January 2025 CT

RESERVE STUDY... from page 41.

does the siding or roof still need to be replaced, but underlying structures may be compromised. • Ignoring and failing to address deterioration can result in collapsing balconies, parking garages and buildings. While these examples are the most extreme results of not following a well-crafted reserve study, they serve as real reminders as to the importance of having one and following it. This past year has been presented real challenges for some owners, boards members, managers, and industry profes sionals. Frankly, we are in the thick of it right now. Because of my tenure and history in this industry, I remember warning others prior to the legislation being passed that this would be a painful and difficult season for some communities. But with that warning, I also encouraged them, and to you the reader, to keep your eye on the target. Your goal is to have a well-funded reserve account, to have the money to do proj ects when they come due, to have every owner paying their fair share, to avoid the surprise of emergency assessments, to keep your community looking and functioning at its best, and to have a master plan that guides your future. n

• It has been said on numerous webinars and educational articles throughout the year that board members who knowingly choose to ignore the reserve study funding plan requirements may forfeit the protections they have under the directors and officers policy and could be personally held liable. • A well-crafted reserve study that includes all projects can become an association’s Master Plan. It could help create order and peace. Without a plan, an associa tion is destined for chaos and emergency assessments. Winging it is not a plan. • One of the purposes of the reserve study is to outline and budget for those projects that will need to be done. By choosing to ignore these projects or wait until far beyond its remaining useful life, costs can increase exponentially. For example, an Association that fails to address rotted wood siding or a 30-year-old roof with multiple leaks is creating exponential costs. Not only

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JANUARY 2025