Atrios Monthly - Past Issues

We at Atrios and “Atrios Monthly” hope all of our members and prospective members had a very joyous and safe holiday season. We wish everyone a productive 2011.

This month’s edition features the second of a two-part article by attorney and Atrios industry expert Donna DiMaggio Berger on how community associations can survive, and even thrive, in the current economic crisis. We also are pleased to announce the latest addition to the Atrios expert team: attorney Matthew Winton. Matthew is a founding partner of Vaughn, Winton & Clark, an Oklahoma community association law firm. He primarily limits his legal practice to real estate with a focus on community association law issues, representing developers, builders, condominium and homeowner associations, and real property owners. We welcome Matthew to the Atrios team by publishing his comprehensive article on community association insurance. Welcome Matthew!   

We are in the process of completing several major upgrades to the services and benefits our Atrios members receive. Stay tuned for an upcoming special announcement. In the meantime, subscribe now to MyAtrios while our introductory rates are still in effect.

Lastly, for this month’s featured book we highlight “Questions and Answers for Community Associations’ written by Jan Hickenbottom, a common interest community consultant. She provides insightful information on vital topics relating to community associations: informative advice on homeowners’ rights and obligations, what to look for when purchasing, rule enforcement, financial management, conflict resolution, effective meetings and the duties of the board of directorsthis month we feature

As we close out our inaugural year and prepare for the upcoming holiday season, we at Atrios and “Atrios Monthly” wish all of our members and prospective members a very joyous and safe holiday season.

This month’s articles include safety and survival tips for community associations, including part one of a two-part article by attorney and Atrios industry expert Donna DiMaggio Berger on how community associations can survive, and even thrive, in the current economic crisis. Insurance risk management expert and Atrios contributor Mike McLaughlin wrote a timely and helpful article on how homeowners and associations can reduce the risk of fire due to candles and other dangers this holiday season. Attorney and Atrios industry expert Richard Vetstein wrote an informative article on the recent trend in condominium living of associations restricting smoking in common areas and even individual units. Rounding out this month’s edition of “Atrios Monthly” is community association manager, consultant and expert Debra Warren’s article on how community association boards can resolve the inevitable conflicts that often arise in shared ownership communities.   

We are in the process of completing several major upgrades to the services and benefits our Atrios members receive. Stay tuned for an upcoming special announcement. In the meantime, subscribe now to MyAtrios while our introductory rates are still in effect.

Lastly, this month’s recommended reading is “The Claim Game: The Homeowners Guide to Avoiding an Insurance Catastrophe.” Insurance claims, tenders, deductibles and coverage are complicated concepts that confuse even the most sophisticated and experienced community association managers and board members. This book, written by Andrew Wallingford, takes readers through the nuts and bolts of homeowner insurance claims, including lessons on how to interpret a homeowner’s policy.

Atrios has recently added yet another insider to our panel of experts and contributor to “Atrios Monthly.” Gayle Cagianut is a Certified Public Accountant with broad and extensive experience in community association financial and accounting matters, including audits, taxes and consultations. She is the principal in the firm Cagianut & Company, CPA. She was on the National Faculty for CAI and is a frequent author and speaker at various events. Gayle is a past recipient of the National Author of the Year Award. We welcome her to the November edition of “Atrios Monthly” with her inaugural article on “The ABCs of Community Association Taxes.”

In addition to Gayle’s community association taxes article, this month’s “Atrios Monthly” also includes articles from other Atrios experts and contributors on a variety of topics, from how to run an efficient one-hour board meeting, to Federal Housing Act insights, to the four principles of reserve funding. With the upcoming holiday season rapidly approaching, we also feature an article on common interest communities and holiday decorations.

We are featuring two books for November: “Roberts Rules of Order” and “Roberts Rule of Order in Brief.” Every community association board member should have a copy of one of these books to use as a reference to assist them as they perform their volunteer board duties.

We are in the process of completing several major upgrades to the services and benefits our Atrios members receive. Stay tuned for an upcoming special announcement. In the meantime, subscribe now to MyAtrios while our introductory rates are still in effect. 

Atrios is proud to announce the addition of two new industry experts and contributors to “Atrios Monthly.” Curtis Ekmark is a highly distinguished community association attorney in Arizona and accomplished speaker and writer. We welcome Curtis to the September edition of “Atrios Monthly” with his topical article on how some community associations are persevering through the economic downturn with the assistance of volunteers to conduct maintenance and repair of association property. Curtis provides helpful hints,as well as potential pitfalls, for association boards who utilize such volunteers.

Heather Clarke is a Certified Public Accountant with broad and extensive experience in financial and accounting matters. She manages and provides monthly accounting services as well as audit, review and compilation reports for condominiums and homeowner associations. This month, we are featuring two of Heather’s articles to assist community association boards in advance of the upcoming fall budget season.

In addition to Heather’s and Curtis’ articles, this month’s “Atrios Monthly” also includes articles from other Atrios experts and contributors that are in line with our theme of focusing on how community associations can combat and overcome the many difficulties associated with the current economic downturn.
 
We wish to remind all of our subscribers that in addition to the many articles available on the website, Atrios also has prepared tailored “toolkits” on a variety of community association governance and management issues. For more information on Atrios toolkits, select the “About Atrios” tab, or you can purchase a toolkit from the “Atrios Toolkits” callout on the home page. We will be adding several additional toolkits over the next few months.

Atrios is proud to announce the addition of Debra Warren to our team of industry experts and contributors to “Atrios Monthly.”  Debra is a principal of Cinnabar Consulting, a professional services firm that provides organizations with the tools they need to operate successfully. With over 20 years of experience in community association management, Debra implements comprehensive training solutions, provides team assessment and development, and facilitates effective meetings. We are pleased to feature as our lead article in this month’s “Atrios Monthly,” Debra’s detailed and comprehensive discussion on the importance of strategic planning for community association boards of directors.

We also are featuring a second article related to the BP Oil Spill from community association attorney and industry expert Donna DiMaggio Berger. Donna has written several articles and has been interviewed by various news and media organizations related to the topic. She follows up last month’s article on how community associations can prepare for the upcoming hurricane season with this month’s timely article on claims handling and other proactive steps boards throughout Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida can take to protect their communities from the damaging effects of the BP Oil Spill. Even though as we “go to print” there are numerous reports of oil “having disappeared” from the Gulf, hundreds of community associations throughout the region are continuing to feel the devastating repercussions of this disaster. Though not directly impacted by the disaster, community associatons in other parts of the country can also benefit from these articles in learning how to respond to a major natural disaster such as an earthquake, flood, hurricane or tornado.     

We wish to remind all of our subscribers that in addition to the many articles available on the website, Atrios also has prepared tailored “toolkits” on a variety of community association governance and management issues. For more information on Atrios toolkits, select the “About Atrios” tab, or you can purchase a toolkit from the “Atrios Toolkits” callout on the home page. We will be adding several additional toolkits over the next few months.

Though online for less than three months, we have received terrific feedback from our subscribers and various community association industry representatives. As we grow, we look forward to building additonal relationships throughout the industry and continuing to offer additonal information and resources to our subscribers. Look for more changes in the coming months. Thank you all for the wonderful support.

In only its second edition, July’s “Atrios Monthly” eNewsletter continues where last month’s inaugural edition left off, featuring articles written by an impressive group of leading experts in their respective fields. In our lead article, Executive Director of the Community Advocacy Network and community association attorney Donna DiMaggio Berger writes about the dangers common interest developments in the Gulf Coast region face through the tragic combination of hurricanes mixed with the BP oil spill. This article is especially timely at publication, as Alex, the first hurricane of the season, bears down on the region.

Though MyAtrios is just starting out, we have populated our Resource Library with multiple archived articles.  If you have additional questions after reading this month’s and last month’s inaugural edition of “Atrios Monthly,” feel free to search the site for additional articles and resources.

Atrios also has prepared tailored “toolkits” on a variety of community association governance and management issues. For more information on Atrios toolkits, select the “About Atrios” tab, or you can purchase a toolkit from the “Atrios Toolkits” callout on the home page. We will be adding several additional toolkits over the next few months.

Lastly, for our featured book for July, we are recommending “How to Get Your Lawn off Grass: A Nort American Guide to Turning Off the Water Tap and Going Native.”  As we enter full force into the summer season, this book provides insightful and valuable tips for community associations that wish to reduce their reliance upon grass and irrigation.

Atrios is proud to publish our inaugural edition of its “Atrios Monthly” eNewsletter.  In this edition, we feature articles written by an impressive group of leading experts in their respective fields.  As with each “Atrios Monthly” edition, we publish articles on a wide range of community association related topics, grouped in six featured categories: Legal, Finance, Insurance, Premises/Property, Vendors and Management.

Though MyAtrios is just starting out, we have populated our Resource Library with multiple archived articles.  If you have additional questions after reading this month’s “Atrios Monthly,” feel free to search the site for additional articles and resources.

Atrios also has prepared tailored “toolkits” on a variety of community association governance and management issues. For more information on Atrios toolkits, select the “About Atrios” tab, or you can purchase a toolkit from the “Atrios Toolkits” callout on the home page.

Lastly, for our inaugural edition we are recommending “Condo Divas,” written by good friend and award-winning author Diane Kinman.  In this industry we can get caught up in the emotional and serious turmoil which comprises community association living.  Diane has penned a poignant and humorous expose based on her over decade-long experience as an association board member and homeowner.