions made at a board meeting and must be maintained in association records?
- The manager's activity report
- Board meeting minutes approved by the board (Correct answer)
- The agenda distributed before the meeting
- Email threads among board members discussing agenda items
Correct answer: Board meeting minutes approved by the board
Board meeting minutes are the official legal record of actions taken at a meeting and must be approved, maintained, and made available to homeowners per most governing documents and state law.
CMCA Communication and Community Relations 2
A board member posts negative personal comments about a homeowner on a community Facebook group.
As the manager, what should you recommend?