In the Boardroom: Hiring a Certified Manager: What’s In It For Me?

Hiring a Certified Manager:

What’s In It For Me?

For most Americans, our most valuable asset is our home. Since more than 14 million Californians own and live in a common interest development (CID), it would only make sense to place your most valuable asset in the hands of a qualified professional. Let’s face it, you wouldn’t ask your mechanic to fix a plumbing issue in your bathroom; you would place your trust in a specialist. While your mechanic may be a whiz with your car troubles, do you really trust him to properly repair a slab leak?

A board of directors can gain peace of mind by ensuring their community manager is a member in good standing and certified by the California Association of Community Managers (CACM). CACM offers California community managers the opportunity to make a commitment to professionalism, ethics and continuing education through the Certified Community Association Manager (CCAM) program. The CCAM certification requires community managers to complete 36 hours of study covering association management principles, applicable California laws, and ethics training.

Depending on your community needs, CACM also offers specific certifications through its Specialty Certificate Program. Managers can acquire in-depth understanding of many of the management specializations, including high rise, large scale and portfolio community management. The

By s usan

sha rp,, CCAM

highest level of achievement in community association management is the MCAM, A wrong decision or bad a fiduciary responsibility to maintain and preserve your community’s investment. How better to the Master of Community Association advice made by a welldo that than by hiring a certified professional. In Management certification. The MCAM is the ultimate professional designation available for intentioned novice in some instances, it may be in your best interest to consider a manager with a Specialty Certificate California community association managers. the industry can have a based on your community’s needs. If your CIDs are nonprofit corporations; your board catastrophic impact on the there’s no harm in contacting the management of directors has the same responsibilities and fiduciary duties as any corporate board community – an impact firm and requesting that your manager consider obtaining one to better serve your association. of directors. The difference is your board that ultimately falls on the consists of volunteers whose careers rarely fall in the demographics of operating a multiboard’s shoulders. In addition, knowing that members of CACM agree to abide by a Code of Professional Ethics million dollar corporation. That’s where your and Standards of Practice is like a cup of cocoa certified manager comes into play; homeowners in your association on a cold winter’s night. These codes provide ethical guidelines for need professional guidance on items ranging from the reasoning performing services related to the practice of community association behind reserve funding, to the horrors of deferred maintenance and management and hold individual managers and management firms to the need for adequate insurance. Not to mention proper budgeting, the highest level of conduct. contract negations, and the unique laws that pertain to the community association industry. CACM California-certified managers also attend 30 hours of The responsibility that is placed on the shoulders of you and your process. This includes attending extensive legal seminars and ethics fellow volunteer board members is immense when you think about it. courses to ensure each certified manager is up to date with the latest You are making command decisions regarding not only your home and and greatest of legislative ideas and best business practices. investment, but your friends’ and neighbors’ investments as well. A wrong decision or bad advice made by a well-intentioned novice in the In the growing field of community management, boards shouldn’t industry can have a catastrophic impact on the community – an impact settle for less than certified managers with state-specific knowledge that ultimately falls on the board’s shoulders. who will serve their community with professionalism and integrity. Even though we all want a good deal and more bang for our buck, we 949.916.2226, ext. 319 to check his or her status. need to remember the old adage: “You get what you pay for.” The manager doesn’t have a Specialty Certificate, continuing education every three years as part of the recertification Not sure if your manager is certified or not? Contact CACM at price for a state-specific certified manager may run higher than that of Susan Sharp, CCAM, is the New Development Coordinator/Management Consultant a layman in the industry. But remember, as a board member you have for J.D. Richardson Company in San Diego.

CACM’s “In the Boardroom” feature is intended to provide key trends, tips and practical advice for association board members.

For easy sharing, you can also access this and other archived articles online at www.cacm.org.

Wear Your Pin(s)

By Dean Jackson, CCAM

My wife collects pins. Olympic pins, Disney pins, Hard Rock Café pins. If it has a point and a clasp on it, chances are she’s collected it Wearing any of the at one time or another. To her credit, her extensive collection – amassed CACM pins marks a series through diligent work and study of accomplishments, a (there are books on this stuff) – is standard of professionalism, not only pretty, entertaining and and the support and intriguing, but it has also increased leadership of an organization in value. Though some of her pins are that I value. worth more than others, they all share something in common: an intrinsic value born of a desire to obtain them and the work involved in reaching her goal.

My taste in jewelry generally only extends to my wedding ring (which I never take off) and my watch. When it comes to pin collecting, with the exception of a few Disney pins (I like Jiminy Cricket), I can take it or leave it. There is, however, an exception. A number of pins that, over the course of nearly a decade and a half, I have collected and that I wear with pride. These are the three pins I have received from CACM.

I might raise some eyebrows if I wear a Jiminy Cricket pin to a board meeting or an industry event, but wearing any of the CACM pins, while much more appropriate, also marks a series of accomplishments, a standard of professionalism, and the support and leadership of an organization I value.

The first of the three pins I received simply reads CACM, showing the logo that helped define the California Association of Community Managers. I received this pin when I became a member of CACM. Even before I became certified I wore it to demonstrate that, even as a fledgling manager, I was part of something bigger than myself, an organization that promoted education, ethics and professionalism. I had a lot to learn (still do), but that first pin symbolized a solid foundation upon which to build.

I received my second pin after fulfilling the requirements to become certified in the community management industry. This little golden pin also had four letters: CCAM. It’s amazing just how much four letters can communicate. Those letters say that I am a Certified Community Association Manager. They communicate the fact that I adhere to a code of professional standards, that I have received important and thorough educational support regarding California Law and the ins and outs of community management. I received that pin after two years of working in the industry, and though this was quite a while ago, I still sometimes wear it. It is of far greater worth to me than the materials from which it is made. It has great sentimental value.

Most recently, just less than two years ago, I received another pin. This one also had the letters CCAM artfully displayed, and a banner proclaiming “10 Years.” Aside from not so subtly indicating my age (as my bald head also does), this pin also commemorates an accomplishment for which I’d striven. In an industry that is often challenging, I had become something of a veteran. I had weathered many ups and downs while continuing to learn from my peers; I had continued working in a field in which I had grown; and I had made contributions to CACM. To me this pin symbolizes many battles fought, many lessons learned, and a desire to keep going.

Will the Master of Community Association Management (MCAM) certification result in a new adornment for my lapel? I certainly hope so!

As pin collections go, mine is pretty stellar. Its value has been steadily increasing even as my experience in this industry has grown. I encourage you to wear your pin(s) proudly. They are well earned.

Dean Jackson, CCAM is the General Manager of Pacific Park Plaza Homeowners Association in Emeryville.

Helping Community Associations Find Their Way

Providing practical legal solutions to common interest developments in:

• Governing Document

Interpretation and Enforcement • Contract Negotiation and Preparation • General Counsel Service • Litigation, Trial and

Appellate Advocacy