Community Associations Network Industry News

ALEXANDRIA, VA, MAY 18, 2007—Judi M. Phares, CMCA, PCAM, president and CEO of RTI/Community Management Associates, Inc., in Plano, TX, was recently honored with the prestigious Barbara Byrd Keenan Award for her dedicated service to the National Board of Certification for Community Association Managers (NBC-CAM). NBC-CAM chair in 2005-06, Phares served on the blue ribbon task force that founded the certification group in 1995. She has also served on the NBC-CAM Board of Commissioners.

The award was presented by NBC-CAM Chair Pat Wasson, CMCA, PCAM, at Community Association Institute's record-setting National Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas. The conference was the largest event in CAI history, with more than 1,300 people in attendance.

Only three other people have been honored with the Keenan Award: Barbara Keenan (2002), staff president of CAI from 1992 to 2002; Jerry Fein (2004), a New Jersey homeowner who was actively involved in both CAI and NBC-CAM; and Stephen Castle (2005), CMCA, AMS, PCAM, president of Mid-Atlantic Management Corp. in Plymouth Meeting, PA.

To be eligible for the award, the individual must make exceptionally valuable contributions to the advancement of the manager certification program and achieve distinction in the field through leadership, research or management.

In addition to her tremendous contributions to NBC-CAM and the community management profession, Phares was recognized for her personal and corporate commitment to professionalism and high ethical standards. Her company earned the 2006 Greater Dallas Business Ethics Award and the 2006 American Business Ethics Award.

"Like Barbara, Jerry and Steve before her, Judi was instrumental in the growth and development of the NBC-CAM certification program," said Executive Director Dawn Bauman, CAE. "Her personal and professional commitment to excellence in community management is unwavering. She is a role model for all professional community managers, exemplifying professionalism, leadership and high standards in everything she does. Our industry is fortunate to have a professional of Judi's caliber."

More 7,000 professionals have earned the Certified Manager of Community Associations certification since NBC-CAM was created a dozen years ago. CMCA certification signifies that a manager has passed NBC-CAM's national exam and met the requirements for managing condominium, cooperative and homeowner associations.

To search for an active CMCA, visit www.nbccam.org/hiring/search.cfm.

NBC-CAM was founded by CAI to establish guidelines for acquiring and demonstrating fundamental knowledge of community association management. An affiliate of CAI, NBC-CAM operates as an independent entity. It is the first and only national organization created solely to certify community association managers and to help consumers identify managers who have demonstrated fundamental competency and knowledge in this profession.

More information on NBC-CAM can be accessed at www.nbccam.org. To learn more about CAI, visit www.caionline.org.

Posted by Joe at 5:16 PM | Permalink

Plano, TX, May 17, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Judi M. Phares, president and CEO of CMA (RTI/Community Management Associates), was awarded the Barbara Byrd Keenan Award by the National Board of Certification for Community Association Managers (NBC-CAM). Phares was honored at the Community Association Institute’s recent national conference in Las Vegas. Current NBC-CAM Chair Pat Wasson presented the award for her "exceptionally valuable contribution to community association management certification."

Phares is a past chair of NBC-CAM, which administers the only national certification program for community association managers. She holds credentials as both a Certified Manager of Community Associations®, CMCA®, and a Professional Community Association Manager®, PCAM®, and has been a leader in establishing professional standards for the community association management industry.

“In the past 20 years, our industry has made great progress in setting professional standards and certifying credentials,” said Phares. “I’m deeply honored to receive this recognition for what has been my long-standing passion, to continually raise the bar toward professional excellence.”

NBC-CAM grants the CMCA® credential to individuals who demonstrate fundamental knowledge and expertise in managing homeowner and condominium associations and cooperatives. The non-profit credentialing agency is affiliated with Community Associations Institute (CAI), which provides education and resources to community association homeowners, managers, and other industry professionals.

The estimated 57 million Americans who live in more than 286,000 community associations need accurate and professional guidance on issues such as reserves, maintenance, insurance, budgets, governance, contracts, the law, and rules enforcement. Through its education and examination requirements, NBC-CAM provides association residents with a level of confidence in the qualifications of the CMCA credentialed manager.

CMA (www.cmamanagement.com) employs a staff of more than 100 at its corporate headquarters in Plano, Texas. They have regional and on site offices throughout the Metroplex and in South Texas. In addition to its leadership in establishing professional credential standards, CMA has been instrumental in developing the ethics standards for its industry and in advocating for continual ethics awareness. The company is the recipient of the 2006 Greater Dallas Business Ethics Award and the 2006 American Business Ethics Award.

Posted by Joe at 9:32 AM | Permalink

The big news this month is Neighborhoods Arizona! 2007 "Creating Neighborhood Resourses" May 19 at the Chandler Center for the Arts:

1. We have an expert in community asset mapping--Beth Tucker, with the University of Arizona, to instruct us on how to use this process in assessing what we have in our communities and how to use that information to take action.

2. A panel of HOA attorneys--Scott Carpenter (Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Wood), Curtis Ekmark (Ekmark & Ekmark), and Augustus Shaw (Shaw & Lines)--will update us on new legislation for HOAs.

3. Fidelis Garcia, the Director for the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, will help us learn how to get what we paid for.

4. A Best Practises panel will talk about connecting to the resources we need to create great neighborhoods and communities.

Hope you can join us!

Attached to this email is information and a registration form.

"Recent events have highlighted the need for homeowner associations to take a closer look at their insurance coverage. Specifically, a HOA should evaluate the amount and types of insurance coverage it has in place for matters involving employee dishonesty or fidelity. It is advisable that an association have employee dishonesty and fidelity coverage that covers directors, officers, agents and managers for the community."

Augustus H. Shaw IV
Shaw & Lines, LLC

Thank you for your interest in creating quality neighborhoods!

The Leadership Centre

Posted by Joe at 8:43 AM | Permalink

INDIANAPOLIS, May 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Two Indiana-based companies, R&G Management Company, Inc., located in Zionsville, and Revel and Underwood Association Services, Inc., located in Fishers, are joining together to form Community Association Services of Indiana.

Both companies are members of Associa. Associa is the nation's undisputed leader in community association management, which serves over 2.7 million members in associations across the United States. Matt Englert, President and CEO of Community Association Services of Indiana, said, "We are extremely excited to be joining the strengths of the two offices and to be able to work alongside each other to better serve our communities."

Joining the two together as a singularly focused company will provide stronger services and better value to each individual homeowner, as well as entire communities. Not only will the two office locations provide more widespread coverage throughout the suburbs of Indianapolis -- but more importantly, the pooling of talent and knowledge from the two offices will also benefit the homeowner.

With more than 70 offices across the nation and growing, Associa is the largest company in the United States devoted exclusively to the management of community associations. Associa has established a variety of national purchasing programs which afford clients products and services of the highest quality at the most competitive prices for their needs, as well as community support services such as association websites, newsletters, and other neighborhood communication channels.

Along with a new name, the company will have a new website (http://www.cas-indiana.com ). The previous websites (http://www.revelu.com and http://www.randgmanagment.com ) will redirect visitors to the new site.

Founded in 1979, Associa is the nation's leading community association management and developer services company. With offices all across North America, Associa is the largest company in the United States devoted exclusively to the management of community associations, representing thousands of communities from coast to coast. For more information, please visit http://www.associaonline.com .

Posted by Joe at 10:02 AM | Permalink