CAI-NJ August 2021

MANAGEMENT TRENDS

Rules Enforcement in a Post-Pandemic World By Chuck Graziano, CPM, PCAM, Wilkin Management Group, Inc.

B y now, everyone is tired of hearing about COVID- 19 and the pandemic, and many have been horrifically impacted by what has transpired over the past 18 months. For community association managers and leaders, however, there is no allowance for pandemic fatigue because the governance of community associations is evolving in ways for which we weren’t prepared. How communities react to the pressures that bear will be critical. Restrictions, regulations and guidelines are terms that have permeated into everyday life and while community associa- tions have long dealt with rules enforcement, a whole new dimension of this area of community living is developing. Current State of the Market and its Impact: In many areas of the country, there has been a huge shift in homebuying trends. Pre-pandemic forecasts in residential real estate created an almost gloom and doom future for suburbia. Economic Forecast events co-sponsored by CAI- NJ and IREM for several years predicted that the younger, first time homebuyers were trending toward living within a very short commute to urban areas, which are closer to employment and social life and not requiring travel by car. That trend dramatically reversed itself through the pandemic resulting in a rush to buy homes in suburbia, and many are moving into community association living. Homeowners who have long lived in community associa- tions generally understand that with community living comes a set of restrictions, but newcomers who are moving out of urban areas may not be prepared for the restrictions that come with this new lifestyle. At the same time community managers and leaders should be re-thinking their rules to ensure their relevance to today’s world in order maintain the attractiveness of their communities (and protect the property values for its homeowners). While some communities have been quite vigilant in managing restrictions, others have not. As the pandemic

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“...newcomers who are moving out of urban areas may not be prepared for the restrictions that come with this new lifestyle.”

struck, all community boards and managers found them- selves in a situation where additional (radical) changes in restrictions had to be put in place and enforced in order to comply with State requirements and CDC guidelines. This in turn set off a varying set or reactions from homeowners ranging from those who refused to comply to those who insisted that compliance be strictly enforced. Now, in the waning stage of the pandemic with restrictions being loosened, most communities are evolving from a period of time where enforcing restrictions was a far higher priority than ever before. And homeowners have grown weary of “restrictions”. CAI, in its “Community Next: 2020 and Beyond” publication (see also its related “Community Next” White Papers), described a future where rules enforcement and dispute resolution would become a growing priority. And that was written before the pandemic struck. In today’s

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