Rights and Responsibilities as Published by the CAI - Part I

In your October/November newsletter, you received a copy of the CAI "Rights and Responsibilities for Better Communities".

I made a preliminary comment on this in the blog posted October 26, 2009. The document which was included with the newsletter was published by the CAI with this disclaimer, reprinted from their website (Reference 1):

"Rights and Responsibilities was developed as an ideal standard to which communities could aspire, a goal-based statement of principles designed to foster harmonious, vibrant, responsive and competent community associations. The principles were not designed to be in complete harmony with existing laws and regulations in 50 states, and in no way are they intended to subsume existing statutes. Where there are inconsistencies, community associations should adhere to the spirit and letter of all applicable laws. If you have a question, we suggest you consult with your attorney."

The bolded words are mine. For our association to adapt the CAI document, it should be reviewed as suggested and a revised document submitted to unit owners for comment. Of course, that may not happen. A reader of another HOA with whom I correspond recently had this to say "The more one learns about HOA boards (horror stories abound online), the more one is shocked by the dictatorial tendencies of otherwise ordinary people.  Perhaps it’s in the genes of the human race…"

In reading the "Rights and Responsibilities" you will notice some items which are similar to the Illinois Condominium Act, and our bylaws. I'm not going to take the time to compare the three documents, but if there are any disagreements, as stated in earlier posts, the order of precedence would be the Act, then the bylaws and finally the Rules and Regulations. Publishing the original, unedited CAI document leaves interpretation in the hands of the reader.

You might be wondering what is the source of this document. Our board has been enrolled in the Community Associations Institute for a number of years. This is a dues paid subscription, paid by our association. The CAI is considered by some to be a trade organization, which provides "education, tools and resources to people who govern and manage homeowners associations, condominiums and other planned communities." (Reference 1).  The CAI markets and provides training and certification materials for professional managers and also promotes managers who meet CAI's qualifications. It has an elaborate series of "awards" and certifications for such managers. The CAI sales materials state, in part: "Do you want to gain a competitive advantage, earn more money and obtain valuable experience? Learn how you can stand out from the crowd and enhance your career. If you already have a designation, you can download redesignation forms and stay on top in your career."


 The CAI has about 29,000 members. To provide some perspective, the CAI states that there are an "estimated 57 million Americans who live in more than 286,000 community associations."  Using the CAI numbers indicates that their membership could be as high as 10% of the HOAs in the U.S.


There are other organizations that provide training materials to HOAs. For example, the 
Community Association Training Resource Center




Reference 1: http://www.caionline.org/Pages/Default.aspx